The Blue Distraction
Google Docs is designed for the modern web. Therefore, whenever you type a string of text that looks like a web address (e.g., www.example.com) or an email address, and press the spacebar, Docs instantly and automatically converts that text into an active, clickable hyperlink. True to standard web aesthetics, it also automatically formats this new link by changing the text color to bright blue and adding a solid underline. While useful in a digital memo, this automatic styling completely ruins the formatting of formal printed documents, minimalist resumes, or academic bibliographies where strict, uniform text styling is required.
Silencing the Auto-Linker
To maintain your document’s visual consistency and stop Google Docs from automatically underlining links and turning URLs into active blue hyperlinks, you must disable the automatic link detection feature.
Open the Google Doc where you are working. Navigate to the top menu bar and click on Tools. Scroll down the dropdown menu and select Preferences. A new dialogue box will pop up on your screen. Ensure you are looking at the General tab (the default view on the left). Scan down the list of checkboxes for the option explicitly named Automatically detect links. By default, this box is checked. Click the box to uncheck it, and then click the blue OK button. From now on, you can type web addresses and emails freely; they will remain standard, unformatted text. (If you want to manually create a link later, you can highlight the text and press Ctrl+K).