Hyperlinks with the Hash/Pound sign in Excel

This article is part of the manual of Filecats Standard and Filecats Professional.

The “#” symbol, known variously as a hash or pound sign, is sometimes used in folder and file names, especially in America, where it is used as a synonym for the word “number”.

However, it is a reserved character in Microsoft Excel, and generally cannot be used in hyperlinks. This is a limitation of Microsoft Excel. Therefore, any hyperlink with a hash in the folder structure or the file name will not work.

However, Filecats uses an alternative system of coding which means that it can work in Excel 2010 or later.

Hyperlink in Excel

Additionally, Microsoft Windows has a problem when the combination of folders (known as a “path”) plus the filename (with the extension) is 256 characters long or more. You may get errors in Windows Explorer such as this:

Destination Path Too Long Very long path

For example, the combination of this path and filename is 256 characters:

If the combination of path and filename is 256 characters or longer, then the hyperlinks may not work, and the file type, attributes, size, index, dates and metadata may not be captured in Filecats programs.

These files can be easily identified. The hyperlink will not say “Open”, and a default size and indent of -1 bytes and default dates of 1/0/1900 12:00:00 AM may be inserted if they cannot be read.

File Path Too Long

This is a limitation of Windows Explorer. If this happens, you may wish to shorten the path or file names.

If you have arrived at this page from Google or Bing, and which to see how the hyperlinks have been implemented, please download a 7-day free trial of one our programs and have a look at the resulting catalogues.

2 comments

  • I would recommend in this case to try program Long Path Tool

    • It’s an interesting idea. I would suggest not having them that long to begin with, and if you have, reduce the folder names.

      However, if you must work with longer path names, this program may be worth a look.

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