Open Link in a New Window

HTML attribute (valid in HTML5 now):

Inline JavaScript way:

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Comments

I think some code might have gotten stripped there. Feel free to email me at [email protected] to fix.

Using the second approach opens the href in my current (parent) window too. i.e. my current window and new window both points to href value. I don’t want my parent window to be changed

My purpose was to open a link in new window,

i tried this, but my parent window(which has link) becomes blank when i click on the link.

It doesn’t work because it should be:

onclick=”window.open(this.href,’_blank’); return false;”

it doesnt though

Target-blank is not strict xhtml (it might be considered as behaviour that should not be placed in the mark-up) and it can make people angry when used on every link, especially the internal ones. But sometimes it can be useful, if there’s an external link among many internal links.
Personally I prefer to use CSS-Content to set a “(ext)” behind those links via auto-detection (attr).

I’d say it’s a bad practice. Because if I want to open link in new window, jsut press shift+mouse key. Or middle button (to open in new tab).

I’d say it’s the best practice to use target=”_blank”, because it simply works.
There are people who don’t know that you can press the middle mouse button or other shortcuts. Nobody will see it at the end. Why should I not break the rule on this point?

How with auto open in new windows?

sorry, i’m newbie in CSS 😀

Thanks! PDFs don’t seem to honor _blank.

hey Jason, for PDF’s use, target=”_new”

This snippet was very useful, thank you!

I think this article is misleading, it clearly states that target=”_blank” is invalid which isn’t true. It’s perfectly valid in both HTML5 and XHTML 1.0 Transitional. It’s only invalid in the strict DTD, but who uses that?
There’s no real reason not to use the target attribute, every browser supports it and will support it for the foreseeable future. And besides, why use JavaScript for something that the browser can do natively?

any benefit/downside to using html instead of JS or vice versa?

This sort of thing should br strongly discouraged. Only ever should a website had a teeny tiny sprinkle of target=»_blank» atop its icing. It is entirely the user’s choice as to whether they want another tab/window opened or not. It doesn’t matter if some users don’t know how to click with the middle-button; who are we to force new tabs upon those who do know how to open links in new tabs for the sake of the few ignorant users out there.

I’ve come across quite a few websites where links open in new tabs when they just shouldn’t and it’s frustrating, because I wanted the link to open in the current tab.

Leave target=»blank» alone unless you absolutely need it.

Perfect! exactly what i’m looking for. thanks 🙂

There actually IS a need for links to open in a new windows… sometimes. I am designing and coding a site which collects data from users which requires them to upload files (images and pdf documents). The overall process involves employees filling out a form and then uploading receipt scans/images for reimbursement. This needs to be viewed by an admin intranet site within the office. I have a nice page displaying the claim in a cute form, easily printable if required, and links to the relevant file uploads.

I don’t want those links to take over the parent window. They are additional info to the data displayed in the parent window, so they are required to open in a new window or tab (based on browser preference settings) while leaving the parent windows alone. Frequently both windows will be examined and compared together. Hard to do if only one is open at a time!

And no, our accounts team are not IT knowledgeable enough to recognise how/when to choose to open a link in a new windows. They expect it done for them. And quite rightly so too.

Having said that, this is a rare case and I would not normally utilise this in any other way or for any other reason. It bothers me that using target=”_blank” is not acceptable in strict html5 mode. I always code my html/css/php to perfect strict acceptance levels. Well…. I did until now. This is the exception. :/

How to Make Links Open in a New Window or Tab

HTML code for opening links in a new browser tab or window

How to Make Links Open in a New Window or Tab

I was asked by a visitor how he could make hyperlinks on his website open a new browser window or tab when clicked. This article answers that question.

Prerequisites

Since the visitor did not specify which web editor he was using, I will assume here that he is working directly in HTML.

Note that this does not mean you cannot follow this tutorial if you use a visual web editor, or if your website uses some sort of blogging software. It merely means that you will need to somehow access the HTML code of your page so that you can modify it. Most web editors and blogging software allow you to do this.

For example, if you are using Expression Web, you can modify the HTML code of your web page by switching to the Code mode. Instructions for this can be found in the article How to Insert HTML Code into a Web Page with Expression Web. Similarly, Dreamweaver users can follow the steps given in How to Insert Raw HTML Code in Dreamweaver, BlueGriffon users the tutorial How to Insert HTML Code in BlueGriffon, and KompoZer users the guide How to Insert HTML in KompoZer.

How to Open Hyperlinks in a New Browser Tab or Window

The short answer is: just add a target=»_blank» attribute to your links (anchor tags).

For example, if you have a link that says the following:

Change the above so that it now says:

Now when your visitors click that link, it will open in a new window or tab (depending on which web browser they are using and how they configured that browser).

Note that if your web page uses the «strict» DOCTYPE of XHTML 1.0 or 1.1, you will not be able to do the above and still have your page validate as correct. However, I suspect virtually nobody uses those, so don’t worry if you don’t understand what I just said in this paragraph. The «transitional» versions of those DOCTYPEs are fine, though, since the target attribute is still supported there.

If you are using Expression Web, Dreamweaver, BlueGriffon or KompoZer, just click somewhere in the link that you want to modify, switch to the mode that allows you to change the HTML code (see the tutorials listed earlier in the Prerequisites section to find out how to do this), and add the target=»_blank» attribute.

It Doesn’t Have the Benefit You Think It Confers

I know that some new webmasters seem to have got the impression that causing external links to open in a new window helps to keep people from leaving your website. This is an erroneous assumption. If someone clicks on a link and wants to return to your site, they will simply hit the Back button on their browser. Most people, even non-computer-geeks, learn this feature of their browser within a short time of discovering the Internet. The power users learn, in addition, how to right click a link and select «Open in a new tab» (or window) when they need a link to be displayed in a separate tab or window.

When you create links that open in a new window, you are actually preventing newcomers from returning to your website. You may think that they will know how to simply switch back to the original window. My experience with such people suggests otherwise; they are stymied by the Back button not working, and are not even aware that they are looking at a new tab or window. When they can’t figure out how to solve the problem, they will give up and move on to other things.

The situation is not better with experienced users. While they can figure out that they are looking at a new tab or window, and can switch back, they tend to get very irritated at your site for opening windows without their permission. After all, they are power users: if they wanted to open a new window, they will open it themselves; they don’t want you to do it without their consent. It’s worse if all your links open in new windows (leading to the comedic situation described in my article about usability mistakes made by amateur webmasters).

It Makes Your Site Vulnerable to Phishing Attacks

At the time this is written, when you open a new page with target=»_blank» , the site you link to gains access to the window/tab containing your page and is able to change it (in the visitor’s browser) to display a different web address.

This not only thwarts your attempt to keep visitors at your site (if that’s your purpose), it’s also a potential danger to them. For example, if you have a login page, the linked-to site may replace it with one on another site that looks like yours, but actually collects your visitor’s login details. This kind of attack is called «phishing». Even if your site does not have facilities for visitors to log in, the linked-to site can replace it with a page that delivers malware.

This vulnerability is not hypothetical. The people from the Google Security Team have noted a «significant number of reports» of such «tabnabbing» being used to deliver malware.

Technical details (only for those who are interested): the newly open site gains limited access to your page via the JavaScript window.opener object. This is a read/write object that they can manipulate. It has a property called window.opener.location that can be changed, causing the browser to go to a new URL instead of staying at your page. If you don’t understand this paragraph, skip it. It’s merely the technical version of the explanation given earlier.

You can prevent it from happening in some browsers by adding rel=»noopener noreferrer» to your link. With this added, the above example becomes:

Theoretically, either rel=»noopener» or rel=»noreferrer» is sufficient to prevent this problem, with rel=»noopener» being the correct attribute to use. (The other one, rel=»noreferrer» , has a side-effect in that the browser will also withhold the referring URL.) However, at this time, not all browsers support rel=»noopener» . Likewise, rel=»noreferrer» is also not supported by some browsers. Since the list of browsers that support either attribute is not identical, if you want this protection from the greatest subset of browsers possible, you will probably need to use both.

That said, the workaround only helps with the later versions of Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Internet Explorer does not have such a facility, although from my cursory test, version 11 seems to be immune to the attack in its default security zone. I’m not sure about Microsoft Edge.

In other words, the method detailed above is not 100% foolproof. The best way to avoid the problem is to use normal links, without target=»_blank» .

Conclusion

My general recommendation is to avoid opening links in a new window or tab, if possible. Of course there may be specific instances where this is needed (which is why such a facility exists in the first place, for those rare cases where it may be required). If so, you may want to warn your visitors by saying something like «opens in a new window» next to your link (if it’s appropriate). It won’t help the average Internet user, who won’t know what you are talking about or how to deal with it, and it won’t guard them from attacks using your site, but at least you will won’t irritate the more experienced Internet visitors.

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Open link in new tab or window [duplicate]

Is it possible to open an a href link in a new tab instead of the same tab?

4 Answers 4

You should add the target=»_blank» and rel=»noopener noreferrer» in the anchor tag.

Adding rel=»noopener noreferrer» is not mandatory, but it’s a recommended security measure. More information can be found in the links below.

It shouldn’t be your call to decide whether the link should open in a new tab or a new window, since ultimately this choice should be done by the settings of the user’s browser. Some people like tabs; some like new windows.

Using _blank will tell the browser to use a new tab/window, depending on the user’s browser configuration and how they click on the link (e.g. middle click, Ctrl +click, or normal click).

set the target attribute of your element to «_tab»

EDIT: It works, however W3Schools says there is no such target attribute: http://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_a_target.asp

EDIT2: From what I’ve figured out from the comments. setting target to _blank will take you to a new tab or window (depending on your browser settings). Typing anything except one of the ones below will create a new tab group (I’m not sure how these work):

Make a link open a new window (not tab) [duplicate]

Is there a way to make a link open a new browser window (not tab) without using javascript?

5 Answers 5

With pure HTML you can’t influence this — every modern browser (= the user) has complete control over this behavior because it has been misused a lot in the past.

HTML option

You can open a new window (HTML4) or a new browsing context (HTML5). Browsing context in modern browsers is mostly «new tab» instead of «new window». You have no influence on that, and you can’t «force» modern browsers to open a new window.

In order to do this, use the anchor element’s attribute target [1] . The value you are looking for is _blank [2] .

JavaScript option

Forcing a new window is possible via javascript — see Ievgen’s excellent answer below for a javascript solution.

(!) However, be aware, that opening windows via javascript (if not done in the onclick event from an anchor element) are subject to getting blocked by popup blockers!

_{[1] This attribute dates back to the times when browsers did not have tabs and using framesets was state of the art. In the meantime, the functionality of this attribute has slightly changed (see MDN Docu)}

_{[2] There are some other values which do not make much sense anymore (because they were designed with framesets in mind) like _parent , _self or _top .}