What is the purpose of the rel attribute in a link tag in HTML?
Aug 03, 2025 pm 04:50 PMrel="stylesheet" links CSS files for styling the page; 2. rel="preload" hints to preload critical resources for performance; 3. rel="icon" sets the website’s favicon; 4. rel="alternate" provides alternate versions like RSS or print; 5. rel="preconnect" and rel="dns-prefetch" optimize loading by establishing early connections; the rel attribute defines the link’s purpose so browsers handle resources correctly.
The rel
attribute in an HTML <link>
tag specifies the relationship between the current document and the linked resource. It helps browsers, search engines, and other tools understand how the linked file should be treated or used in relation to the page.

Here are the most common uses:
1. Loading Stylesheets
When linking a CSS file, you use:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
Here, rel="stylesheet"
tells the browser that the linked file is a stylesheet and should be applied to format the page.
2. Preloading Resources
You can hint to the browser that a resource will be needed soon:

<link rel="preload" href="font.woff2" as="font" type="font/woff2" crossorigin>
rel="preload"
tells the browser to fetch the resource early, improving performance.
3. Favicons
To specify a favicon:
<link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
rel="icon"
indicates the linked image is used as the website’s icon in tabs or bookmarks.
4. Alternate Formats
For alternate versions of the page (like RSS feeds or print versions):
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss xml" href="feed.rss"> <link rel="alternate" media="print" href="print.html">
5. Security and Trust
Used with security policies or identity:
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="https://cdn.example.com">
These help optimize loading by establishing early connections.
In short, the rel
attribute defines what kind of link it is, so the browser knows how to handle the resource. Without it (or with an incorrect value), the link might be ignored or misused.
Basically, it’s a way to give context to a link — not just where to go, but why it’s there.
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