How to Create Internal Links in PDFs with Adobe Acrobat

Today’s tutorial explains how to create internal links in PDFs with Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.

My last software tutorial showed how to create external links in PDFs and how to delete both external and internal links. Although the two processes are similar, the steps for creating internal links are a bit more complex.

This tutorial is available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than 150 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel.

Note to Acrobat Reader Users: Adobe’s free PDF software, Acrobat Reader, doesn’t have a tool for creating links. If you need to create links but don’t have access to Acrobat, create the document with the links in Microsoft Word and then convert the Word file to a PDF.

Create Internal Links in PDFs

Steps 1 through 6 are identical to the first six steps of “How to Create External Links in PDFs with Adobe Acrobat.” So, you can skip to step 7 if you already know how to create the link rectangle.

1. Select the Tools tab.

2. Select the Edit PDF icon in the Tools Pane.

3. Select the Link down arrow in the Edit PDF toolbar.

4. Select Add/Edit Web or Document Link from the drop-down menu.

Your selection (arrow) cursor will turn into a crosshair-style cursor.

5. Left-click and hold as you use the cursor to drag a rectangle around the text you want to turn into an internal link.

6. Select Invisible Rectangle or Visible Rectangle from the Link Type drop-down menu in the Create Link dialog box.

The invisible rectangle will be appropriate for most PDFs. If you choose a visible rectangle, you can also select the line style, thickness, and color from the Create Link dialog box.

7. Select Go to a page view in the Link Action section.

8. Select the Next button.

The Create Go to View dialog box will appear.

9. Scroll to the part of the document you want to link to. The Create Go to View dialog box will remain on the screen while you scroll.

Important Note: You are creating a link to the part of the document visible on your screen rather than to specific text. Visit “Three Ways to Create Bookmarks in PDFs with Adobe Acrobat” if you want to link to specific text.

10. Select the Set Link button in the Create Go to View dialog box when the part of the document you want to link to is visible on your screen.

After you select the Set Link button, Acrobat will return to the text you linked to in step 5.

If you chose Invisible Rectangle in step 6, you’ll still see a rectangle around the link you created until you close the Edit PDF toolbar. The rectangle won’t reappear when you reopen the toolbar.

Optional Final Steps: Ensure Your Internal Link Is Working Correctly

11. Select the selection (arrow) cursor. (The link you just created won’t work until the selection cursor is chosen or the Edit PDF toolbar is closed.)