HTML <link>

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BrandonDusch's avatar
BrandonDusch
Published Jun 9, 2022Updated Jul 1, 2022
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The <link> element connects the current web page with an external file such as a stylesheet or a library.

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Syntax

<head>
  <title>Links in HTML</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="some/outside/source.css" />
</head>

The two primary attributes are:

  • A rel to describe the format of the external source.
  • An href that contains the filepath to the external source.

It is best practice that the <link> element is always defined inside the <head> element.

Example

The following example shows how the <link> element can also be used to make icons for the page, including Apple PWA home screen icons:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <title>Links in HTML</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="some/outside/source.css" />
    <link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" />


    <!-- After iOS 7-->
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="apple-icon-114.png" type="image/png" />


    <!-- iOS 7 and before -->
    <link
      rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed"
      href="apple-icon-114.png"
      type="image/png"
    />
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- markup here -->
  </body>
</html>

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  • Career path

    Front-End Engineer

    Front-end engineers work closely with designers to make websites beautiful, functional, and fast.
    • Includes 34 Courses
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      115 hours
  • Free course

    Learn HTML

    Start at the beginning by learning HTML basics — an important foundation for building and editing web pages.
    • Beginner Friendly.
      7 hours