- 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: How to create Links to other Web Pages
- Link Targets
- Jump Links
- Add an ID to the Link Target
- Create the Hyperlink
- Email Links
- Base href
- 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
- HTML Tag
- Browser Support
- Attributes
- Global Attributes
- Event Attributes
- Related Pages
- Default CSS Settings
- COLOR PICKER
- Report Error
- Thank You For Helping Us!
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
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HTML Links: How to create Links to other Web Pages
This article explains how to create a link from one page to another. It also outlines the different types of hyperlinks.
Links, otherwise known as , are defined using the tag — otherwise known as the element.
Hypertext references can use URLS, URLs, or URLs.
This refers to a URL where the full path is provided. For example:
This refers to a URL where the path, relative to the current location, is provided.
For example, if we want to reference the https://www.quackit.com/html/tutorial/ URL, and our current location is https://www.quackit.com/html/ , we would use this:
This refers to a URL where the path, relative to the domain’s root, is provided.
For example, if we want to reference the https://www.quackit.com/html/tutorial/ URL, and the current location is https://www.quackit.com/html/ , we could use this:
The forward slash indicates the domain’s root. No matter where your file is located, you can always use this method to specify the path, even if you don’t know what the domain name will eventually be (as long as you know the full path from the root).
Link Targets
You can nominate whether to open the URL in a new window or the current window. You do this with the target attribute. For example, target=»_blank» opens the URL in a new window.
The target attribute can have the following possible values:
_blank | Opens the URL in a new browser window. |
_self | Loads the URL in the current browser window. |
_parent | Loads the URL into the parent frame (still within the current browser window). This is only applicable when using frames. |
_top | Loads the URL in the current browser window, but cancelling out any frames. Therefore, if frames were being used, they aren’t any longer. |
Jump Links
You can make your links «jump» to other sections within the same page (or another page). These used to be called «named anchors», but they’re often referred to as jump links, bookmarks, or fragment identifiers.
Here’s how to link to the same page:
Add an ID to the Link Target
Add an ID to the part of the page that you want the user to end up. To do this, use the id attribute. The value should be some short descriptive text. The id attribute is a commonly used attribute in HTML.
Create the Hyperlink
Now create the hyperlink (that the user will click on). This is done by using the id of the link target, preceded by a hash ( # ) symbol:
So these two pieces of code are placed in different parts of the document. Something like this:
It doesn’t have to be the same page. You can use this method to jump to an ID of any page. To do this, simply add the destination URL before the hash ( # ) symbol. Example:
Of course, this assumes that there’s an ID with that value on the page.
Email Links
You can create a hyperlink to an email address. To do this, use the mailto attribute in your anchor tag.
Clicking on this link should result in your default email client opening up with the email address already filled out.
You can go a step further than this. You can auto-complete the subject line for your users, and even the body of the email. You do this appending subject and body parameters to the email address.
Base href
You can specify a default URL for all links on the page to start with. You do this by placing the base tag (in conjunction with the href attribute) in the document’s .
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.
HTML Tag
The tag defines the relationship between the current document and an external resource.
The tag is most often used to link to external style sheets or to add a favicon to your website.
The element is an empty element, it contains attributes only.
Browser Support
Attributes
Attribute | Value | Description |
---|---|---|
crossorigin | anonymous use-credentials | Specifies how the element handles cross-origin requests |
href | URL | Specifies the location of the linked document |
hreflang | language_code | Specifies the language of the text in the linked document |
media | media_query | Specifies on what device the linked document will be displayed |
referrerpolicy | no-referrer no-referrer-when-downgrade origin origin-when-cross-origin unsafe-url | Specifies which referrer to use when fetching the resource |
rel | alternate author dns-prefetch help icon license next pingback preconnect prefetch preload prerender prev search stylesheet | Required. Specifies the relationship between the current document and the linked document |
sizes | HeightxWidth any | Specifies the size of the linked resource. Only for rel=»icon» |
title | Defines a preferred or an alternate stylesheet | |
type | media_type | Specifies the media type of the linked document |
Global Attributes
Event Attributes
Related Pages
Default CSS Settings
Most browsers will display the element with the following default values:
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.