<link>: The LINK Element
Last updated: 2026-10-13
<link>The LINK Element
Defines a relationship between the current document and an external resource, most often a CSS stylesheet but also icons or preloads.
| Category | Metadata |
|---|---|
| Content Model | Flow content |
| Allowed Parents | Any element that accepts flow content |
| Content Tag | Self-closing — no closing tag needed |
| Status | Standard |
📝 Syntax
<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css">⚙️ Attributes
This element supports the global attributes plus the following:
| Attribute | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
rel | Relationship: stylesheet, icon, preload, alternate, etc. | |
href | URL of the external resource. | |
type | MIME type of the resource (e.g. text/css). | |
media | Media/device condition the resource applies to. | |
sizes | Icon sizes for rel=icon (e.g. 32x32). |
▶ Example
Edit the code below and see the live result in the playground:
🌐 Browser Support
| Browser |  Chrome |
 Edge |
 Firefox |
 Safari |
 Opera |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <link> | ✓ v1 | ✓ v12 | ✓ v1 | ✓ v1 | ✓ v1 |
| Supported in all major browsers | |||||
Tip： link is a void element; rel=stylesheet is the most common use.
❓ FAQ
QWhat are the common values of the link rel attribute?
AStylesheet
stylesheet, site icon icon, loading hints preload/prefetch/preconnect, canonical URL canonical, language alternates alternate, RSS alternate type='application/rss+xml'. The rel value decides what the link does — it is the soul of the element.QWhat is the difference between preload and prefetch?
A
preload: a key resource the current page needs immediately (above-the-fold fonts, critical CSS) — high priority, loads now. prefetch: a resource the next page might need — loads at low priority when idle. Mixing them up wastes bandwidth: current-page resources preload, cross-page resources prefetch.QHow do I configure favicon with link?
AModern setup:
<link rel='icon' href='/favicon.ico' sizes='any'> plus <link rel='icon' type='image/svg+xml' href='/icon.svg'>; Apple touch icon uses rel='apple-touch-icon'. Without any link, browsers still request /favicon.ico by default.🏷️ Related Tags
💡 Related Cases
More case studies coming soon — check back later.
📚 Related Tutorials
