Components

Back link

Use the back link component to help users go back to the previous page in a multi-page transaction.

Although browsers have a back button, some sites break when you use it - so many users avoid it, instead of losing their progress in a service. Also, not all users are aware of the back button.

<div class="app-example app-example--tabs">
  <div class="app-example__toolbar">
    <a href="/components/back-link/default/index.html" class="app-example__new-window" target="_blank">
      Open this
      <span class="govuk-visually-hidden">back link</span>
      example in a new tab
    </a>
  </div>
  <iframe title="Back link example" data-module="app-example-frame" class="app-example__frame app-example__frame--resizable" src="/components/back-link/default/index.html" frameBorder="0" loading="lazy"></iframe>
</div>

<span id="options-back-link-example"></span>
<ul class="app-tabs" role="tablist">
  <li class="app-tabs__item js-tabs__item" role="presentation"><a href="#back-link-example-html" role="tab" aria-controls="back-link-example-html" data-track="tab-html">HTML</a></li>
  <li class="app-tabs__item js-tabs__item" role="presentation"><a href="#back-link-example-nunjucks" role="tab" aria-controls="back-link-example-nunjucks" data-track="tab-nunjucks">Nunjucks</a></li>
</ul>

  <div class="app-tabs__heading js-tabs__heading"><a href="#back-link-example-html" aria-controls="back-link-example-html" data-track="tab-html">HTML</a></div>

<div class="app-tabs__container js-tabs__container" id="back-link-example-html" role="tabpanel">
  <div class="app-example__code">
    <pre data-module="app-copy" tabindex="0"><code class="hljs html"><span class="hljs-tag">&lt;<span class="hljs-name">a</span> <span class="hljs-attr">href</span>=<span class="hljs-string">&quot;#&quot;</span> <span class="hljs-attr">class</span>=<span class="hljs-string">&quot;govuk-back-link&quot;</span>&gt;</span>Back<span class="hljs-tag">&lt;/<span class="hljs-name">a</span>&gt;</span></code></pre>
  </div>
</div>

  <div class="app-tabs__heading js-tabs__heading"><a class="app-tabs__heading-link" href="#back-link-example-nunjucks" aria-controls="back-link-example-nunjucks" data-track="tab-nunjucks">Nunjucks</a></div>
<div class="app-tabs__container js-tabs__container" id="back-link-example-nunjucks" role="tabpanel">
    

    <details class="govuk-details app-options" data-module="govuk-details" id="options-back-link-example-details">

Nunjucks macro options

      <p>
      Use options to customise the appearance, content and behaviour of a component when using a macro, for example, changing the text.
      </p>
      <p>
      Some options are required for the macro to work; these are marked as "Required" in the option description.
      </p>
      <p>
      If you're using Nunjucks macros in production with "html" options, or ones ending with "html", you must sanitise the HTML to protect against  <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/Cross-site_scripting">cross-site scripting exploits</a>.
      </p>
      
        <table class="govuk-table app-options__table" id="options-back-link-example--primary">
          <caption class="govuk-table__caption govuk-heading-m  govuk-visually-hidden">Primary options</caption>
          <thead class="govuk-table__head">
            <tr class="govuk-table__row">
              <th class="govuk-table__header app-options__limit-table-cell" scope="col">Name</th>
              <th class="govuk-table__header app-options__limit-table-cell" scope="col">Type</th>
              <th class="govuk-table__header" scope="col">Description</th>
            </tr>
          </thead>
          <tbody class="govuk-table__body">
            <tr class="govuk-table__row">
                <th class="govuk-table__header" scope="row">text</th>
                <td class="govuk-table__cell ">string</td>
                <td class="govuk-table__cell ">
                  
                  Text to use within the back link component. If <code>html</code> is provided, the <code>text</code> option will be ignored. Defaults to &#39;Back&#39;.
                  
                  </td>
              </tr>
            <tr class="govuk-table__row">
                <th class="govuk-table__header" scope="row">html</th>
                <td class="govuk-table__cell ">string</td>
                <td class="govuk-table__cell ">
                  
                  HTML to use within the back link component. If <code>html</code> is provided, the <code>text</code> option will be ignored. Defaults to &#39;Back&#39;.
                  
                  </td>
              </tr>
            <tr class="govuk-table__row">
                <th class="govuk-table__header" scope="row">href</th>
                <td class="govuk-table__cell ">string</td>
                <td class="govuk-table__cell ">
                  
                    <strong>Required.</strong>
                  
                  The value of the link&#39;s <code>href</code> attribute.
                  
                  </td>
              </tr>
            <tr class="govuk-table__row">
                <th class="govuk-table__header" scope="row">classes</th>
                <td class="govuk-table__cell ">string</td>
                <td class="govuk-table__cell ">
                  
                  Classes to add to the anchor tag.
                  
                  </td>
              </tr>
            <tr class="govuk-table__row">
                <th class="govuk-table__header" scope="row">attributes</th>
                <td class="govuk-table__cell ">object</td>
                <td class="govuk-table__cell ">
                  
                  HTML attributes (for example data attributes) to add to the anchor tag.
                  
                  </td>
              </tr>
            
          </tbody>
        </table>

  <div class="app-example__code">
    <pre data-module="app-copy" tabindex="0"><code class="hljs js">{% <span class="hljs-keyword">from</span> <span class="hljs-string">&quot;govuk/components/back-link/macro.njk&quot;</span> <span class="hljs-keyword">import</span> govukBackLink %}

{{ govukBackLink({ text: "Back", href: "#" }) }}