A clickable ‘Next’ button in Excel allows you to move to the next worksheet with just a click, simplifying navigation in workbooks with multiple worksheets.

Typically, you can navigate to the previous or next worksheet by clicking on the sheet tab name or using the shortcut keys “Ctrl + Page Down” or “Ctrl + Page Up.”

However, when the number of worksheets is large, not all tabs may be visible. To facilitate navigation, it’s best to include ‘Next’ and ‘Previous’ buttons within each worksheet. We will create ‘navigation hyperlinks’ for this.

Let’s explore how to create a clickable ‘Next’ button in Excel, which is very straightforward.

Creating a Clickable Next Button in Excel

Follow the steps below to create a clickable ‘Next’ button (Navigation Hyperlink) in Excel:

1. Insert a Text Box: To insert a Text Box, navigate to the Insert tab. You can find the ‘Text Box’ option within the ‘Text’ group or by clicking ‘Shapes’ within the ‘Illustrations’ group.
2. Type “Next >” inside the text box.
3. Align and Format the Text: Select the text and align it to the center, both horizontally and vertically. Increase the font size. All these options are available within the Home tab.
4. Format the Text Box: Click the ‘Shape Format’ tab and format the text box as desired.
5. Insert a Hyperlink: Click inside the text box to select it. Go to the Insert tab and click on ‘Link’ or use the shortcut key “Ctrl + K” to open the ‘Insert Hyperlink’ dialog box.
6. Link to Another Worksheet: Click “Place in This Document,” select the worksheet name, and click OK.

The text box with the text “Next >” is now a clickable ‘Next’ button in your spreadsheet.

A click on this button will take you to the Next linked worksheet in your workbook.

Creating a Clickable Previous Button in Excel

You can follow the above same approach to create a clickable ‘Previous’ button in Excel.

The difference lies in the button label; instead of “Next >,” it will be “< Previous” this time.

For the ‘Next’ button, within the insert hyperlink dialog box, select the worksheet on your right-hand side, and for the ‘Previous’ button, select the worksheet on your left-hand side.

Hiding Worksheets and Impact on Navigation Hyperlinks

You can hide and unhide a worksheet by right-clicking on the worksheet name (tab). Does hyperlink navigation work in that case?

Assume you have three worksheets in an Excel workbook named Sheet1, Sheet2, and Sheet3.

Sheet1 contains a ‘Next’ button, Sheet2 contains both ‘Next’ and ‘Previous’ buttons, and Sheet3 contains a ‘Previous’ button.

If you hide any sheet, clicking the ‘Next’ or ‘Previous’ buttons on the other sheets won’t navigate to the hidden worksheet. It will remain hidden.

Additional Tip

We have seen how to create clickable ‘Next’ and ‘Previous’ buttons in an Excel workbook.

If you have many worksheets and want to restrict users from directly navigating to other sheets, you can hide the sheet tabs.

To hide sheet tabs, navigate to File > Options > Advanced and uncheck “Show sheet tabs” under “Display options for this workbook.” Click OK.

Now, you can use either the buttons or the keyboard shortcuts to navigate to the next and previous worksheets.

Resources

Here are some cool Excel tips and tricks guides.

• Address of the Last Non-Empty Cell Ignoring Blanks in a Column in Excel
• Applying Alternating Colors to Visible Rows in Google Sheets & Excel
• Flip a Table Vertically in Excel (Includes Dynamic Array Formula)
• Combine Two Tables in Excel Using a Dynamic Array Formula
• How to Create An In-Cell Progress Bar in Excel
• EXPAND + Stacking: Expand an Array in Excel
• Create a Calendar in Excel with a One-Line Dynamic Array Formula