Hyperlinks in Excel

[Office Dummy]

I am working on a time sensitive project and have run into a snag.

I am a Mac user and it has been a good number of yrs since I have used MS Office.

Anyhow, I'm working on a spreadsheet and have inserted several hyperlinks to pdf files that I have stored on my computer. I created a new file to store the links and linked the files to the spreadsheet from that new file. I intend for this new spreadsheet to evolve into a comprehensive database that contains a great deal of information, along with several links.

I created the s-sheet and attached some linked files as described - worked beautifully. Then I ran into a snag - when I close and reopen the spreadsheet, I click on the pdf link and a dialogue comes up stating that I must locate the file by pointing to it again "for security purposes". This is not only tedious but, obviously an issue going forward b/c the step negates the nicety of linking files.

First, I'm hoping someone can offer guidance in order to correct the issue locally (my computer/my own use). Second, once this is hopefully resolved, I need to be able to send the entire file to a colleague and I will want the same functionality on their end. (i.e.; open linked pdf's w/out additional steps)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Office Dummy]

Here's a screenshot of the dialogue that pops up when I hit a link in the excel file