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HTML href Attribute


Definition and Usage

For <a> and <area> elements, the href attribute specifies the URL of the page the link goes to.

For <base> elements, the href attribute specifies the base URL for all relative URLs on a page.

For <link> elements, the href attribute specifies the location (URL) of the external resource (most often a style sheet file).


Applies to

The href attribute can be used on the following elements:

Elements Attribute
<a> href
<area> href
<base> href
<link> href

Examples

A Example

The href attribute specifies the link's destination:

<a href="https://www.w3schools.com">Visit W3Schools</a>
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Area Example

An image-map, with clickable areas:

<img src="planets.gif" width="145" height="126" alt="Planets"
usemap="#planetmap">

<map name="planetmap">
  <area shape="rect" coords="0,0,82,126" href="sun.htm" alt="Sun">
  <area shape="circle" coords="90,58,3" href="mercur.htm" alt="Mercury">
  <area shape="circle" coords="124,58,8" href="venus.htm" alt="Venus">
</map>
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Base Example

Specify a base URL for all relative URLs on a page:

<head>
<base href="https://www.w3schools.com/images/">
</head>
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Link Example

Link to an external stylesheet:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="theme.css">
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Browser Support

The href attribute has the following browser support for each element:

Element
a Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
area Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
base Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
link Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes