Keeping links clickable
A link in your document only works in the reader if it survives into the PDF as a real link, not just blue underlined text. Most exports keep them. A few settings throw them away without saying so.
What becomes clickable
Section titled “What becomes clickable”When you upload, we read the links stored in the PDF and turn each one into a clickable area on its page. This works on every plan, including Free.
| In your PDF | In the reader |
|---|---|
A link to a web page (https://…) |
Clickable, opens the page |
An email link (mailto:…) |
Clickable, opens the reader’s email app |
| An email address typed as plain text | Clickable. We find these even without a link |
| A web address typed as plain text | Not clickable. It’s just text |
| A link to another page in the same document, such as a clickable contents page | Not clickable yet |
| Anything else (phone numbers, links to files) | Not clickable |
Two of those have a fix inside Living Page. On any paid plan you can draw a link over any area of a page, including a page jump for your contents page and a web link over a typed address. See Links and video overlays.
How to check before you upload
Section titled “How to check before you upload”Open the exported PDF in Preview, Acrobat or your browser and click a link. If it opens, it will work in Living Page. If the cursor doesn’t change over it, the link didn’t survive the export.
What loses links
Section titled “What loses links”- Some print-style PDF routes. Microsoft notes, for example, that Word for Mac’s Best for printing option may not convert links correctly, and that PowerPoint for Mac doesn’t reliably keep them. Where an app has its own Export or Download as PDF, prefer it to printing to PDF, and check the result.
- Flattening. Any option called flatten turns the page into an image: links, selectable text and searchability all go.
- Print presets in layout apps. Some print-oriented PDF settings leave hyperlinks out unless you tick them in.
- Scanning a printed copy. A scan is a picture of the page, so nothing on it is a link.
Each app guide says which of its settings keep links: PowerPoint, Word, Canva, InDesign, Google Docs and Slides, Keynote and Pages.
For how links are checked for malware and phishing, see Link safety checks.