Forum Discussion

Lupusregina_Beta's avatar
Lupusregina_Beta
Copper Contributor
Jul 16, 2026

Can you preserve links when exporting from a list to Excel?

Hi!

I have a list with a multiline text field set to support enchanced richtext used to store URLs of files.  I am inserting data into this list when people submit a Jotform using Power Automate to connect the two.  In Power Automate, I build the field value by looping the uploaded files and building out HTML:

<a href="https://www.server.com/path/file.png">file.png</a><br>
<a href="https://www.server.com/path/file.pdf">file.pdf</a><br>

Problem is, if I go to the list and do Export to Excel, the query.iqy file I get just shows file.png and file.pdf as basic, nonlinked text in the column. Is there any way to get Sharepoint to create an Excel file where the links are preserved?

Lists
SharePoint Online

1 Reply

  • virendrak's avatar
    virendrak
    Steel Contributor
    Jul 16, 2026

    Unfortunately, no. The Export to Excel functionality doesn't preserve HTML links stored in a Multiple Lines of Text (Enhanced Rich Text) column. During the export process, SharePoint strips out the HTML and only exports the displayed text, which is why you're seeing file.png and file.pdf as plain text rather than clickable hyperlinks.

    If preserving hyperlinks in Excel is a requirement, you may want to consider:

    • Storing the URL in a Hyperlink column instead of an Enhanced Rich Text column (although this only supports a single link per field).
    • Using a custom reporting process (Power Automate, Power BI, or script) instead of the native SharePoint export.

    As far as I'm aware, there is no out-of-the-box way to make SharePoint's Export to Excel retain multiple HTML hyperlinks stored in a rich text field. The export process simply wasn't designed to convert rich text HTML into Excel hyperlinks.