An HTML link is displayed in a different color depending on whether it has been visited, is unvisited, or is active.
HTML Link Colors
By default, a link will appear like this (in all browsers):
- An unvisited link is underlined and blue
- A visited link is underlined and purple
- An active link is underlined and red
You can change the link state colors, by using CSS:
Example
Here, an unvisited link will be green with no underline. A visited link will be pink with no underline. An active link will be yellow and underlined. In addition, when mousing over a link (a:hover) it will become red and underlined:
<style>
a:link {
color: green;
background-color: transparent;
text-decoration: none;
}a:visited {
color: pink;
background-color: transparent;
text-decoration: none;
}
a:hover {
color: red;
background-color: transparent;
text-decoration: underline;
}
a:active {
color: yellow;
background-color: transparent;
text-decoration: underline;
}
</style>
Link Buttons
A link can also be styled as a button, by using CSS:
Example
<style>
a:link, a:visited {
background-color: #f44336;
color: white;
padding: 15px 25px;
text-align: center;
text-decoration: none;
display: inline-block;
}a:hover, a:active {
background-color: red;
}
</style>
To learn more about CSS, go to our CSS Tutorial.
HTML Link Tags
| Tag | Description |
|---|---|
| <a> | Defines a hyperlink |