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A
Anonymous
April 20, 2017
Answered

InDesign CC 2017 - links always red in hyperlinks panel

  • April 20, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 10583 views

I am having an issue since upgrading to InDesign CC 2017 where all the hyperlinks in the hyperlinks panel are displaying as red (ie. 'URL is not available'). However when I click on the red icon to test the hyperlink destination most the hyperlinks actually work ie. they should be green not red. I am having this issue with all documents.

I didn't have this issue in the previous version of InDesign CC. Has anyone else had this issue or know what might have changed in the hyperlink functionality for InDesign CC 2017?

Many thanks,

HJ

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer

Ok, here is my workaround (tested on mac):

In the hyperlinks panel turn off 'Auto Update URL Status'. Now select all hyperlinks and click the 'Refresh URL status' icon. Gradually it rechecks the hyperlinks and now marks them as green.

I does seem a little bit buggy in that I end up having to select alot of the hyperlinks individually to get them to refresh.


Sorry for the multiple posts but the workaround I had above wasn't quite right. This is what I needed to do to get it working properly:

1. In the hyperlinks panel turn off 'Auto Update URL Status'.

2. Now select all hyperlinks in the hyperlink panel and click the 'Refresh URL status' icon. The icon next to each hyperlink should change from red to grey.

3. Now in the hyperlinks panel turn 'Auto Update URL Status' back on. It will now gradually refresh all hyperlinks - all working hyperlinks will be correctly marked as green.

3 replies

EthosWhippet
EthosWhippet
Known Participant
April 11, 2021

I'm now having this prolem and cannot resolve it in InDesign Beta on my Mac Mini M1. I can't get the red icon to disappear. 

 

keithconover
keithconover
Inspiring
May 31, 2024

I have a number of hyperlinks where the traffic light stays red even though I can click on the link and open the link in my browser with no issues. For example:

I suspect that this is because, in my browser, I have accepted some cookies or acknowledged some other privacy popup, or some links are payalled (the New York Times allows free access to four articles but I suspect InDesign has long ago gone over this limit, even if my readers haven't) but InDesign isn't set up to deal with such issues. I have simply had to ignore such red traffic lights after I have checked them all. I suspect this is the source of a spurious error message as well:

Please see https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/unresolved-or-out-of-date-cross-references-in-the-document/m-p/4318223.

 

I also suspect that InDesign's inability to open these websites, and continued trying to open them, may be causing performance problems in InDesign, so in the Hyperlinks Panel, I have disabled the Auto Update URL Status option.

casinclaire
casinclaire
Inspiring
March 31, 2021

I ran into this, this evening, and your answer was just what I needed. Thanks so much. 🙂

Willi Adelberger
Community Expert
Willi AdelbergerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
April 20, 2017

Can you post an example URL?

A
Anonymous
April 21, 2017

Here are a few different examples of links that come up as 'red' but actually work when i click on them:

https://www.humancondition.com/?utm_source=wtm-pdf-ebook&utm_medium=pdf&utm_content=online-endorsements

http://www.gatheringspot.net/topic/general-discussion/human-condition

The Spectator | Politics, culture, current affairs and opinion

A
Anonymous
April 22, 2017

Also if I highlight the hyperlink in the hyperlink panel, then select 'Edit Hyperlink...' it will become green. I then click OK in the 'Edit Hyperlink...' window and it now stays green, even though I made no changes to it.


Ok, here is my workaround (tested on mac):

In the hyperlinks panel turn off 'Auto Update URL Status'. Now select all hyperlinks and click the 'Refresh URL status' icon. Gradually it rechecks the hyperlinks and now marks them as green.

I does seem a little bit buggy in that I end up having to select alot of the hyperlinks individually to get them to refresh.

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