How to add anchor links to Confluence Cloud pages
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How to use Confluence anchor links | Link within pages
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What are Confluence anchor links?
How to add anchors to a Confluence page
- Add an anchor link to a heading
- Add an anchor link to other content
How to use anchor links in buttons
Best practices for Confluence anchor links
Finding the information you need on long pages can be a chore. Here’s how you can make page navigation easier, for both you and other users.
When it comes to creating guides or detailed documentation, you naturally want to include all the helpful context possible. However, long Confluence pages can become unwieldy and difficult to navigate, especially for users who need to return to locate a specific piece of information.
Thankfully, Confluence anchor links are here to save the day.
Thankfully, Confluence anchor links are here to save the day.
What are Confluence anchor links?
Anchors act as invisible markers on a page, allowing users to jump directly to specific sections or content. They are essential for helping users find relevant answers quickly, particularly in lengthy documents or knowledge bases.
You can use anchors to build a custom table of contents, link to specific sections within a guide, or reference precise sections from other pages.
How to add anchors to a page in Confluence Cloud
How you add an anchor depends on whether your content is a heading or not. We'll go through both options below.
Add an anchor link to a heading
- In edit mode, hover over your chosen heading and click the link icon that appears.
- Add or type some text that will link to your heading.
- Highlight the text, then click the link icon in the toolbar.
- Paste the headline link you copied earlier, then click Insert.
- Press 'Publish' or 'Update' in the top-right corner to try the anchor out on your Confluence page.
💡 Troubleshooting Tip: Does clicking the link take you into edit mode? This often happens if you copy the link from a page while it is still in draft mode. To fix this, simply publish the page first, then return to edit mode and re-copy the heading link. This ensures the link directs users to the published view.
Add an anchor link to other content
- If you aren’t linking to a heading, you can manually place an anchor macro anywhere on the page.
- Click the location where you want the destination to be.
- Type /anchor and select the macro.
- A sidebar will appear. Type a descriptive Anchor Name (e.g. Rework-Mobile) and close the sidebar. This name will be used to reference the anchor later, so remember it or make a note of it.
- Scroll to the text you want to turn into a link and highlight it.
- Click the hyperlink button in the toolbar, then type a hash key (#) followed immediately by your Anchor Name. For example, ours would be #Rework-Mobile.
- Press 'Publish' or 'Update' in the top-right corner to try the anchor out on your Confluence page.
📝 Note: Hyperlinks are case sensitive, so remember to type your Anchor Name exactly as you originally wrote it.
How to format anchor links in Buttons
Want to make your navigation even more engaging? You can format your anchor links as buttons using the Confluence buttons (included with Mosaic: Content Formatting Macros & Templates). This is great for maintaining brand consistency and keeping your page layout tidy.
This approach is also a fantastic manual alternative to the Table of Contents macro, giving you full control over the look and feel of your navigation menu.
How to do it:
- Follow the instructions above to either copy a heading link or define an anchor name.
- In the editor, type /button and select the macro.
- Choose a style preset or customise the button to match your brand.
- In the Destination field, paste your heading link or type # followed by your anchor name.
- Click 'Save'.
In the screenshot above, these buttons are embedded within a Background macro from Mosaic to create a distinct, stylish menu.
Best practices for Confluence anchor links
To ensure your anchors effectively improve usability, keep these best practices in mind:
- Consistent naming: Establish a clear naming convention for your anchors. Descriptive names like #troubleshooting-steps are easier to manage than generic ones like #anchor-1
- Strategic placement: Place anchors at the very start of key sections or headings. This ensures that when a user clicks the link, they land exactly where they need to be to start reading.
- Regular testing: Links can break if section names change. Regular validation checks ensure your anchors continue to direct users to the right content without errors.
- Accessibility: Ensure your link text is descriptive. Instead of “Click here”, use text like “Jump to the mobile rework section” to assist users relying on screen readers.
Anchors provide a simple yet powerful way to refine your page structure. By mastering them in Confluence Cloud, you can significantly boost productivity and collaboration across your organisation.
Boost your Confluence page structure
Mosaic for Confluence includes Buttons, Numbered Headings, Tabs, and more to make pages more engaging and better linked than ever.
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