HTMLAnchorElement

The HTMLAnchorElement interface represents hyperlink elements and provides special properties and methods (beyond those of the regular HTMLElement object interface that they inherit from) for manipulating the layout and presentation of such elements. This interface corresponds to <a> element; not to be confused with <link>, which is represented by HTMLLinkElement)

Properties

Inherits properties from its parent, HTMLElement.

HTMLElement.accessKey: Is a DOMString representing a single character that switches input focus to the hyperlink.
HTMLAnchorElement.download Experimental: Is a DOMString indicating that the linked resource is intended to be downloaded rather than displayed in the browser. The value represent the proposed name of the file. If the name is not a valid filename of the underlying OS, browser will adapt it.
HTMLAnchorElement.hash: Is a USVString representing the fragment identifier, including the leading hash mark ('#'), if any, in the referenced URL.
HTMLAnchorElement.host: Is a USVString representing the hostname and port (if it's not the default port) in the referenced URL.
HTMLAnchorElement.hostname: Is a USVString representing the hostname in the referenced URL.
HTMLAnchorElement.href: Is a USVString that is the result of parsing the href HTML attribute relative to the document, containing a valid URL of a linked resource.
HTMLAnchorElement.hreflang: Is a DOMString that reflects the hreflang HTML attribute, indicating the language of the linked resource.
HTMLAnchorElement.origin Read only: Returns a USVString containing the origin of the URL, that is its scheme, its domain and its port.
HTMLAnchorElement.password: Is a USVString containing the password specified before the domain name.
HTMLAnchorElement.pathname: Is a USVString containing an initial '/' followed by the path of the URL, not including the query string or fragment.
HTMLAnchorElement.port: Is a USVString representing the port component, if any, of the referenced URL.
HTMLAnchorElement.protocol: Is a USVString representing the protocol component, including trailing colon (':'), of the referenced URL.
HTMLAnchorElement.referrerPolicy Experimental: Is a DOMString that reflects the referrerpolicy HTML attribute indicating which referrer to use.
HTMLAnchorElement.rel: Is a DOMString that reflects the rel HTML attribute, specifying the relationship of the target object to the linked object.
HTMLAnchorElement.relList Read only: Returns a DOMTokenList that reflects the rel HTML attribute, as a list of tokens.
HTMLAnchorElement.search: Is a USVString representing the search element, including leading question mark ('?'), if any, of the referenced URL.
HTMLElement.tabIndex: Is a long containing the position of the element in the tabbing navigation order for the current document.
HTMLAnchorElement.target: Is a DOMString that reflects the target HTML attribute, indicating where to display the linked resource.
HTMLAnchorElement.text: Is a DOMString being a synonym for the Node.textContent property.
HTMLAnchorElement.type: Is a DOMString that reflects the type HTML attribute, indicating the MIME type of the linked resource.
HTMLAnchorElement.username: Is a USVString containing the username specified before the domain name.

Obsolete properties

HTMLAnchorElement.charset Deprecated: Is a DOMString representing the character encoding of the linked resource.
HTMLAnchorElement.coords Deprecated: Is a DOMString representing a comma-separated list of coordinates.
HTMLAnchorElement.name Deprecated: Is a DOMString representing the anchor name.
HTMLAnchorElement.rev Deprecated: Is a DOMString representing that the rev HTML attribute, specifying the relationship of the link object to the target object.

Note: Currently the W3C HTML 5.2 spec states that rev is no longer obsolete, whereas the WHATWG living standard still has it labeled obsolete. Until this discrepancy is resolved, you should still assume it is obsolete.
HTMLAnchorElement.shape Deprecated: Is a DOMString representing the shape of the active area.

Methods

Inherits methods from its parent, HTMLElement.

HTMLElement.blur: Removes the keyboard focus from the current element.
HTMLElement.focus: Gives the keyboard focus to the current element.
HTMLAnchorElement.toString(): Returns a USVString containing the whole URL. It is a synonym for HTMLAnchorElement.href, though it can't be used to modify the value.

The blur() and focus() methods are inherited from HTMLElement from HTML5 on, but were defined on HTMLAnchorElement in DOM Level 2 HTML and earlier specifications.

Specifications

Specification
HTML Standard # htmlanchorelement

Browser compatibility

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	WebView Android	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet
`HTMLAnchorElement`	1	12	1	5.5	≤12.1	3	1	18	4	≤12.1	1	1.0
`charset`	1	12	1	6	≤12.1	3	1	18	4	≤12.1	1	1.0
`coords`	1	12	1	6	≤12.1	3	1	18	4	≤12.1	1	1.0
`download`	15	13	20	No	15	10.1	4.4	18	20	14	10.3	1.0
`hreflang`	1	12	1	6	≤12.1	3	1	18	4	≤12.1	1	1.0
`name`	1	12	1	5.5	≤12.1	3	1	18	4	≤12.1	1	1.0
`ping`	12	17	3	No	15	5.1	≤37	18	4	14	5	1.0
`referrerPolicy`	53	79	50	No	40	14	53	53	50	41	14	7.2
`rel`	1	12	1	5.5	≤12.1	3	1	18	4	≤12.1	1	1.0
`relList`	65	18	30	No	52	9	65	65	30	47	9	9.0
`rev`	1	12	1	5.5	≤12.1	3	1	18	4	≤12.1	1	1.0
`shape`	1	12	1	6	≤12.1	3	1	18	4	≤12.1	1	1.0
`target`	1	12	1	5.5	≤12.1	3	1	18	4	≤12.1	1	1.0
`text`	1	12	1	10	≤12.1	3	1	18	4	≤12.1	1	1.0
`type`	1	12	1	6	≤12.1	3	1	18	4	≤12.1	1	1.0
`hash`	1	12	1 From Firefox 29 to Firefox 40, the returned value was incorrectly percent-decoded.	5	15	1	1	18	4 From Firefox 29 to Firefox 40, the returned value was incorrectly percent-decoded.	14	1	1.0
`host`	1	12	1	5 In Internet Explorer 9, the host of an `<a>` always include the port (e.g. `developer.mozilla.org:443`), even if there is no explicit port in the `href` attribute value.	15	1	1	18	4	14	1	1.0
`hostname`	1	12	1	5	15	1	1	18	4	14	1	1.0
`href`	1	12	1	5	≤12.1	1	1	18	4	≤12.1	1	1.0
`origin`	8	17	26 Before Firefox 49, results for URL using the `blob` scheme incorrectly returned `null`.	No	15	5.1	3	18	26 Before Firefox 49, results for URL using the `blob` scheme incorrectly returned `null`.	14	5	1.0
`password`	32	79	26	No	19	10	4.4.3	32	26	19	10	2.0
`pathname`	1	12	1 Before Firefox 53, the `pathname` and `search` `HTMLHyperlinkElementUtils` properties returned the wrong parts of the URL. For example, for a URL of `http://z.com/x?a=true&b=false`, `pathname` would return `'/x?a=true&b=false'` and `search` would return '', rather than `'/x'` and `'?a=true&b=false'` respectively. This has now been fixed.	5	15	1	1	18	4 Before Firefox 53, the `pathname` and `search` `HTMLHyperlinkElementUtils` properties returned the wrong parts of the URL. For example, for a URL of `http://z.com/x?a=true&b=false`, `pathname` would return `'/x?a=true&b=false'` and `search` would return '', rather than `'/x'` and `'?a=true&b=false'` respectively. This has now been fixed.	14	1	1.0
`port`	1	12	1	5	15	1	1	18	4	14	1	1.0
`protocol`	1	12	1	5	15	1	1	18	4	14	1	1.0
`search`	1	12	1 Before Firefox 53, the `pathname` and `search` `HTMLHyperlinkElementUtils` properties returned the wrong parts of the URL. For example, for a URL of `http://z.com/x?a=true&b=false`, `pathname` would return `'/x?a=true&b=false'` and `search` would return '', rather than `'/x'` and `'?a=true&b=false'` respectively. This has now been fixed.	5	15	1	1	18	4 Before Firefox 53, the `pathname` and `search` `HTMLHyperlinkElementUtils` properties returned the wrong parts of the URL. For example, for a URL of `http://z.com/x?a=true&b=false`, `pathname` would return `'/x?a=true&b=false'` and `search` would return '', rather than `'/x'` and `'?a=true&b=false'` respectively. This has now been fixed.	14	1	1.0
`toString`	52	12	22	5.5	39	3	52	52	22	41	1	6.0
`username`	32	79	26	No	19	10	4.4.3	32	26	19	10	2.0

Name	Web APIs
Version
Badge
Last Updated	2022-04-27T09:33:08Z