CSS :link Pseudo Class

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The :link pseudo-class is used to select and style unvisited links in a page. It applies to links that have not yet been visited.

An element can be both :visited and :active so as the :link pseudo-class will have an effect.

:active, :hover, or :visited pseudo-classes override the style defined by the :link pseudo-class. For styling links properly, the :link rule should be placed before all other link-related rules (:link, :visited, :hover, :active).

The :link pseudo-class matches every unvisited <a>, <area>, or <link> element that has a href attribute.

Version

HTML Living Standard

Selectors Level 4

Selectors Level 3

Syntax

:link {
  css declarations;
}

Example of the :link selector:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      a:link {
        background-color: #ccc;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>:link selector example</h2>
    <a href="https://www.w3docs.com">w3docs</a>
    <a href="https://stackdev.io/">Stackdev</a>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

Example of the :link selector with the <p> tag:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      p {
        font-size: 20px;
      }
      /* unvisited link */
      a:link {
        color: #ccc;
      }
      /* visited link */
      a:visited {
        color: #1c87c9;
      }
      /* mouse over link */
      a:hover {
        color: #8ebf42;
      }
      /* selected link */
      a:active {
        color: #666;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>:link selector example</h2>
    <p>Visit our
      <a href="https://www.w3docs.com/">website</a>.
    </p>
  </body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

In this example, mouse over the links and watch how they will be changed:

Example of the :link pseudo-class with :hover and :visited:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
    <style>
      a {
        display: block;
        padding: 5px 0 10px;
        font-weight: bold;
      }
      a.one:link {
        color: #ccc;
      }
      a.one:visited {
        color: #095484;
      }
      a.one:hover {
        color: #8ebf42;
      }
      a.two:link {
        color: #ccc;
      }
      a.two:visited {
        color: #095484;
      }
      a.two:hover {
        font-size: 150%;
      }
      a.three:link {
        color: #ccc;
      }
      a.three:visited {
        color: #095484;
      }
      a.three:hover {
        background: #8ebf42;
      }
      a.four:link {
        color: #ccc;
      }
      a.four:visited {
        color: #095484;
      }
      a.four:hover {
        font-family: monospace;
      }
      a.five:link {
        color: #095484;
        text-decoration: none;
      }
      a.five:visited {
        color: #095484;
        text-decoration: none;
      }
      a.five:hover {
        text-decoration: overline underline;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>:link selector example</h2>
    <p>
      <a class="one" href="#">This link changes color</a>
      <a class="two" href="#">This link changes font-size</a>
      <a class="three" href="#">This link changes background-color</a>
      <a class="four" href="#">This link changes font-family</a>
      <a class="five" href="#">This link changes text-decoration</a>
    </p>
  </body>
</html>