How to Insert a Hyperlink in Gmail

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Gmail provides a range of formatting options when sending emails. If you are composing emails for business or work, you may wish to include hyperlinks for the recipient to click in order to visit particular websites or pages. Many businesses use email for marketing purposes, for example linking to promotions or services, so linking in emails is a common task. Inserting a hyperlink in Gmail is a straightforward process, and you do not need to know much about HTML in order to email a website link.

Log into your Gmail account. If you have not already done so, click "Compose" to create your new email. Enter your intended recipient in the To field and your email subject in the Subject field. Click anywhere in the main text area to begin writing your email. Add any text content you plan on including in the email. You can use the formatting buttons above the main text field to alter the appearance of any part of your email. To do so, highlight a section of your text by clicking and dragging your mouse to select it, then press the appropriate formatting button.

Write the text you want users to click in order to follow the hyperlink. A hyperlink consists of an address and something to click on. In your email, the reader will click on a section of text to visit the address. The address itself is stored within the HTML anchor code that makes up the email. Your own link text may appear within a sentence. For example, the following text could appear within the body of the email:

"See the Special Offers section of our site for further details."

In this case the text "Special Offers" could be the part users click on.

Select your hyperlink text. Select whatever part of your email text you want to act as the link by highlighting it (clicking and dragging across it). This is the text users will click on. Once you have it highlighted, click the Link button in the formatting area above the main text entry field in Gmail. The Link button has an icon that looks like a metal chain link on it. If you can't see it at first, move your mouse over each button in turn to see the tool-tip text hint that appears for each – the hyperlink button displays "Link" when you hover over it.

Convert your selected text to a link. When you click the Link button, the Edit Link pop-up box will appear. Enter the address you want users to visit when they click your link, typing it into the Web address field (or the Email address field, if it is an email link). The address should be the URL for the page you are linking to, which should have a similar structure to this example:

http://www.mywebsite.com

Once you have your address in the text field, press "OK." Your text will now function as a link. You can send your email when you are ready.