How to Hyperlink in Gmail With Best Practices

Emails are one of the most common forms of communication that people use daily. On average, approximately 376 billion emails are sent out worldwide every day. And there are many platforms out there today that are most popular amongst email users, like Gmail, Yahoo, and Microsoft’s Hotmail platform, which was later rebranded to Outlook in 2013.

It goes without saying that sending emails makes communication easier and allows you to write each message differently based on the situation. For instance, you can use a professional font to send a business proposal or memo, and you can attach important documents to that same email as well. You can also use your email to schedule messages ahead of time, which comes in handy in case you get busy and forget to hit send.

Platforms like Gmail also make it easy to include links in any email, thanks to its hyperlink feature. Using this feature comes in handy when you want to include a URL in your message without it being too prominent in the body of your email.

To learn more about how you can use this helpful tool for your messages, along with best practices when it comes to hyperlinking text, check out the guide below.

Step 1: Write What You Want to Send

Once you’ve logged into your account, go to the tab that says ‘Compose,’ which is located on the upper left-hand corner of your account’s homescreen. Then, write what you want to send.

When writing a new email, and as part of email best practices, it’s important to divide your email text into one to three lines, depending on the length, so that it’s easier for your recipient to read. You can also use Gmail’s bold, italicize, or underline text features to highlight any specific lines you want the reader to focus on.

If you need to include attachments in your email, you can do so by clicking the paper clip icon at the bottom of the email draft tab and either uploading them from your device or via Google Drive.

Step 2: Select the Text You Want to Hyperlink

When you’ve finished writing your email, you’re ready to hyperlink. Before including hyperlinks, be sure to check that what you’ve written is correct so that you don’t have to re-hyperlink anything after doing it the first time.

Use your mousepad to highlight the text you want hyperlinked. If you’re using a mobile device, you can double-tap the text, and a highlight bar will appear that you can use your finger to drag and select the text you want to link.

If you’re using a computer, click the ‘Insert Link’ option at the bottom of the email draft screen. This tab is located at the bottom of your email’s draft screen and is situated between the ‘Attach Files’ paperclip icon and the ‘Insert Emoji’ feature. After you’ve clicked on the tab to insert a hyperlink, a new text link box will appear.

After highlighting the specific text you want to hyperlink, Gmail will then prompt you to either enter the URL manually or copy and paste it in the section where it says ‘Type or paste a link.’ When you’re ready with the URL, go to your other browser tab or wherever you’re pulling it from, and right-click and drag your mouse along its entirety to highlight it.

Then, right-click and a menu will appear. Click ‘Copy,’ and then go back to the textbox on your email draft page. Hover over the ‘Type or paste a link’ textbox, right-click your mouse again, and then click ‘Paste.’ Then, click ‘Apply’ to save your hyperlink. The text you’ve hyperlinked will remain underlined and highlighted in blue.

Step 5: Review and Send

Before sending your email, give it one final look over. If you need to update your hyperlink, you can do so by hovering over the linked text and clicking either ‘Change’ or ‘Remove.’ If you want to change your hyperlink, Gmail will show you the same hyperlink textbox from before, and you can follow the same steps to include a new one. If you want to get rid of your hyperlink, click ‘Remove’ and Gmail will get rid of it, and your once-hyperlinked text will appear in a standard black font again.

Before sending your email, you can check that the hyperlink you’ve created works by clicking on the highlighted text and seeing if the right screen appears. If the link doesn’t work, you’ll want to follow the hyperlink prompts above to re-hyperlink it, or use a different hyperlink if the one you originally used is invalid.

Hyperlink Best Practices and Shortcuts

When learning how to include hyperlinks in your emails, it’s also helpful to follow best practices that will also guide you in the process. Whether you’re using your phone or computer, it’s best to make sure that your links are compatible with both types of devices.

You can double-check this by navigating to your email draft on both the web and on mobile, and clicking on the hyperlink to see if the right screen appears. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to follow the prompts again to insert a new hyperlink.

When writing an email that requires hyperlinks, avoid overusing this feature in a single email. If you need to include multiple hyperlinks in one message, space out the lines of your email so that your message is still clear and easy to understand.

Gmail also makes it easy to hyperlink text by offering a quick shortcut solution that can save you time. To hyperlink text using this shortcut method, follow the same steps above. After manually highlighting the text you want to hyperlink, instead of clicking on the ‘Insert link’ option at the bottom of your email draft screen, you can press the control (Ctrl) and ‘K’ keys on your computer at the same time if you have a Windows device. If you have a Mac, press the Command key symbol (⌘) and your ‘K’ key simultaneously. Once the hyperlink screen appears, copy and paste your link into the designated URL textbox and then press the ‘Enter’ key to apply it.