HTML base Tag –

CPlus365 November 16, 2025

0 19 1 minute read

HTML <base> tag is used to specify a base URI or URL to use for all relative links contained within an HTML document.

Only one <base> element can be specified within a document, and it must be placed within <head> element. We can also specify how other links should open (in the same window, in another window, etc.) using the target attribute.

Syntax

In HTML <base> element does not contain closing tag but in XHTML end tag </base> is required.

Following are some specifications about the <base> tag

Display	None
Start tag/End tag	Only start-tag
Usage	Anchors and links

Example

Open in same window (by default)

<!DOCTYPE html><br />
<html><br />
<head><br />
	<title>Base tag</title><br />
	<style><br />
	  a{text-decoration: none;<br />
		color:black;}<br />
	  a:hover{color: green;<br />
	               font-size: 18px;}<br />
	</style><br />
	<base href=”<br />
 </head><br />
 <body><br />
	    <h2 style=”color: red; font-size: 30px; font-style: italic;”>List of Web developement Tutorial</h2><br />
		<a href=”/html-tutorial”>HTML tutorial</a><br><br />
		<a href=”/css-tutorial”>CSS tutorial</a><br><br />
		<a href=”/bootstrap-tutorial”>Bootstrap tutorial</a><br><br />
		<a href=”/javascript-tutorial”>JavaScript tutorial</a><br><br />
	<a href=”/jquery-tutorial”>JavaScript tutorial</a><br />
  </body><br />
</html><br />

In the above example we have used base URL =” which all other relative links will treat as starting URL. Here (/) defines the root URL of the current document.

Open in new window (using _blank in <base> tag):

<!DOCTYPE html><br />
<html><br />
<head><br />
	<title>Base tag</title><br />
	<style><br />
	  a{text-decoration: none;<br />
		color:black;}<br />
	  a:hover{color: green;<br />
			font-size: 18px;}<br />
	</style><br />
	<base href=” target=”_blank”><br />
 </head><br />
 <body><br />
	    <h2 style=”color: red; font-size: 30px; font-style: italic;”>List of Web developement Tutorial</h2><br />
		<a href=”/html-tutorial”>HTML tutorial</a><br><br />
		<a href=”/css-tutorial”>CSS tutorial</a><br><br />
		<a href=”/bootstrap-tutorial”>Bootstrap tutorial</a><br><br />
		<a href=”/javascript-tutorial”>JavaScript tutorial</a><br><br />
		<a href=”/jquery-tutorial”>JavaScript tutorial</a><br />
  </body><br />
</html><br />

In the above example we have used target=”_blank” in only <base> tag but it is applied on whole document links.

Attribute

Tag Specific attributes:

Attribute	Value	Definition
href	URL	It specifies the base URL for all relative links.
target
		_blank	Open the relative link in the new window
		_self	Open the relative link in current window
		_parent	Open the relative link in the parent frame
		_top	Open the links in full width of the page