The target attribute inside anchor tags (<a>) tells the browser where the linked document should be loaded. It’s optional, and defaults to _self when no value is provided. It can take a browsing context name/keyword (e.g.: tab, window), or one of the following 4 keywords.
The concept of a browsing context was introduced with HTML5 and it refers to a window, tab or frame inside a page.
- _self: The default value. Loads the document in the same browsing context.
- _blank: The most commonly used value. Loads the document in a new browsing context (window or tab).
- _parent: Loads the document in the parent browsing context/frame if there’s one, or the same browsing context if there’s no parent.
- _top: Loads the document in the topmost browsing context/frame if there’s one, or the same browsing context if there’s no parent.
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