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Hyperlinks and Bookmarks in Rich Text Documents

wpf-9103-controls-and-libraries-rich-text-editor-rich-edit-control-document-hyperlinks-and-bookmarks.md

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Hyperlinks and Bookmarks in Rich Text Documents

  • Sep 02, 2025
  • 5 minutes to read

The following members allow you to create a Hyperlink in code:

MemberDescription
SubDocument.FindAllSearches for every range that contains the given text string.
HyperlinkCollection.CreateCreates a new item in the HyperlinkCollection.
Hyperlink.NavigateUriSpecifies the URI for the hyperlink to navigate to.
Hyperlink.ToolTipSpecifies a tooltip - a text displayed when the mouse hovers over a hyperlink.

The following code snippet finds a specific range in the document and converts it to a hyperlink with a given URI and a tooltip:

csharp
Document document = richEdit.Document;

//Find the specific text string in a document
DocumentRange[] foundRanges = document.FindAll("DevExpress WinForms Rich Text Editor",
SearchOptions.CaseSensitive);
if (foundRanges.Length > 0)
{
    //Create a hyperlink from a found range
    document.Hyperlinks.Create(foundRanges[0]);

    //Set the URI and the tooltip for the created hyperlink
    document.Hyperlinks[0].NavigateUri = "https://www.devexpress.com/Products/NET/Controls/WinForms/Rich_Editor/";
    document.Hyperlinks[0].ToolTip = "WinForms Rich Text Editor";
}
vb
Dim document As Document = richEdit.Document

'Find the specific text string in a document
Dim foundRanges() As DocumentRange = document.FindAll("DevExpress WinForms Rich Text Editor", SearchOptions.CaseSensitive)
If foundRanges.Length > 0 Then
    'Create a hyperlink from a found range
    document.Hyperlinks.Create(foundRanges(0))

    'Set the URI and the tooltip for the created hyperlink
    document.Hyperlinks(0).NavigateUri = "https://www.devexpress.com/Products/NET/Controls/WinForms/Rich_Editor/"
    document.Hyperlinks(0).ToolTip = "WinForms Rich Text Editor"
End If

Use the DXRichEditHyperlinkOptions class properties to complete the following tasks:

The following code snippet specifies these properties in code:

xaml
<dxre:RichEditControl.HyperlinkOptions>
  <dxre:DXRichEditHyperlinkOptions ShowToolTip="False"
                                   ModifierKeys="Shift+None"
                                   EnableUriCorrection="False"/>
</dxre:RichEditControl.HyperlinkOptions>

Handle the RichEditControl.HyperlinkClick event to perform custom actions when a hyperlink is activated. Refer to the following topic for more details: How to: Handle the HyperlinkClick Event to Invoke the Custom Form

Note

The hyperlink is a specific kind of a document field, therefore the DXRichEditDocumentCapabilitiesOptions.Fields property affects the hyperlink loading process when importing the document. Set the RichEditControlCompatibility.LoadHyperlinkAsField property to false before calling the InitializeComponent method to correct this behavior and allow loading hyperlinks when loading fields are disabled.

Call the HyperlinkCollection.Remove(Hyperlink) to delete the hyperlink. The HyperlinkCollection.RemoveAt(Int32) method deletes the hyperlink at the specified index in the collection.

The code sample below locates and removes all hyperlinks in the first section:

csharp
Document document = richEditControl.Document;
ReadOnlyHyperlinkCollection hyperlinks = document.Hyperlinks.Get(document.Sections[0].Range);
if (hyperlinks != null)
{
    foreach (Hyperlink hyperlink in hyperlinks)
    {
        document.Hyperlinks.Remove(hyperlink);
    }
}
vb
Dim document As Document = wordProcessor.Document
Dim hyperlinks As ReadOnlyHyperlinkCollection = document.Hyperlinks.Get(document.Sections(0).Range)
If hyperlinks IsNot Nothing Then
    For Each hyperlink As Hyperlink In hyperlinks
        document.Hyperlinks.Remove(hyperlink)
    Next hyperlink
End If

Bookmarks

Create a Bookmark

The following code snippet creates a Bookmark and a hyperlink which navigates to the created bookmark using API from the table below:

MemberDescription
SubDocument.BeginUpdateEnables document modification.
BookmarkCollection.CreateCreates a bookmark at the given document position.
DocumentHyperlink.AnchorConnects a bookmark with a specific hyperlink.
SubDocument.EndUpdateFinalizes the document update.
csharp
Document document = richEdit.Document;
document.BeginUpdate();
DocumentPosition pos = document.Range.Start;

//Create a bookmark to a given position
document.Bookmarks.Create(document.CreateRange(pos, 1), "Top");

//Insert the hyperlink anchored to the created bookmark:
DocumentRange[] foundRanges = document.FindAll("To the Top", SearchOptions.CaseSensitive);
if (foundRanges.Length > 0)
{
    document.Hyperlinks.Create(foundRanges[0]);
    document.Hyperlinks[1].Anchor = "Top";
}
document.EndUpdate();
vb
Dim document As Document = richEdit.Document
document.BeginUpdate()
Dim pos As DocumentPosition = document.Range.Start

'Create a bookmark to a given position
document.Bookmarks.Create(document.CreateRange(pos, 1), "Top")

'Insert the hyperlink anchored to the created bookmark:
Dim foundRanges() As DocumentRange = document.FindAll("To the Top", SearchOptions.CaseSensitive)
If foundRanges.Length > 0 Then
    document.Hyperlinks.Create(foundRanges(0))
    document.Hyperlinks(1).Anchor = "Top"
End If
document.EndUpdate()

The animation below shows the result:

Note

If a new bookmark name duplicates the existing one, an InvalidOperationException exception is thrown with the message obtained from the XtraRichEditStringId.Msg_DuplicateBookmark resource string that reads “Bookmark with that name already exists in the document”. Use the DXRichEditBookmarkOptions.ConflictNameResolution property to programmatically process bookmarks with duplicate names which may appear in your document.

Visualize the Bookmark

Use the following properties to highlight bookmarks within the document:

With these properties specified, the bookmarks are displayed the following way:

Export Bookmarks to the PDF format

You can specify what bookmarks can be displayed in the Bookmarks panel when you export the document to PDF format. Set the DXRichEditBookmarkOptions.DisplayBookmarksInPdfNavigationPane property to one of the DevExpress.XtraRichEdit.PdfBookmarkDisplayMode enumeration values, as shown below:

xaml
<dxre:RichEditControl x:Name="richEditControl1">
<dxre:RichEditControl.BookmarkOptions>
    <dxre:DXRichEditBookmarkOptions DisplayBookmarksInPdfNavigationPane="TocBookmarks"/>
</dxre:RichEditControl.BookmarkOptions>
</dxre:RichEditControl>

Use the DXRichEditBookmarkOptions.DisplayUnreferencedPdfBookmarks property to determine whether to show bookmarks without references (i.e., without hyperlinks anchored to these bookmarks) in the Bookmarks navigation pane. The DisplayBookmarksInPdfNavigationPane property set PdfBookmarkDisplayMode.None controls the unreferenced bookmarks when the DisplayUnreferencedPdfBookmarks property is set to true.

Remove a Bookmark

Utilize the BookmarkCollection.Remove(Bookmark) method to delete the bookmark.

The code sample below shows how to locate and remove bookmarks in the 6th paragraph:

csharp
using DevExpress.XtraRichEdit.API.Native;

using (RichEditDocumentServer wordProcessor = new RichEditDocumentServer())
{
    Document document = wordProcessor.Document;
    ReadOnlyBookmarkCollection bookmarks =
       document.Bookmarks.Get(document.Paragraphs[5].Range);
    if (bookmarks != null)
    {
        foreach (Bookmark bookmark in bookmarks)
        {
            document.Bookmarks.Remove(bookmark);

        }
    }
}
vb
Imports DevExpress.XtraRichEdit.API.Native

Using wordProcessor As New RichEditDocumentServer()
  Dim document As Document = wordProcessor.Document
  Dim bookmarks As ReadOnlyBookmarkCollection =
     document.Bookmarks.Get(document.Paragraphs(5).Range)
  If bookmarks IsNot Nothing Then
    For Each bookmark As Bookmark In bookmarks
        document.Bookmarks.Remove(bookmark)
    Next bookmark
  End If
End Using

End-users can insert a bookmark or hyperlink in the document using the Links group of the Insert ribbon tab. Refer to the Create a Simple Rich Text Editor topic for details on how to provide the application with the Ribbon Command UI.

Additionally, RichEditControl provides the following dialogs which allow end-users to manage hyperlinks or bookmarks:

Tip

Set the DXRichEditDocumentCapabilitiesOptions.Hyperlinks or DXRichEditDocumentCapabilitiesOptions.Bookmarks property to DocumentCapability.Disabled to restrict end-users’ use of hyperlinks or bookmarks.

See Also

Localizing WPF Controls with Localizer Objects