- HTML Links
- HTML Links — Hyperlinks
- HTML Links — Syntax
- Example
- HTML Links — The target Attribute
- Example
- Absolute URLs vs. Relative URLs
- Example
- Absolute URLs
- Relative URLs
- HTML Links — Use an Image as a Link
- Example
- Link to an Email Address
- Example
- Button as a Link
- Example
- Link Titles
- CSS Links
- Styling Links
- Example
- Example
- Text Decoration
- Example
- Background Color
- Example
- Link Buttons
- Example
- More Examples
- Example
- Example
- Example
- COLOR PICKER
- Report Error
- Thank You For Helping Us!
HTML Links
Links are found in nearly all web pages. Links allow users to click their way from page to page.
HTML Links — Hyperlinks
HTML links are hyperlinks.
You can click on a link and jump to another document.
When you move the mouse over a link, the mouse arrow will turn into a little hand.
Note: A link does not have to be text. A link can be an image or any other HTML element!
HTML Links — Syntax
The link text is the part that will be visible to the reader.
Clicking on the link text, will send the reader to the specified URL address.
Example
This example shows how to create a link to W3Schools.com:
By default, links will appear as follows in all browsers:
- An unvisited link is underlined and blue
- A visited link is underlined and purple
- An active link is underlined and red
Tip: Links can of course be styled with CSS, to get another look!
HTML Links — The target Attribute
By default, the linked page will be displayed in the current browser window. To change this, you must specify another target for the link.
The target attribute specifies where to open the linked document.
The target attribute can have one of the following values:
- _self — Default. Opens the document in the same window/tab as it was clicked
- _blank — Opens the document in a new window or tab
- _parent — Opens the document in the parent frame
- _top — Opens the document in the full body of the window
Example
Use target=»_blank» to open the linked document in a new browser window or tab:
Absolute URLs vs. Relative URLs
Both examples above are using an absolute URL (a full web address) in the href attribute.
A local link (a link to a page within the same website) is specified with a relative URL (without the «https://www» part):
Example
Absolute URLs
W3C
Relative URLs
HTML Images
CSS Tutorial
HTML Links — Use an Image as a Link
To use an image as a link, just put the tag inside the tag:
Example
Link to an Email Address
Use mailto: inside the href attribute to create a link that opens the user’s email program (to let them send a new email):
Example
Button as a Link
To use an HTML button as a link, you have to add some JavaScript code.
JavaScript allows you to specify what happens at certain events, such as a click of a button:
Example
Tip: Learn more about JavaScript in our JavaScript Tutorial.
Link Titles
The title attribute specifies extra information about an element. The information is most often shown as a tooltip text when the mouse moves over the element.
CSS Links
With CSS, links can be styled in many different ways.
Styling Links
Links can be styled with any CSS property (e.g. color , font-family , background , etc.).
Example
In addition, links can be styled differently depending on what state they are in.
The four links states are:
- a:link — a normal, unvisited link
- a:visited — a link the user has visited
- a:hover — a link when the user mouses over it
- a:active — a link the moment it is clicked
Example
/* unvisited link */
a:link color: red;
>
/* visited link */
a:visited color: green;
>
/* mouse over link */
a:hover color: hotpink;
>
/* selected link */
a:active color: blue;
>
When setting the style for several link states, there are some order rules:
Text Decoration
The text-decoration property is mostly used to remove underlines from links:
Example
a:visited text-decoration: none;
>
a:hover text-decoration: underline;
>
a:active text-decoration: underline;
>
Background Color
The background-color property can be used to specify a background color for links:
Example
a:link <
background-color: yellow;
>
a:visited background-color: cyan;
>
a:hover background-color: lightgreen;
>
a:active background-color: hotpink;
>
Link Buttons
This example demonstrates a more advanced example where we combine several CSS properties to display links as boxes/buttons:
Example
a:link, a:visited <
background-color: #f44336;
color: white;
padding: 14px 25px;
text-align: center;
text-decoration: none;
display: inline-block;
>
a:hover, a:active background-color: red;
>
More Examples
Example
This example demonstrates how to add other styles to hyperlinks:
Example
Another example of how to create link boxes/buttons:
a:link, a:visited <
background-color: white;
color: black;
border: 2px solid green;
padding: 10px 20px;
text-align: center;
text-decoration: none;
display: inline-block;
>
a:hover, a:active background-color: green;
color: white;
>
Example
This example demonstrates the different types of cursors (can be useful for links):
COLOR PICKER
Report Error
If you want to report an error, or if you want to make a suggestion, do not hesitate to send us an e-mail:
Thank You For Helping Us!
Your message has been sent to W3Schools.
Top Tutorials
Top References
Top Examples
Get Certified
W3Schools is optimized for learning and training. Examples might be simplified to improve reading and learning. Tutorials, references, and examples are constantly reviewed to avoid errors, but we cannot warrant full correctness of all content. While using W3Schools, you agree to have read and accepted our terms of use, cookie and privacy policy.