Document Formatting

Hyperlinks in LaTeX: \href, \url and hyperref Setup

Load hyperref last in the preamble. Use \url for the address or \href for custom link text.

\usepackage{hyperref}
\href{https://example.com}{link text}

The hyperref package turns cross-references, citations, and URLs into clickable links in your PDF. It's one of the most popular LaTeX packages and works with all standard document classes.

Load the hyperref Package

Add hyperref to your preamble. It should usually be one of the last packages loaded to avoid conflicts.

\usepackage{hyperref}

% With common options:
\usepackage[
  colorlinks=true,
  linkcolor=blue,
  urlcolor=blue,
  citecolor=green
]{hyperref}

Output: All cross-references, citations, and URLs in the document become clickable.

URL Links

Use \url{} for plain URLs or \href{}{} for links with custom display text:

% Plain URL (displays the full address)
Visit \url{https://www.trybibby.com} for more.

% Custom link text
Visit \href{https://www.bibby.ai}{Bibby AI} for more.

% URL with special characters (# _ %)
\url{https://example.com/path?key=value&foo=bar}

Output: Clickable links appear in the PDF—plain URLs show the address, custom links show your text.

Internal Cross-References

hyperref automatically makes \ref{} and \cite{} clickable. Use \hyperref for manual internal links:

\section{Introduction}
\label{sec:intro}

See Section~\ref{sec:methods} for details.

\section{Methods}
\label{sec:methods}

As mentioned in the \hyperref[sec:intro]{introduction}...

Output: Clicking 'Section 2' or 'introduction' jumps to the corresponding section.

Email Links

Use \href with the mailto: prefix to create clickable email addresses:

Contact us at \href{mailto:[email protected]}{[email protected]}.

Output: Clicking the email address opens the user's default email client.

Customizing Link Appearance

Control link colors and borders with hyperref options:

\hypersetup{
  colorlinks=true,     % false = boxed links
  linkcolor=black,     % internal links
  urlcolor=blue,       % URL links
  citecolor=blue,      % citation links
  filecolor=magenta,   % file links
  pdfauthor={Your Name},
  pdftitle={Your Title},
  bookmarks=true
}

% To hide all link colors (print-friendly):
\hypersetup{hidelinks}

Output: Links appear with your chosen colors or as invisible (but still clickable) text.