How do I have a cell contain a link in Google Sheets that is shown as plain text?

Question

I've tried prepending with ' and formatting the cell as plain text.

I've even tried stuff like ="part of url" + "next part of url"

It just insists on representing it as a navigable link.

Answer 1

1. Right-click the cell (or equivalent, such as hold down the control key while you click)
2. Choose "Unlink" from the menu that appears

This can be also done on a range of cells: select the range, then follow 1-2 on any cell in the range.

The sheet will remember your preference, so the link will remain plain text even if you edit it. To convert back to hyperlink, use "convert to link" command of the menu.