Screen Tips for Hyperlinks in PowerPoint 2013

We have explored several hyperlinking tutorials in PowerPoint 2013. However, what happens when you hover any of these hyperlinks before you actually click the anchor? Typically PowerPoint just uses something for the ScreenTip (screen tip) when you hover over a hyperlinked slide object, as shown in Figure 1 below.


Figure 1: The typical screen tip

As you can see in Figure 1, PowerPoint defaults to showing the path to your hyperlink. This can work most of the time, especially if you are presenting and you know what you must click. However, if you need to distribute your slides, it looks more professional if you have a proper screen tip added to your hyperlink. For example, you could add a screen tip that says “Click to open the recipe slides”.

Follow these steps to learn more:

1. Select an existing anchor that includes some sort of hyperlink. Then access the Insert tab of the Ribbon. Then click the Hyperlink button as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2, below.
   
   
   Figure 2: The Hyperlink button
   
   

   An “anchor” is any slide object that you can select, as explained in our Anatomy of a Link tutorial.

   You can also press the Ctrl + K keyboard shortcut instead of clicking the Hyperlink button. Want more keyboard shortcuts? Get a copy of our PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts and Sequences e-book.

2. Either way, you bring up the Edit Hyperlink dialog box that you can see in Figure 3, below.
   
   
   Figure 3: Edit Hyperlink dialog box
3. Click the ScreenTip button highlighted in red within Figure 3, above. This will bring up the Set Hyperlink ScreenTip window as shown in Figure 4, below. Type in ScreenTip text, and click the OK button.
   
   
   Figure 4: Set Hyperlink ScreenTip
4. Press the OK button again in the Edit Hyperlink dialog box, as shown highlighted in green within Figure 3, earlier on this page.
5. Now test the slide in Slide Show view, and you will see that the ScreenTip shows exactly as you typed, as shown in Figure 5, below (compare with Figure 1, previously shown on this page).
   
   
   Figure 5: New ScreenTip message