# Microsoft "help"? Hardly !!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 27, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-help-hardly/397740 "2007-03-27T21:01:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-help-hardly/397740/1 "2007-03-27T21:01:39Z")
At work, I copied some data from the Internet to an Excel spreadsheet. I inadvertently copied some hyperlinks too. (Actually it was unavoidable becase I was copying rows of data and hyperlinks were at the end of each row). Since they were each in their own “cell” in the spreadsheet, I thought it would be a simple matter to delete each hyperlink with the backspace key. No. Using the “cut” command? NO. Using the “clear” command? NO !!! So, it seems I was going to require a visit from Microsoft’s “Mr. Smiley Face Paper Clip Man” ™ Basically (and this is word for word from Microsoft help), to delete several hyperlinks you simply: > [@](#): > > 1. Type the number 1 in a blank cell, and right-click the cell. > > 2. Click Copy on the shortcut menu. > > 3. While pressing CTRL, select each hyperlink you want to deactivate. > How? > o To select a cell that has a hyperlink in it without jumping to the hyperlink destination, click the cell and hold the mouse button until the cursor becomes a cross, then release the mouse button. > > 4. Click Paste Special on the Edit menu. > > 5. Under Operation, click Multiply and then click OK. That’s really so intuitive I am still kicking myself silly for not thinking of that solution myself. :rolleyes: Well, this pitting does not quite have the rage of decrying the latest child killer, kitten drowner, mindless shooting spree sniper, etc. Nor does it have the eloquence and erudition of **AHunter3** ’s philosophical pitting Still, a company as large (and rich) as Micro$oft should have easier ways to solve problems such as this, don’t you think? As I’ve stated many times before, their actual coporate slogan should be: “We’re Microsoft - go fuck yourself !!!” (Time to take my medication now). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-help-hardly/397740/2 "2007-03-27T21:12:08Z")
What’s wrong with right-click, ‘remove hyperlink’? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-help-hardly/397740/3 "2007-03-27T21:15:14Z")
[QUOTE=wolf\_meister] Still, a company as large (and rich) as Micro$oft should have easier ways to solve problems such as this, don’t you think? [/QUOTE] Out of all the truly pittable things Microsoft has done, why is this even remotely worthy? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-help-hardly/397740/4 "2007-03-27T21:15:26Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] What’s wrong with right-click, ‘remove hyperlink’? [/QUOTE] Maybe nothing. But the question remains: if that is, indeed, the best method, then why didn’t Microsoft’s Help function offer it as a solution to the OP’s problem? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-help-hardly/397740/5 "2007-03-27T21:19:51Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] Maybe nothing. But the question remains: if that is, indeed, the best method, then why didn’t Microsoft’s Help function offer it as a solution to the OP’s problem? [/QUOTE] It does. Here’s what I get from F1: [http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g3/owainsutton/Untitled-1.jpg](http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g3/owainsutton/Untitled-1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-help-hardly/397740/6 "2007-03-27T21:20:56Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] It does. Here’s what I get from F1: [http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g3/owainsutton/Untitled-1.jpg](http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g3/owainsutton/Untitled-1.jpg) [/QUOTE] Well, there you go. Maybe the OP just needs to learn how to use the Help feature properly. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-help-hardly/397740/7 "2007-03-27T21:25:21Z")
Thanks **mhendo** Yes, I saw the easy solution of deleting things one by one, but I had a lot to delete. Let’s suppose you folks had hundreds to delete. Wouldn’t you want a method that was a bit more efficient than this? And as **mhendo** said, if it is going to be so ridiculously complicated, why the Hell even offer this “valuable” bit of help? And **Fear Itself**. Yes, this might be the least important, most inconsequential reason to pit Microsoft. But remember, for the want of a nail a horseshoe was lost, etc. By the way folks, I am using Windows 2000 if that’s the reason for people coming up with different responses to the Excel “help”. **Gorilla Man** I see your posting on Photobucket and there’s the instructions right at the bottom. Wouldn’t a more logical solution be to highlight all the hyperlinks and then right click? (Instead of that stupid 5 step “solution”?) ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-help-hardly/397740/8 "2007-03-27T22:53:07Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] Maybe the OP just needs to learn how to use the Help feature properly. [/QUOTE] Does Clippit have a meta-assistant to teach you how to deal with Clippit? And then another to train you on the meta-assistant… my god, it’s an infinite loop. No wonder the damn thing crashes so much. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-help-hardly/397740/9 "2007-03-28T05:37:16Z")
[QUOTE=wolf\_meister] **Gorilla Man** I see your posting on Photobucket and there’s the instructions right at the bottom. Wouldn’t a more logical solution be to highlight all the hyperlinks and then right click? (Instead of that stupid 5 step “solution”?) [/QUOTE] I think the problem is that the hyperlink is the cell contents, and it’s only possible to select the contents of an individual cell - multiple selections are of the cells themselves. Making use of the keyboard where possible can often make operations like this faster than looking up a solutions: using the context menu key, R for remove hyperlink, and cursors, I just cleared a hundred hyperlinks in about one minute. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-help-hardly/397740/10 "2007-03-28T06:27:44Z")
Thanks for your help **Gorilla Man** The reason for this “pitting” was actually more humorous rather than righteous indignant outrage. I just thought it was rather funny how deleting one hyperlink is done with a right click but deleting _multiple_ hyperlinks is a 5 step process (including click ‘multiply’ ??? :dubious: ) Upon further reflection, the hyperlinks were all in the same column and I could have done a “delete column” and ended it there. Incidentally, the solution I chose to use (since “_5 step_” did _not_ work for me) was to delete that entire sheet (it was _only_ that “paste” from the 'Net) then I copied from the 'Net again but I pasted it into Notepad first and _then_ posted it to Excel. Good old Notepad - the tricycle of word processors and it can’t be bothered with all them thar fancy schmantzy hyperlinks or other control characters. The funny thing about those hyperlinks was that there were 2 for each cell. (One icon for help and the other icon for what looked like a magnifying glass). Anyway, I think I’m pretty good at Excel (but not as good as you folks it seems 🙂 ) and so I was surprised how this “little” problem was so weird. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-help-hardly/397740/11 "2007-03-28T16:02:33Z")
[QUOTE=wolf\_meister] \Still, a company as large (and rich) as Micro$oft should have easier ways to solve problems such as this, don’t you think?\ [/QUOTE] HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Stop it - you’re killing me here. 😃 (Ever try to get MS Word to stop making indented bullet lists? It’s not frustrating at all. Friggin’ program “helps” all the time - too bad I never want the “help” it gives me. Except the autocorrect - I like that.) ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-help-hardly/397740/12 "2007-03-28T16:10:46Z")
Don’t you just click the left-justification (or center, or right)? The bullet on that line disappears. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-help-hardly/397740/13 "2007-03-29T15:45:50Z")
Nope. Just tried it - it just moved the indent and bullet over. Actually, the version of Word I’m using (Word for Macs) doesn’t seem too bad for this; I usually work with reveal codes on, so I can figure out which extra returns I need to get rid of, etc. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-help-hardly/397740/14 "2007-03-29T17:01:53Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Don’t you just click the left-justification (or center, or right)? The bullet on that line disappears. [/QUOTE] Yes, and the “bulleted list” icon, and the bullets disappear. Doesn’t stop it from arbitrarily deciding 2 lines later that you really do need a bulleted list, though.