: 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 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
Google
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-credentialsSpecifies 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-urlSpecifies which referrer to use when fetching the resource rel alternate
author
dns-prefetch
help
icon
license
next
pingback
preconnect
prefetch
preload
prerender
prev
search
stylesheetRequired. Specifies the relationship between the current document and the linked document sizes HeightxWidth
anySpecifies 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
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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.
