Links become inactive when saving a Word document to PDF in print dialog

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Level 1

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Links become inactive when saving a Word document to PDF in print dialog

I will often create a document using MS Word, and this document can contain URL links at various points in the document. As long as I’m working in the Word document, these are active, working links. However, if I create a PDF version of the document using either the Save to PDF option or the Open in Preview option in the print dialog, the links in the resulting PDF document will no longer work.

Is there a way to preserve links when creating PDFs from a Word document?

Mac mini, macOS 15.5

Posted on Jul 25, 2025 6:32 AM

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Answer 1

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ptm9539 Author

Level 1

35 points

Jul 25, 2025 2:53 PM in response to VikingOSX

Thanks VikingOSX. I don't see File>Save as in Word 365 on my Mac, but there is File>Save a Copy, which does list PDF as what they call an export format. I tried it and it does preserve the links, so that's what I've been looking for.

Interesting that I opened another Word document and it did have a File>Save as option. It seems that appears in documents created by someone else, but for ones I created myself, there's just File>Save a copy. Go figure.

Thanks again, This has been a frustration for some time, so now I have a solution.

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Answer 2

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,152 points

Jul 25, 2025 12:23 PM in response to ptm9539

Save your Word document using Word's File menu > Save As…, not the Apple Print menu. On Word's Save panel, select File Format: PDF as in this example:

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Answer 3

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,152 points

Jul 26, 2025 7:22 AM in response to ptm9539

I am using Office 2021 for Mac Home and Business on an M4 Mac Mini Pro (Sequoia v15.5). Any Word document that I create, whether in Word v16.99.1 or another application, opens in Word and has a File menu > Save As… entry.

Good that you found a solution to preserve your document links into PDF.

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