Outlook Tips--Including an Internal Hyperlink

How can I include an internal hyperlink in an Outlook HTML message so that the reader can click the link and jump to a specific portion of my message?

In the June 2001 issue, I explained three methods for building Outlook messages with relatively complex HTML content. Of these three methods, only one really works for internal hyperlinks—composing the message first in Microsoft Word. You can start with a Word document, then use the File, Send To, Mail Recipient command. Or in Outlook 2002, you can use WordMail (i.e., Word as the default editor for Outlook messages) to create the HTML message directly.

What happens if you use one of the other methods I described in the June issue? If you create the message by using the Insert, File command to insert an .htm file as text, Outlook adds outbind://32/ in front of the hyperlink, which makes it unusable. If you start with the Web page in Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE), then choose File, Send, Page by Email, Outlook adds a tag to the header, which makes all the internal hyperlinks point back to the original Web page and, again, makes the link useless.