How to Insert a Link Into an Email With Outlook or Windows Mail

Share links to websites and web pages in an email message

Steel chain held together with red string

PIER/Getty Images

by Heinz Tschabitscher
An independent writer who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997.
Updated May 02, 2019

Every page on the web has an address. By linking to its address, you can send anyone to it easily. If you type a complete web address into an email message in Outlook or Windows Mail and press the Enter key, Outlook automatically creates a clickable hyperlink. However, there are other ways to add links to email messages.

Instructions in this article apply to Outlook 2019, Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010, Outlook for Office 365, Outlook Online, and the Windows Mail app.

How to Insert a Link Into an Outlook or Windows Email

You can link any word or image in your message to any page on the web, and when the recipient clicks the link, the page opens automatically.

  1. Open the email message in which you want to insert a link.

  2. Select the text or image you want to use for the link.

    Screenshot of selected text

  3. Go to the Insert tab. In Outlook Online, go to the Formatting toolbar and select Insert hyperlink.

    Screenshot of Windows Mail email message with Insert tab selected

  4. Select Link. Skip this step for Outlook Online..

    Screenshot of Insert tab showing Link in Windows Mail

  5. In the Text to display text box, type a word or phrase if you want alternate text to appear.

    Screenshot of Insert Link box

  6. In the Address text box, enter or paste the URL to which you want to link.

    To insert a link to an email address, select Email Address and fill in the fields. In Outlook Online and Windows Mail, in the Address text box, enter mailto: followed by the email address.

  7. Select OK to insert the link.

When the recipient of the email clicks the link text in your email, the linked URL opens in a browser.