Markdown autolinks: URLs and email links

To make a URL or email address clickable without writing separate link text, wrap it in angle brackets: <https://example.com> or <[email protected]>. This CommonMark autolink syntax is the portable choice.

GitHub Flavored Markdown also turns many bare URLs and www. addresses into links. Plain CommonMark does not require that behavior, so use angle brackets when the file must work across renderers.

Markdown autolinks syntax reference

The angle-bracket form works across every standard flavor. Bare-URL autolinking is a GitHub Flavored Markdown extension.

Markdown autolinks key facts

• Wrap a full URL or email in angle brackets to autolink it, for example <https://example.com> or <[email protected]>.
• An angle-bracket autolink must include a scheme such as https:// or mailto:, and email autolinks get a mailto: prefix automatically.
• Angle-bracket autolinks work in CommonMark, GitHub Flavored Markdown, MultiMarkdown, Markdown Extra, and Pandoc.
• GitHub Flavored Markdown also autolinks bare URLs, www. addresses, and bare emails without angle brackets, but plain CommonMark and default Pandoc do not.
• An autolink shows the address as its own text, so use an inline link [text](url) when you want readable link text instead.
• A URL inside a code span or code block is never autolinked, in any flavor.

Choose between an autolink and a descriptive link

Use an autolink when the destination itself is useful to see, such as a URL in release notes or an email address in a contact section. Use a normal Markdown link when the sentence should explain the destination. Descriptive link text is easier to scan and gives readers more context than a bare URL.

Angle-bracket autolinks belong to core CommonMark. Bare URLs and expanded autolinking are GFM extensions, so preview them before moving a file between GitHub, an editor, and another publishing system. If a bare URL is being linked when it should remain literal text, put it inside inline code or follow the target renderer's escaping rules.

Basic syntax: angle-bracket autolink

Wrap a full URL, including the scheme, in angle brackets. The visible text is the URL itself.

Markdown

Visit <https://example.com> for details.

Rendered output

HTML output

<p>Visit <a href="https://example.com">https://example.com</a> for details.</p>

The URL must include a scheme such as https:// or mailto:. An angle-bracket autolink without a scheme, like <example.com>, is not a valid autolink in CommonMark and may be treated as an HTML tag instead.

Email autolinks

Angle brackets also autolink an email address. The renderer adds a mailto: prefix in the href.

Markdown

Contact <[email protected]> for support.

Rendered output

HTML output

<p>Contact <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> for support.</p>

The original Markdown implementation applied character entity obfuscation to email autolinks to deter spam harvesters. Some processors still do this, so the rendered href may contain HTML entities rather than plain text. The link still works in the browser.

Bare-URL autolinking (GFM)

GitHub Flavored Markdown recognizes a bare URL, with no angle brackets, and turns it into a link. This is the GFM autolink literal extension.

Markdown

Visit https://example.com for details.

Rendered output (GFM)

The bare URL becomes a clickable link, the same as if it were wrapped in angle brackets.

HTML output (GFM)

<p>Visit <a href="https://example.com">https://example.com</a> for details.</p>

In plain CommonMark, the same bare URL renders as literal text, not a link. That is the main practical difference between the two, and the reason the angle-bracket form is safer for portable documents.

Bare www autolinking (GFM)

GFM also autolinks an address that begins with www., even without a scheme. It prepends http:// when building the link.

Markdown

Visit www.example.com for details.

HTML output (GFM)

<p>Visit <a href="http://www.example.com">www.example.com</a> for details.</p>

A www. autolink is recognized only at the start of a line, after whitespace, or after one of the delimiters *, _, ~, or (. This is a GFM-only convenience and does not work in CommonMark.

Bare email autolinking (GFM)

GFM recognizes a bare email address and links it with a mailto: prefix, no angle brackets needed.

Markdown

Contact [email protected] for support.

HTML output (GFM)

<p>Contact <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> for support.</p>

As with bare URLs, plain CommonMark leaves a bare email as literal text. Use angle brackets when you need the email to link everywhere.

Autolinks versus inline links

An automatic link shows the URL as its own text. When you want different link text, use an inline link instead.

Markdown

Autolink: <https://example.com>

Inline link: [our site](https://example.com)

Rendered output

HTML output

<p>Autolink: <a href="https://example.com">https://example.com</a></p>
<p>Inline link: <a href="https://example.com">our site</a></p>

Use an autolink when the URL itself is the useful information. Use an inline link when you want readable link text.

Preventing an autolink

To show a bare URL as plain text on a renderer that autolinks, you can escape it or wrap it in a code span. A code span is the most reliable across flavors.

Markdown

Type `https://example.com` exactly as shown.

Rendered output

HTML output

<p>Type <code>https://example.com</code> exactly as shown.</p>

Inside a code span, the URL is never autolinked, in any flavor.

Flavor differences

Every standard flavor supports angle-bracket autolinks for URLs and email. The difference is whether the flavor also autolinks bare addresses without angle brackets. That bare-URL behavior is a GitHub Flavored Markdown extension. In Pandoc it is off by default and enabled with the autolink_bare_uris extension.

Other platforms (Slack, Discord, Reddit, Obsidian, Notion)

• Slack and Discord: autolink bare URLs automatically as you type. They do not use the angle-bracket Markdown autolink syntax, and pasted <https://example.com> may show the brackets.
• Reddit: autolinks bare URLs in most contexts. Angle-bracket autolinks are not the standard way to link there.
• Obsidian: supports angle-bracket autolinks and also autolinks bare URLs.
• Notion: autolinks a URL when you paste it and offers to keep it as a link or create a bookmark. It does not rely on angle-bracket syntax.

For the full comparison of how flavors differ across all elements, see Markdown flavors.

How Markdific renders it

Markdific renders angle-bracket autolinks for URLs and email addresses as clickable links.

Because bare-URL autolinking is flavor-specific, a bare URL that links on GitHub may render as plain text elsewhere. Wrapping the address in angle brackets makes it link across every standard flavor.

Try it in the Markdific online editor.

Common mistakes and gotchas

• Assuming bare URLs always link. Bare-URL autolinking is a GFM extension. In plain CommonMark and default Pandoc, a bare URL renders as text.
• Omitting the scheme in angle brackets. <example.com> is not a valid autolink. Include the scheme, as in <https://example.com>.
• Confusing autolinks with HTML tags. An angle-bracket value that is not a URL or email, like <example.com>, can be parsed as an HTML tag rather than a link.
• Trailing punctuation in bare URLs. In GFM, trailing characters such as a period or closing parenthesis are usually trimmed from a bare autolink, which can surprise you if the punctuation is meant to be part of the URL.
• Unexpected autolinking in code. A URL inside a code span or code block is never autolinked. If you want it to link, take it out of the code span.
• Email entity encoding. Some renderers obfuscate email autolinks with HTML entities. The link still works, but the raw HTML looks different from what you wrote.

Best practices

• Use angle brackets (<https://example.com>) when a document needs to link everywhere, since bare-URL autolinking is not universal.
• Include the scheme in every autolink, such as https:// or mailto:.
• Use an inline link with descriptive text when the raw URL would be long or unhelpful to readers.
• Wrap a URL in a code span when you want to show it as text without linking.
• On GitHub, bare URLs are fine, but keep angle brackets if the same content will be read on a CommonMark renderer.
• Watch trailing punctuation on bare URLs so the link captures the address you intend.

HTML equivalent

An automatic link compiles to an anchor element whose href and visible text are both the address. Email autolinks get a mailto: prefix in the href.

Markdown

<https://example.com>

<[email protected]>

HTML output

<p><a href="https://example.com">https://example.com</a></p>
<p><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></p>

FAQ

How do you make an automatic link in Markdown? Wrap a full URL or email address in angle brackets, as in <https://example.com> or <[email protected]>. The renderer turns it into a clickable link whose text is the address itself.

Do bare URLs become links in Markdown? Only in some flavors. GitHub Flavored Markdown autolinks bare URLs, www. addresses, and bare emails without angle brackets. Plain CommonMark and default Pandoc leave a bare URL as text, so use angle brackets for portability.

What is the difference between an autolink and an inline link? An autolink shows the URL as its own text, while an inline link uses [text](url) so you can give it readable link text. Use an autolink when the URL itself is the useful information.

How do you autolink an email address? Wrap the address in angle brackets, as in <[email protected]>. The renderer adds a mailto: prefix. In GitHub Flavored Markdown, a bare email address autolinks without brackets too.

Why does my URL not turn into a link? Most likely you wrote a bare URL in a flavor that only autolinks angle-bracket addresses, or you left out the scheme. Wrap the URL in angle brackets and include https://.

How do I stop a URL from becoming a link? Wrap it in a code span with backticks, as in `https://example.com`. A URL inside a code span is never autolinked, in any flavor.

Does the angle-bracket autolink work everywhere? Yes, across the standard Markdown flavors. Angle-bracket autolinks for URLs and email are supported in CommonMark, GFM, MultiMarkdown, Markdown Extra, and Pandoc, which is why they are the portable choice.

How do you autolink a www address in Markdown? In GitHub Flavored Markdown, write the bare www. address and it becomes a link, with http:// prepended in the href. This is recognized only at the start of a line, after whitespace, or after one of the delimiters *, _, ~, or (. It is a GFM-only convenience and does not work in CommonMark, so use an angle-bracket autolink with a full scheme for portability.

Why do the angle brackets show around my link? The tool does not use Markdown autolink syntax. Some chat apps, such as Slack, autolink bare URLs as you type and leave a pasted <https://example.com> showing its brackets. Paste the bare address in those tools, and keep the angle-bracket form for standard Markdown renderers.

Does an autolink work inside a table or list in Markdown? Yes. An angle-bracket autolink is inline text, so it works in a table cell or a list item like any other inline link. Inside a GFM table, take care with pipes and trailing punctuation, which can be trimmed from a bare autolink.

How do you give an autolink custom text in Markdown? You cannot change the text of an autolink itself, since it always shows the address. Use an inline link instead, with the readable text in square brackets and the URL in parentheses, for example [our site](https://example.com).

Sources and compatibility references

• CommonMark 0.31.2: autolinks
• GFM specification: autolinks extension

Use these primary references for syntax rules. Renderer behaviour can still vary by version and configuration, so preview important documents in their final destination.

Related pages

• Markdown documentation hub
• Links in Markdown
• Inline code
• Escaping characters
• Heading IDs
• Markdown flavors compared