: The Anchor element
The HTML element (or anchor element), with its href attribute, creates a hyperlink to web pages, files, email addresses, locations in the same page, or anything else a URL can address.
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Attributes
This element’s attributes include the global attributes.
Causes the browser to treat the linked URL as a download. Can be used with or without a filename value:
- Without a value, the browser will suggest a filename/extension, generated from various sources:
- The Content-Disposition HTTP header
- The final segment in the URL path
- The media type (from the Content-Type header, the start of a data: URL, or Blob.type for a blob: URL)
- download only works for same-origin URLs, or the blob: and data: schemes.
- How browsers treat downloads varies by browser, user settings, and other factors. The user may be prompted before a download starts, or the file may be saved automatically, or it may open automatically, either in an external application or in the browser itself.
- If the Content-Disposition header has different information from the download attribute, resulting behavior may differ:
- If the header specifies a filename , it takes priority over a filename specified in the download attribute.
- If the header specifies a disposition of inline , Chrome and Firefox prioritize the attribute and treat it as a download. Old Firefox versions (before 82) prioritize the header and will display the content inline.
The URL that the hyperlink points to. Links are not restricted to HTTP-based URLs — they can use any URL scheme supported by browsers:
- Sections of a page with document fragments
- Specific text portions with text fragments
- Pieces of media files with media fragments
- Telephone numbers with tel: URLs
- Email addresses with mailto: URLs
- While web browsers may not support other URL schemes, websites can with registerProtocolHandler()
Hints at the human language of the linked URL. No built-in functionality. Allowed values are the same as the global lang attribute.
A space-separated list of URLs. When the link is followed, the browser will send POST requests with the body PING to the URLs. Typically for tracking.
How much of the referrer to send when following the link.
- no-referrer : The Referer header will not be sent.
- no-referrer-when-downgrade : The Referer header will not be sent to origins without TLS (HTTPS).
- origin : The sent referrer will be limited to the origin of the referring page: its scheme, host, and port.
- origin-when-cross-origin : The referrer sent to other origins will be limited to the scheme, the host, and the port. Navigations on the same origin will still include the path.
- same-origin : A referrer will be sent for same origin, but cross-origin requests will contain no referrer information.
- strict-origin : Only send the origin of the document as the referrer when the protocol security level stays the same (HTTPS→HTTPS), but don’t send it to a less secure destination (HTTPS→HTTP).
- strict-origin-when-cross-origin (default): Send a full URL when performing a same-origin request, only send the origin when the protocol security level stays the same (HTTPS→HTTPS), and send no header to a less secure destination (HTTPS→HTTP).
- unsafe-url : The referrer will include the origin and the path (but not the fragment, password, or username). This value is unsafe, because it leaks origins and paths from TLS-protected resources to insecure origins.
The relationship of the linked URL as space-separated link types.
Where to display the linked URL, as the name for a browsing context (a tab, window, or ). The following keywords have special meanings for where to load the URL:
- _self : the current browsing context. (Default)
- _blank : usually a new tab, but users can configure browsers to open a new window instead.
- _parent : the parent browsing context of the current one. If no parent, behaves as _self .
- _top : the topmost browsing context (the «highest» context that’s an ancestor of the current one). If no ancestors, behaves as _self .
Note: Setting target=»_blank» on elements implicitly provides the same rel behavior as setting rel=»noopener» which does not set window.opener .
Hints at the linked URL’s format with a MIME type. No built-in functionality.
Deprecated attributes
Hinted at the character encoding of the linked URL.
Note: This attribute is deprecated and should not be used by authors. Use the HTTP Content-Type header on the linked URL.
Used with the shape attribute. A comma-separated list of coordinates.
Was required to define a possible target location in a page. In HTML 4.01, id and name could both be used on , as long as they had identical values.
Note: Use the global attribute id instead.
Specified a reverse link; the opposite of the rel attribute. Deprecated for being very confusing.
The shape of the hyperlink’s region in an image map.
HTML Tag
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
Tips and Notes
Tip: A linked page is normally displayed in the current browser window, unless you specify another target.
Tip: Use CSS to style links: CSS Links and CSS Buttons.
Browser Support
Attributes
Attribute Value Description download filename Specifies that the target will be downloaded when a user clicks on the hyperlink href URL Specifies the URL of the page the link goes to hreflang language_code Specifies the language of the linked document media media_query Specifies what media/device the linked document is optimized for ping list_of_URLs Specifies a space-separated list of URLs to which, when the link is followed, post requests with the body ping will be sent by the browser (in the background). Typically used for tracking. referrerpolicy no-referrer
no-referrer-when-downgrade
origin
origin-when-cross-origin
same-origin
strict-origin-when-cross-origin
unsafe-urlSpecifies which referrer information to send with the link rel alternate
author
bookmark
external
help
license
next
nofollow
noreferrer
noopener
prev
search
tagSpecifies the relationship between the current document and the linked document target _blank
_parent
_self
_topSpecifies where to open the linked document type media_type Specifies the media type of the linked document HTML href Attribute
The href attribute specifies the URL of the page the link goes to.
If the href attribute is not present, the tag will not be a hyperlink.
Tip: You can use href=»#top» or href=»#» to link to the top of the current page!
Browser Support
Syntax
Attribute Values
- An absolute URL — points to another web site (like href=»http://www.example.com/default.htm»)
- A relative URL — points to a file within a web site (like href=»default.htm»)
- Link to an element with a specified id within the page (like href=»#section2″)
- Other protocols (like https://, ftp://, mailto:, file:, etc..)
- A script (like href=»javascript:alert(‘Hello’);»)
More Examples
Example
How to use an image as a link:
Example
How to link to an email address:
Example
How to link to a phone number:
Example
How to link to another section on the same page:
Example
How to link to a JavaScript:
COLOR PICKER
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