Usage
A link is text that moves someone to another screen, page, or article. Reach for it when the destination is the point and nothing has to happen on the current screen first. Keep one destination per link, and name that destination in the text.
- Underline every link, and keep the underline in all states.
- Name the destination in the link text, so it still makes sense read on its own.
- Use Tertiary for the link color on standard surfaces.
- Use the container’s own “on” color instead when the link sits inside an info card or a promo card.
- Use a link to carry out an action on the current screen (use a button).
- Use “Learn more” or “here” as the whole link text where the surrounding copy doesn’t name the destination.
- Underline text that isn’t a link. The underline is reserved for links.
- Put more than one link in a single sentence.
Design properties
Link is not a component in the Android Library (apart from links in lists). It is a text style with a color and an underline applied. Use the following values as the style decisions that make text read as a link:
|
Property |
Type |
Default |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Text style |
Text style |
Body 2 |
Match the copy the link sits in. For example, use Body 1 inside Body 1 paragraphs. |
|
Color |
Color |
Tertiary |
Swap to the container’s “on” color on a colored surface. For example, use On Warning Container for links in warning info cards. |
|
Underline |
Boolean (false | true) |
true |
Always underlined. |
Options
Standalone link
Use below the copy it relates to, when that copy already reads as a complete thought.
Inline link
Use inside a sentence, when only part of that sentence names the destination.
Link in a list
Use as a row in a list or a settings group, when the destination belongs beside its neighbours.
Behavior and interaction
Behavior
- Touching a link opens its destination. There is no ripple and no container, so the text is the whole target.
- Color and the underline are the only signals a link carries, so the underline stays on in every state.
Positioning
- Keep the touch target at least 48×48dp. A Body 2 link is 20dp tall, so a standalone link needs padding. A list row is already 48dp.
- Leave at least 8dp between a link and any other touch target.
- At the narrowest width and the largest text scale a link wraps with its paragraph. Keep the underline on every line.
Related components
Changelog
|
Date |
Version |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
Sep 1, 2026 |
1.0.0 |
Initial draft of guidance |