W3docs

HTML File Paths

On this page, you can learn about HTML file paths, find the difference between the absolute and relative file paths and see different useful examples.

A file path defines the location of a file in a web site's folder structure.

A file path is used when we link to such external files like:

There exist absolute and relative file paths.

Absolute File Paths

An absolute file path is the URL to access an internet file.

Example of an absolute file path:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Absolute File Path Example</h2>
    <img src="https://www.slrlounge.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Sea-Thru-Underwater-Photography-Algorithm-SLR-Lounge_0001-1000x675.jpg" alt="Sea" style="width:300px" />
  </body>
</html>

Relative File Paths

A relative file path refers to a file that is relative to the current page. In the example below, the path is root-relative (starts with /), pointing to a file in the images folder at the root of the website:

Other common relative paths include ./file.html (same directory) and ../folder/file.html (parent directory).

Example of a relative file path:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Title of the document</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h2>Relative File Path Example</h2>
    <img src="/build/images/smile-small.jpg" alt="Smile" width="290" height="260" />
  </body>
</html>

Practice

Practice

What are the types of file paths in HTML?