Ever had a problem finding a project control document on your computer, network, or intranet? You can open a control document, such as a statement of work, from within Microsoft Project, quickly and easily, without searching. Here’s how.

1. Open the project and navigate to the Hyperlinks table. In Project 2010 you get there by selecting the View tab, then select Tables from the Data group.

2. When the table is shown, make sure you turn on the Project Summary Task so you can type the file location and file name into Hyperlink and/or Address fields as shown in the figure below. Turn on the Project Summary Task by selecting the Format tab, and then check the Project Summary Task box in the Show/Hide group.

3. Test the link by right-clicking on the Project Summary Task name in the Hyperlink Table and then choose Open Hyperlink from the Hyperlink dropdown:

When the document opens, youve successfully linked to your control document! If the document doesnt open, make sure the address and hyperlink correctly identify the document location, name, and extension, like the .docx in the figures above.

This next figure shows an example — my statement of work referenced in the Hyperlink Table above.

Tip! Dont forget to check out Help in Project. The Hyperlink and Address fields are explained nicely in the Fields reference. Give this simple technique a try and save yourself some time for other things — like managing your project!

This article was first published on Sam Huffman’s Project Blog.