HTML <img> src Attribute

Example

An image is marked up as follows:

Definition and Usage

The required src attribute specifies the URL of the image.

There are two ways to specify the URL in the src attribute:

1. Absolute URL - Links to an external image that is hosted on another website. Example: src="https://www.w3schools.com/images/img_girl.jpg".

Notes: External images might be under copyright. If you do not get permission to use it, you may be in violation of copyright laws. In addition, you cannot control external images; it can suddenly be removed or changed.

2. Relative URL - Links to an image that is hosted within the website. Here, the URL does not include the domain name. If the URL begins without a slash, it will be relative to the current page. Example: src="img_girl.jpg". If the URL begins with a slash, it will be relative to the domain. Example: src="/images/img_girl.jpg".

Tip: It is almost always best to use relative URLs. They will not break if you change domain.

Note: A broken link icon and the alt text are shown if the browser cannot find the image.

Browser Support

Attribute
src	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Syntax

Attribute Values

Value	Description
URL	The URL of the image. Possible values: An absolute URL - points to another web site (like src="http://www.example.com/image.gif") A relative URL - points to a file within a web site (like src="image.gif")

Value

Description

URL

The URL of the image.

Possible values:

An absolute URL - points to another web site (like src="http://www.example.com/image.gif")
A relative URL - points to a file within a web site (like src="image.gif")

❮ HTML <img> tag