Title: External Links in New Window / New Tab
Author: WebFactory
Published: September 24, 2010
Last modified: May 21, 2026
---
Search plugins
# External Links in New Window / New Tab
By [WebFactory](https://profiles.wordpress.org/webfactory/)
[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/open-external-links-in-a-new-window.1.45.zip)
* [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/#description)
* [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/#reviews)
* [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/#installation)
* [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/#developers)
[Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/)
## Description
Opens external links in a new tab or a or new window. You can set URLs that should
either be forced to open in a new window or ignored.
The plugin produces XHTML Strict compliant code and is search engine optimized (
SEO).
This is done using JavaScript’s `window.open()`-function. It adds only a
few lines of vanilla JavaScript to the page, and does not require any external libraries
like jQuery.
Most other plugins perform a hack by altering the `target` parameter (i.e. ``). That method is not XHTML Strict
compliant.
This plugin handles the links client-side, which lets search engines
follow the links properly. Also, if a browser does not support JavaScript, the plugin
is simply inactive, and does not result in any errors.
If you need a more advanced plugin, with more options try our [free WP External Links](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-external-links/)
plugin.
**Credits**
Inspired by the [Zap_NewWindow](http://www.zappelfillip.de/2005-12-05/zap_newwindow/)
plugin by [Tom Köhler](http://www.zappelfillip.de/). The banner is a [photo](http://www.flickr.com/photos/monja/1367946568/in/photostream/)
by [Monja Da Riva](http://www.monja.it/).
**Translations**
Danish by [Kristian Risager Larsen](https://kristianrisagerlarsen.dk)
Dutch by [Paul Staring](http://www.collectief-it.nl/) Lithuanian by [Vincent G](http://Host1Free.com)
Other translations will be appreciated!
**Known bugs**
The plugin conflicts with other plugins that change the links’ `
onClick´ attribute.
**Original developer**
Kristian Risager Larsen – [kezze.dk](http://kezze.dk)
## Screenshots
[⌊External links settings⌉⌊External links settings⌉[
External links settings
## Installation
1. Copy the plugin to /wp-content/plugins/
2. Activate the plugin.
3. Eventually, change the settings in Settings->External Links.
## FAQ
### How to disable this plugin?
Just use standard Plugin overview page in WordPress admin section and deactivate
it or rename plugin folder /wp-content/plugins/open-external-links-in-a-new-window
over FTP access.
### How can I report security bugs?
You can report security bugs through the Patchstack Vulnerability Disclosure Program.
The Patchstack team help validate, triage and handle any security vulnerabilities.
[Report a security vulnerability.](https://patchstack.com/database/vdp/open-external-links-in-a-new-window)
## Reviews
### [Not working](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/not-working-4388/)
[edragonxx](https://profiles.wordpress.org/edragonxx/) October 31, 2025
Not working with google ads
### [Works as expected, minimal setup](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/works-as-expected-minimal-setup/)
[Christian Saborio](https://profiles.wordpress.org/christian-saborio/) November
11, 2024
Download, activate, you are done. This is pretty much you need, works flawlessly.
### [Simple, elegant plug-in](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/simple-elegant-plug-in/)
[philsimon](https://profiles.wordpress.org/philsimon/) July 20, 2024
This one’s going to save me a good deal of time with my new writing process. Thank
you for creating it.
### [Work perfect](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/work-perfect-87/)
[boonpraserd](https://profiles.wordpress.org/boonpraserd/) July 15, 2024 1 reply
It is working perfectly after installation. Don’t need any setup or configuration.
### [Works perfectly!](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/works-perfectly-2734/)
[mhscodafweb](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mhscodafweb/) February 14, 2024
Great plugin, great support! Thanks!
### [This plug-in has fixed an ‘improvement’ from WP 6.3](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/this-plug-in-has-fixed-an-improvement-from-wp-6-3/)
[mocha24](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mocha24/) September 2, 2023
I never realized that creating links could be so simple. The recent upgrade to WordPress
6.3 made the slider harder to enable. This plug-in helps me avoid all that hassle.
Turns out, I was working to hard before version 6.3! (It used to be in the same
pop-up menu when you entered in the URL for the link. 6.3 now makes you create the
link, then edit it, open an advanced menu and then finally enable the slider button.)
[ Read all 76 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/reviews/)
## Contributors & Developers
“External Links in New Window / New Tab” is open source software. The following
people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
* [ WebFactory ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/webfactory/)
“External Links in New Window / New Tab” has been translated into 6 locales. Thank
you to [the translators](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/contributors)
for their contributions.
[Translate “External Links in New Window / New Tab” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/open-external-links-in-a-new-window)
### Interested in development?
[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/),
check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/),
or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/)
by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).
## Changelog
#### 1.45
* 2025-08-04
* minor code fixes
#### 1.44
* 2022-11-22
* minor security fixes
#### 1.43
* 2022-05-06
* security fix reported by Automattic
#### 1.42
* 2021-01-30
* added flyout menu
#### 1.41
* 2020-10-21
* minor update
#### 1.4
* 2019-08-26
* WebFactory took over development
* minor fixes
* 40,000 installs; 178,750 downloads
#### 1.3.3
Verified compatibility with WordPress 5.0
#### 1.3.2
Updated: Danish translation
#### 1.3.1
Verified compatibility with WordPress 4.0
Added: Plugin logo for WordPress 4.0
Added: Dutch translation.
#### 1.3
Added: Possibility to force and ignore user-defined strings in URLs. This feature
has been requested.
Added: Lithuanian and Danish translation.
#### 1.2
Added: Translation-ready.
#### 1.1.1
Fixed: Deprecation warning (Thanks to [boo1865](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-open-external-links-in-a-new-window-doesnt-work?replies=2#post-2152292))
#### 1.1.0
Changed: Better practice for opening links. The plugin now uses the onClick-attribute
instead of writing JavaScript directly into the href-attribute. This enables users
to right-click the link and open in a new window/tab, save the target etc.
#### 1.0.1
Fixed: Removes target attribute from links instead of setting the attribute to null.(
Thanks to [crashnet](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-open-external-links-in-a-new-window-target-attribute-left-empty?replies=2#post-1813522))
#### 1.0
Fixed: Credits to Tom Köhler (Charset).
Fixed: Links.
#### 0.9
Initial release.
## Meta
* Version **1.45**
* Last updated **2 months ago**
* Active installations **30,000+**
* WordPress version ** 4.0 or higher **
* Tested up to **7.0.2**
* PHP version ** 5.2 or higher **
* Languages
* [Chinese (Taiwan)](https://tw.wordpress.org/plugins/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/),
[Dutch](https://nl.wordpress.org/plugins/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/),
[English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/),
[German](https://de.wordpress.org/plugins/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/),
[Lithuanian](https://lt.wordpress.org/plugins/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/),
[Russian](https://ru.wordpress.org/plugins/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/),
and [Vietnamese](https://vi.wordpress.org/plugins/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/).
* [Translate into your language](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/open-external-links-in-a-new-window)
* Tags
* [external links](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/external-links/)[links](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/links/)
[new tab](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/new-tab/)[new window](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/new-window/)
[target blank](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/target-blank/)
* [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/advanced/)
## Ratings
4.5 out of 5 stars.
* [ 67 5-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/reviews/?filter=5)
* [ 0 4-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/reviews/?filter=4)
* [ 0 3-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/reviews/?filter=3)
* [ 3 2-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/reviews/?filter=2)
* [ 7 1-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/reviews/?filter=1)
[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/reviews/#new-post)
[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/reviews/)
## Contributors
* [ WebFactory ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/webfactory/)
## Support
Got something to say? Need help?
[View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/open-external-links-in-a-new-window/)