


How do I link to external CSS stylesheets in an HTML document using the element?
Jun 29, 2025 am 01:59 AMTo link an external CSS stylesheet to an HTML document, use the <link> tag in the
part of the HTML file and ensure that the path is correct and the properties are complete. 1. Place the <link> tag in to ensure that the browser loads the style first; 2. Make sure that the path in the href attribute is correct, which can be a relative path or a superior directory path; 3. Always use rel="stylesheet" to define the linked resource as a style sheet; 4. If you need to introduce multiple style sheets and list the <link> tags in turn, the subsequent styles will override the previous conflict rules, and the order needs to be reasonably arranged. To link an external CSS stylesheet in an HTML document, you use the <link>
element inside the section of your HTML file. This tells the browser where to find the styling rules for your page.
The basic structure looks like this:
<link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
Make sure the href
attribute points to the correct location of your CSS file relative to your HTML file.
1. Place the <link>
tag in the <head>
section
The <link>
element should always go inside the <head>
of your HTML document. That's where browsers look for metadata and resource links before rendering the page.
Example:
<head>My Page <link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css"> <body>Hello World
Putting it in the <body>
might work in some cases, but it's not standard and could lead to rendering issues or flash of unstyled content (FOUC).
2. Make sure the path in href
is correct
This is one of the most common sources of errors when linking CSS.
If your CSS file is in the same folder as your HTML file:
<link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
If it's in a subfolder called
css
:<link rel="stylesheet" href="css/styles.css">
If it's in a parent directory:
<link rel="stylesheet" href="../styles.css">
You can test if the path is correct by typing the full URL into the browser — for example:
http://yoursite.com/css/styles.css
If you see a 404 error, your path is wrong.
3. Use rel="stylesheet"
every time
The rel
attribute defines the relationship between the current document and the linked resource. For regular CSS files, it should always be set to "stylesheet"
.
Some other values ??exist, like "icon"
for favicons, but for CSS, stick with:
rel="stylesheet"
Don't skip this attribute — without it, the browser won't know what to do with the file.
4. Link multiple stylesheets if needed
You can include more than one CSS file by adding multiple <link>
elements. Just make sure they're in the right order — later styles will override earlier ones if there are conflicting rules.
For example:
This is helpful if you're using third-party styles or organizing your CSS into modules.
Basically that's it. As long as the path is correct, the label position is correct, and the attributes are written clearly, you can successfully link the style sheet to your web page.
The above is the detailed content of How do I link to external CSS stylesheets in an HTML document using the element?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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