Helpers
Icon link
Quickly create stylized hyperlinks with Bootstrap Icons or other icons.
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The icon link helper modifies the default link styles to enhance their appearance and quickly align any pairing of icon and text. Alignment is set via inline flexbox styling and a default gap value. We stylize the underline with a custom offset and color. Icons are automatically sized to 1em to best match their associated text's font-size.
Icon links assume Bootstrap Icons are being used, but you can use any icon or image you like.
When icons are purely decorative, they should be hidden from assistive technologies using aria-hidden="true", as we've done in our examples. For icons that convey meaning, provide an appropriate text alternative by adding role="img" and an appropriate aria-label="..." to the SVGs.
Example#
Take a regular <a> element, add .icon-link, and insert an icon on either the left or right of your link text. The icon is automatically sized, placed, and colored.
<a class="icon-link" href="#">
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" class="bi" viewBox="0 0 16 16" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M8.186 1.113a.5.5 0 0 0-.372 0L1.846 3.5l2.404.961L10.404 2l-2.218-.887zm3.564 1.426L5.596 5 8 5.961 14.154 3.5l-2.404-.961zm3.25 1.7-6.5 2.6v7.922l6.5-2.6V4.24zM7.5 14.762V6.838L1 4.239v7.923l6.5 2.6zM7.443.184a1.5 1.5 0 0 1 1.114 0l7.129 2.852A.5.5 0 0 1 16 3.5v8.662a1 1 0 0 1-.629.928l-7.185 2.874a.5.5 0 0 1-.372 0L.63 13.09a1 1 0 0 1-.63-.928V3.5a.5.5 0 0 1 .314-.464L7.443.184z"/>
</svg>
Icon link
</a><a class="icon-link" href="#">
Icon link
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" class="bi" viewBox="0 0 16 16" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M1 8a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h11.793l-3.147-3.146a.5.5 0 0 1 .708-.708l4 4a.5.5 0 0 1 0 .708l-4 4a.5.5 0 0 1-.708-.708L13.293 8.5H1.5A.5.5 0 0 1 1 8z"/>
</svg>
</a>Style on hover#
Add .icon-link-hover to move the icon to the right on hover.
<a class="icon-link icon-link-hover" href="#">
Icon link
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" class="bi" viewBox="0 0 16 16" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M1 8a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h11.793l-3.147-3.146a.5.5 0 0 1 .708-.708l4 4a.5.5 0 0 1 0 .708l-4 4a.5.5 0 0 1-.708-.708L13.293 8.5H1.5A.5.5 0 0 1 1 8z"/>
</svg>
</a>Customize#
Modify the styling of an icon link with CSS variables, utilities, or custom styles.
CSS variables#
Customize the hover transform by overriding the --icon-link-transform CSS variable:
<a class="icon-link icon-link-hover" style="--icon-link-transform: translate3d(0, -.125rem, 0);" href="#">
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" class="bi" viewBox="0 0 16 16" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M4 1.5H3a2 2 0 0 0-2 2V14a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h10a2 2 0 0 0 2-2V3.5a2 2 0 0 0-2-2h-1v1h1a1 1 0 0 1 1 1V14a1 1 0 0 1-1 1H3a1 1 0 0 1-1-1V3.5a1 1 0 0 1 1-1h1v-1z"/>
<path d="M9.5 1a.5.5 0 0 1 .5.5v1a.5.5 0 0 1-.5.5h-3a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5v-1a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h3zm-3-1A1.5 1.5 0 0 0 5 1.5v1A1.5 1.5 0 0 0 6.5 4h3A1.5 1.5 0 0 0 11 2.5v-1A1.5 1.5 0 0 0 9.5 0h-3z"/>
</svg>
Icon link
</a>Customize the color by overriding the --link CSS variable, the color every plain link uses:
<a class="icon-link icon-link-hover" style="--link: var(--success-text);" href="#">
Icon link
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" class="bi" viewBox="0 0 16 16" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M1 8a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h11.793l-3.147-3.146a.5.5 0 0 1 .708-.708l4 4a.5.5 0 0 1 0 .708l-4 4a.5.5 0 0 1-.708-.708L13.293 8.5H1.5A.5.5 0 0 1 1 8z"/>
</svg>
</a>Utilities#
Modify icon links with any of the link utilities for modifying underline color and offset.
<a class="icon-link icon-link-hover link-success link-underline-success link-underline-opacity-25" href="#">
Icon link
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" class="bi" viewBox="0 0 16 16" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M1 8a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h11.793l-3.147-3.146a.5.5 0 0 1 .708-.708l4 4a.5.5 0 0 1 0 .708l-4 4a.5.5 0 0 1-.708-.708L13.293 8.5H1.5A.5.5 0 0 1 1 8z"/>
</svg>
</a>