How to stop Microsoft Word from underlining xxx@xxx.xxxx phrases?

Microsoft Word underlines phrases like napier@work.com and turns them blue, and I have not found a way to stop this after spending time worth much more than I think the product should sell for.

Clearly they want to position themselves as very with it, very now, regarding new trends. Clearly they also think of the WWW as new.

However, when I poke my finger at the underlined link on a printed sheet of paper, it does not transport me to that web site. Rather, the paper just shifts around a little bit on the table top. After many pokes, the paper starts to look smudged.

  1. Is there a way to make these links work when they are on a printed sheet of paper? This is obviously what we are supposed to be able to do.

  2. If not, then, is there a way to make Word default to non-pinheaded behavior in general?

  3. If not, then is there a way to turn off this feature?

  4. If not, then is there a way to undo what it does on this particular piece of text after I’ve written it? That is, a better way than substituting another character for the @ and writing next to it how to reverse the substitution?

Thanks!

Ahhhh… It gets better, I see…

Maybe the SDMB has copied the behavior of MSW?

Or maybe my keyboard is sending underlined blue keycodes?

Is there somebody I can send money to so that this annoying behavior won’t turn up everywhere? There must be, right? That’s what this is about, right?

In Word right click it and select remove hyperlink. That should leave the text but not have a mail to link. If you notice when you left click on one of those things it will open your email program with a new message to the link.

On the dope unclick the “Automatically parse links in text” check box.

If you select the link in your Word doc, and hit CTRL-K, the dialog that pops up should have a button, probably in the bottom-right corner, labeled Remove Link. Click that, and the link is gone. Or right-click the link and select Remove Hyperlink.

If you don’t want them created in the first place, head to Tools, AutoCorrect Options, then click the AutoFormat As You Type tab. Unckeck the “Internet and network paths with hyperlinks” box and OK your way out.

Tools -> AutoCorrect Options…, AutoFormat Tab, uncheck “Internet and network paths with hyperlinks.”

That’s for Word 2003, it’s in a similar location for the others (although good luck finding the options in 2007).

In Word, go to Tools > AutoCorrect Options. Click the “AutoFormat” tab and uncheck Internet and network paths with hyperlinks. Do the same in the “AutoFormat As You Type” tab, too.

On the boards, make sure you’re in the Advanced Editor (click the Advanced button if you’re using Quick Reply) and uncheck “Automatically parse links in text.”

When copying/pasting from a web page, Word 2003 still formats the hyperlinks. To paste as plain text, select edit/paste special/unformatted text.

Can I just say gawd-a-mighty I love this board.

Just changed this both in Word and Excel. I HATE having this as a default.

Thanks, all - and niblet_head, may I say we’re kindred souls???

Ditto. Now, can anyone offer an explanation as to why this is the default behavior to begin with? MS Word’s main usage is for paper output. Why doesn’t the “Print” function avoid the underline? After all, if I put an animated GIF into my document, the printed version is not animated!

Oooo, because Word has to be so helpful, so very very helpful! It’s the most co-dependent product I’ve ever seen. It needs a good therapist.

Let’s not even get started on automatic bullet/numbered lists (which would be fine if it would work correctly and/or I didn’t have to spend so much time with my bosses either getting the lists to format correctly after adding text or getting them to not bullet/number when they don’t want it to).

One thing that I have found to do in Word (and other MS products displaying similar annoying behavior) is that as soon as the program “auto-does” something to hit Ctrl-Z (undo). This will undo the auto-function but not what you typed.

Hellloooo!?! What do you think this is, 2003? Time to buy a new printer, grandpa! :rolleyes:

I spluttered when I realized that you were prodding a sheet of A4

To be fair to MS, they probably expected Word documents to be sent by Email.

Plus point is that I now know how to turn that annoying little featurette right off.

I hate how MS ‘helps’ you when you want it to leave you the f(*& alone. I especially hate it switching explorer views to icons when I want the list. My very favouriteist thing was when FrontPage would undo all my hand-coded HTML because it decided I really didn’t want to do what I did. I beat it at its own game but was ready to toss the machine out the window (and down 12 storeys).

This is my suggestion as well. When in doubt, CTRL Z.

The other explanations are too complicated to turn on and off, and you might actually need autocorrections in teh → the future.

It doesn’t turn off any autocorrections. It doesn’t even turn off all autoformatting, only the automatic creation of hyperlinks.

Not so much anymore. The overwhelming majority of Word docs I work with are online only. They may get printed for proofing or audit retention, but they’re used online, so macros and hyperlinks can be very useful. Actually, some of our docs behave very strangely when printed, so we try to keep them away from paper.

Me too. Is there a way to set this as a global preference?

You’re probably left-poking. Try using a different finger. With Word features like this, the middle one is often a good choice.