I see the menu item to use to update the default link color in Pages, but that menu item is grayed out

I've been having the same issue. The only workaround I've found is to:

1. With the various auto options for link recognition and link styling all ON:
2. Type the desired display text, including a punctuation mark at the end that will NOT be part of the link. (eg "This is a link.")
3. Select the text but NOT the punctuation, and insert>link, adding the desired target url, etc. in the popup.
4. Once Pages has autoformatted the link AS a link, format it as desired. At this point, I finally get the option to update the link style.

What I can't understand is why doing everything exactly the same except without an unincluded punctuation mark at the end doesn't give me the same results, but it doesn't. Without the punctuation mark, there's no update button and all the options stay greyed out. Who knows -- at least there's a workaround!

It looks to as if you may have selected not just the link text but some text surround it

Here's what I get when I select a. blue-colored link and an extra character:

And here's what I get when I'm careful to select the link and only the link (Pages offers to update the style):

I'm confused by VikingOSX's observation that Numbers 11.1 doesn't underline links. My screenshots above are from Numbers 11.1. The links have underlines.

I do have 'Smart Web and Email Links' checked at Edit > Substitutions. That perhaps accounts for the difference in behavior on our machines?

In any case, Numbers 11.1 is handling links the way I would expect. I think this may be a case of having to more carefully select the link and only the link, with no surrounding characters.

SG

Earlier versions of Pages used to apply a visible link to the text when you entered the URL and pressed enter in the Link Inspector. Pages v11.1 makes the text a hyperlink without the underline, and that is bogus.

Select the text that you want to apply a link to and visit the character styles panel to select Link. This will put a black underline beneath the linked text. Next, press ⌘T to open the Font panel. The underline toolbar item is the second icon from the left on the Font panel's toolbar. Click on it and choose Color from its menu, which will open the Color chooser. Select your color, and it will immediately alter the underline color on the linked text. Verify that the menu shows √ Single underline, and then quit the Font panel.

In the character styles panel, you should see an upgrade box for the Link style. Disregard, and click the '+' button to add a new link style which if the color was set to blue, you might consider naming it Link - Blue.

It's persistent. Pages v11.1 with Big Sur 11.5 on an M1 mini.

I had all but Text Replacements unchecked in the Edit -> Substitutions submenu. Selected Smart Web and Email links, and no link underline appeared. Visited Pages Preferences > Auto-Correction panel, and Automatically apply link style was not selected. Changed that, and still, no link underline appears under selected, weblink text. D'oh.

[Update. Now it is applying the default black hyperlink on the text. Go Figure]

wildoak wrote:

I added a link. That link is in black text. I tried highlighting the link to change the style. Again, and as I'm accustomed to seeing, there's an Update button at the paragraph style and for the character style, not only is there no Update button, but the majority of the menu items are grayed out. Note that I've selected only the link.

But suppose you select only the link and change it to, say, blue. After doing that do you then see the Update button?

SG

With the link selected have you tried here?

SG

I'm running Pages 11.1 under macOS 11.5. Are you perhaps running an outdated version?

SG