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Create hyperlinks

  1. Adobe XD User Guide
  2. Introduction
    1. What's new in Adobe XD
    2. Common questions
    3. Design, prototype, and share with Adobe XD
    4. Color Management
    5. System requirements
      1. Hardware and software requirements
      2. Adobe XD, Big Sur, and Apple silicon | macOS 11
    6. Workspace basics
    7. Change app language in Adobe XD
    8. Access UI design kits
    9. Accessibility in Adobe XD
    10. Keyboard shortcuts
    11. Tips and tricks
  3. Design
    1. Artboards, guides, and layers
      1. Get started with artboards
      2. Use guides and grids
      3. Create scrollable artboards
      4. Work with layers
      5. Create scroll groups
    2. Shapes, objects, and path
      1. Select, resize, and rotate objects
      2. Move, align, distribute, and arrange objects
      3. Group, lock, duplicate, copy, and flip objects
      4. Set stroke, fill, and drop shadow for objects
      5. Create repeating elements
      6. Create perspective designs with 3D transforms
      7. Edit objects using Boolean operations
    3. Text and fonts
      1. Work with drawing and text tools
      2. Fonts in Adobe XD
    4. Components and states
      1. Work with components
      2. Work with nested components
      3. Add multiple states to components
    5. Masking and effects
      1. Create a mask with shapes
      2. Work with blur effects
      3. Create and modify gradients
      4. Apply blend effects
    6. Layout
      1. Responsive resize and constraints
      2. Set fixed padding for components and groups
      3. Create dynamic designs with stacks
    7. Videos and Lottie animations
      1. Work with videos
      2. Create prototypes using videos
      3. Work with Lottie animations
  4. Prototype
    1. Create interactive prototypes
    2. Animate prototypes
    3. Object properties supported for auto-animate
    4. Create prototypes with keyboard and gamepad
    5. Create prototypes using voice commands and playback
    6. Create timed transitions
    7. Add overlays
    8. Design voice prototypes
    9. Create anchor links
    10. Create hyperlinks
    11. Preview designs and prototypes
  5. Share, export, and review
    1. Share selected artboards
    2. Share designs and prototypes
    3. Set access permissions for links
    4. Work with prototypes
    5. Review prototypes
    6. Work with design specs
    7. Share design specs
    8. Inspect design specs
    9. Navigate design specs
    10. Review and comment design specs
    11. Export design assets
    12. Export and download assets from design specs
    13. Group sharing for enterprise
    14. Back up or transfer XD assets
  6. Design systems
    1. Design systems with Creative Cloud Libraries
    2. Work with document assets in Adobe XD
    3. Work with Creative Cloud Libraries in Adobe XD
    4. Migrate from linked assets to Creative Cloud Libraries
    5. Work with design tokens 
    6. Use assets from Creative Cloud Libraries
  7. Cloud documents
    1. Cloud documents in Adobe XD
    2. Collaborate and coedit designs
    3. Coedit documents shared with you
  8. Integrations and plugins
    1. Work with external assets
    2. Work with design assets from Photoshop
    3. Copy and paste assets from Photoshop
    4. Import or open Photoshop designs
    5. Work with Illustrator assets in Adobe XD
    6. Open or import Illustrator designs
    7. Copy vectors from Illustrator to XD
    8. Plugins for Adobe XD
    9. Create and manage plugins
    10. Jira integration for XD
    11. Slack plugin for XD
    12. Zoom plug-in for XD
    13. Publish design from XD to Behance
  9. XD for iOS and Android
    1. Preview on mobile devices
    2. Adobe XD on mobile FAQ
  10. Troubleshooting
    1. Known and fixed issues
      1. Known issues
      2. Fixed issues
    2. Installation and updates
      1. XD appears as not compatible on Windows
      2. Error code 191
      3. Error code 183
      4. Issues installing XD plugins
      5.  Prompt to uninstall and reinstall XD on Windows 10
      6. Issues with preferences migration
    3. Launch and crash
      1.  XD crashes when launched on Windows 10
      2.  XD quits when you sign out of Creative Cloud
      3. Issue with subscription status on Windows
      4. Blocked-app warning when launching  XD on Windows
      5. Crash dump generation on Windows
      6. Crash log collection and sharing
    4. Cloud documents and Creative Cloud Libraries
      1. Issues with XD cloud documents
      2. Issues with linked components
      3. Issues with libraries and links
    5. Prototype, publish, and review
      1. Unable to record prototype interactions on macOS Catalina
      2. Issues with publish workflows
      3. Published  links do not appear in browsers
      4. Prototypes do not render correctly in browsers
      5. Commenting panel suddenly showing up on shared links
      6. Unable to publish libraries
    6. Import, export, and working with other apps
      1. Import and export in XD
      2. Photoshop files in XD
      3. Illustrator files in XD
      4. Export to After Effects from XD
      5. Sketch files in XD
      6. Third-party apps not visible in Export

Learn how to link to external web pages from Adobe XD prototypes.

Any text, object, or component in your design can link to an external web page or an email address. After you create a hyperlink, you can preview it, and share the design specs with stakeholders.

Create a text hyperlink

To hyperlink text to a web page or an email address, perform the following steps:

  1. In Design mode, select the text inside the text object that you want to hyperlink.

  2. In the Insert URL here field within the Text section of the Property Inspector, do the following:

    Link to a secure web page

    Link to a secure web page
    Link to a secure web page

    To link to a secure web page (https), type the URL of the web page. Example: https://www.adobe.com.

    Link to an email address

    Link to an email address
    Link to an email address

    To link to an email address, type mailto: followed by the email address of the recipient. Example: mailto:john@xyz.com.

    Once you define a text hyperlink in Design mode:

    • On canvas, the hyperlinked text gets underlined by default.
    • If only a portion of the text is hyperlinked, when you select the text object on canvas, you see a dash (—) in the Insert URL here field.
    • In Prototype mode, if a text object that contains hyperlinks is selected, the hyperlinks will be displayed in the Property Inspector.
    • You can edit a text hyperlink in Design or Prototype mode.
A portion of the text object is hyperlinked (Design mode)
A portion of the text object is hyperlinked (Design mode)

Two text portions hyperlinked inside a text object (Prototype mode)
Two text portions hyperlinked inside a text object (Prototype mode)

When you publish and share design specs link, stakeholders can inspect the hyperlink.

Create an object or component hyperlink

To hyperlink an object or a component to a web page or an email address, perform the following steps:

  1. Switch to the Prototype mode, and select the object or component that you want to hyperlink.

  2. Click the blue arrow on the object, and in the Property Inspector, set the Trigger to Tap, Keys & Gamepad, or Voice.

  3. Set the Action Type to Hyperlink.

  4. In the Destination field, do the following:

    Link to a secure web page

    Link to a web page
    Link to a secure web page

    To link to a secure web page (https), type the URL of the web page. Example: https://www.adobe.com.

    Link to an email address

    Link to an email address
    Link to an email address

    To link to an email address, type mailto: followed by the email address of the recipient. Example: mailto:john@xyz.com.

  5. To preview the hyperlink, click   Desktop preview.

    When you click a hyperlink, it will always open in a separate browser tab. 

When you publish and share design specs link, stakeholders can inspect the hyperlink.

Hyperlink text in Design and Prototype modes

In addition to defining a hyperlink for text in Design mode, you can define a hyperlink for its text object in Prototype mode. The hyperlink defined in Design mode takes precedence over the hyperlink in Prototype mode. In   Desktop preview or prototype link:

  • When you click a portion of the text that has no defined hyperlinks, the hyperlink defined in Prototype mode opens.
  • If you hyperlink the entire text within a text object in Design mode, and hyperlink the text object in Prototype mode using the Tap trigger, the Prototype mode hyperlink will not function.

Things to watch out for

XD app:

  • When you add a URL with a protocol other than https or mailto, or without a protocol, or the URL has an invalid domain, you get a warning. Correct the URL.
Warning when you don't use https or mailto protocols
Warning when you don't use https or mailto protocols

Desktop preview   and prototype link:

  • When you click a hyperlink that has a protocol other than https or mailto, or doesn't have a protocol, or the URL has an invalid domain, the URL does not open. You get an error message at the bottom of the screen.
  • When you click a hyperlink that has a valid domain, XD enforces a security check on the linked website. If the security check fails, you get a security warning. You can choose to proceed or exit the URL.
Error message for unsupported protocols and invalid domains
Error message for unsupported protocols and invalid domains

Security warning for websites that fail security check
Security warning for websites that fail security check

Learn more

Watch this 3-minute video to learn more about working with hyperlinks in XD.

Related resources

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