A Collection of hand-picked free HTML and CSS link effect examples with :hover and :active state.

Links are the most basic interactive component between a user and a web page. They are so important, yet easily get lost in the midst of newer and shinier UI elements. Using nice CSS link style and hover effect will help to communicate to the user in a visual and meaningful way that this text is actionable.

1.LINK FILL ON HOVER

Link hover effects that fill a link with an underline or line-through using CSS transitions and the clip-path property.

Made with

HTML / CSS (SCSS)

Author

Katherine Kato

Demo

See the Pen Link Fill on Hover by Katherine Kato (@kathykato)
on CodePen.


2.UNDERLINE LINK EFFECT

Animated underline/border link effect. Edit transform-origin to change how where the animation starts. It’s currently set to left.

Made with

Html
Css/SCSS

Author

Eina O

Demo

See the Pen Underline Link Effect by Eina O
(@thelittleblacksmith) on CodePen.


3.HALF-TRANSPARENT CURRENTCOLOR LINK UNDERLINE

Made with

Html
Css/SCSS
Javascript

Author

Christopher Kirk-Nielsen

Demo

See the Pen Half-transparent currentColor link underline by Christopher Kirk-Nielsen
(@chriskirknielsen) on CodePen.


4.SPRING/BOUNCE HOVER EFFECT

Made with

HTML (Pug) / CSS (SCSS)

Author

Mark

Demo

See the Pen Spring/Bounce Hover Effect by Mark
(@markmead) on CodePen.


5.LINK STYLING

Link styling exploration without classes.

Made with

HTML (Pug) / CSS (SCSS)

Author

Sil van Diepen

Demo

See the Pen Link styling exploration without classes. by Sil van Diepen
(@silvandiepen) on CodePen.


6.INTERACTIVE ELEMENTS

CSS animations for interactive elements.

Made with

HTML / CSS

Author

Stas Melnikov

Demo

See the Pen Animations for interactive elements #2 by Stas Melnikov
(@melnik909) on CodePen.


7.HTML AND CSS LINK EFFECT

The “Read more” link effect in HTML and CSS.

Made with

HTML / CSS

Author

Stas Melnikov

Demo

See the Pen The “Read more” link by Stas Melnikov
(@melnik909) on CodePen.


8.FLAG # LINKS!

Broken link styles. Flag # links with CSS! Never forget a href=”#” placeholder again!

Made with

Html
Css/SCSS
Javascript

Author

Natalya

Demo

See the Pen Flag # links! by Natalya (@tallys)
on CodePen.


9.LINK EFFECT

HTML and CSS link squiggle effect.

Made with

HTML / CSS

Author

Geoff Graham

Demo

See the Pen Link Effectz – Squiggle by Geoff Graham
(@geoffgraham) on CodePen.


10.LINK WITH GRADIENT BACKGROUND

Link with gradient background on hover.

Made with

Html
Css/SCSS
Javascript

Author

Giulia Malaroda

Demo

See the Pen #0001 • Link with gradient background on hover by Giulia Malaroda (@giuliamalaroda)
on CodePen.


11.ANIMATED FONT WEIGHT ON HOVER

Thin link turns bold.

Made with

Html
Css/SCSS

Author

Jesper Strange Klitgaard Christiansen

Demo

See the Pen Animated font weight on hover by Jesper Strange Klitgaard Christiansen (@jesperkc)
on CodePen.


12.MULTI-LINE LINK

Multi-line link hover effect.

Made with

Html
Css/SCSS

Author

Antoinette Janus

Demo

See the Pen Multi-line Link Hover Effect by Antoinette Janus (@internette)
on CodePen.


13.LINK ARROW

Link hover arrow idea.

Made with

Html
Css/SCSS

Author

Gabrielle Wee

Demo

See the Pen Link Hover Arrow Idea by Gabrielle Wee 🧧 (@gabriellewee)
on CodePen.


14.GRADIENT UNDERLINE ANIMATION

Using a css background gradient and css animation this allows the animation of a link underline to carry across multiple lines. This previously would be achieved using the :pseudo elements. However doing this over multiple lines proved tricky.

Made with

Html
Css/SCSS
Javascript

Author

Colin Horn

Demo

See the Pen Gradient Underline Animation by Colin Horn (@colinhorn)
on CodePen.


15.COOL HOVER EFFECT WITH MIX-BLEND-MODE

This is cool because you don’t need to change the color of the link on :hover. The mix-blend-mode in the ::after will invert it for you.

Made with

Html
Css/SCSS
Javascript

Author

Author
Tiago Alexandre Lopes

Demo

See the Pen Cool hover effect with mix-blend-mode by Tiago Alexandre Lopes (@TiagoLopes)
on CodePen.


16.Underline Hover

HTML and CSS underline hover effect.

Made with

Html
Css/SCSS

Author

Elwin van den Hazel

Demo

See the Pen Underline hover test by Elwin van den Hazel (@elwinvdhazel)
on CodePen.


17.Animate Underline Wavy

That cool wiggly underline that people like.

Made with

Html
Css/SCSS
Javascript

Author

David Darnes

Demo

See the Pen Animate underline wavy by David Darnes (@daviddarnes)
on CodePen.


18.Fancy Text-Shadow Link Underline

HTML and CSS fancy text-shadow link underline.

Made with

Html
Css/SCSS

Author

Ryan

Demo

See the Pen Fancy text-shadow link underline by Ryan (@jryantaylor)
on CodePen.


19.Follow Along Links

Hover on the links and it follows the cursor, highlighting the links as you go!

Made with

Html
Css/SCSS

Author

Katherine Kato

Demo

See the Pen #JavaScript30 Day 22: Follow Along Links by Katherine Kato (@kathykato)
on CodePen.


20.Pure CSS Single Element Link Styles

Inspired by things that have seen from Medium and other peoples pens but with an added attempt at bringing in some animation. Currently limited to a link that is in total 10000px wide across all lines.

Made with

Html
Css/SCSS

Author

Matthew Shields

Demo

See the Pen Pure CSS Single Element Link Styles by Matthew Shields (@MatthewShields)
on CodePen.