---
title: "The rich text editor"
manual: "Tutorial for Editors"
version: "main"
permalink: "https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/t3editors:rte@main"
source: "ContentElements/RichTextEditor/Index.rst"
modified: "2026-09-15T07:05:35+00:00"
---

# The rich text editor

[Watch this video on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g4HIEU3uPA)

---

![Content element Regular Text in the TYPO3 backend](../../Images/ManualScreenshots/ContentElements/RegularText.png)

Start by [Creating a content element](https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/t3editors:content-creating@main)
of type "Text & Images", "Text & Media", or "Regular Text Element". You can find them in the
tab [Typical page content](https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/t3editors:content-typical@main).

The TYPO3 text editing interface is not much different from a word processor.
The options available in the toolbars vary depending on how your TYPO3
installation is configured.

![Screenshot of a typical rich text editor in the TYPO3 backend](../../Images/ManualScreenshots/ContentElements/Text/RichTextEditor.png)

You can format text, set the alignment, insert tables and symbols and add
internal and external links to text.

## Creating a link

Select the text you want to link.

Click the **Link** icon in the toolbar or use the shortcut
`Ctrl + K` or `Cmd + K`. This shortcut only works when
your focus is within the editor. Outside the editor the same
shortcut would open the live search.

![Linking the highlighted text in the TYPO3 rich text editor](../../Images/ManualScreenshots/ContentElements/Text/Link.png)

The **Link Browser** window displays.

This window lets you link to an internal page, file, folder, external
URL, email address or phone number.

### Internal links

![The TYPO3 CMS link browser](../../Images/ManualScreenshots/Link/LinkBrowser.png)

You can link to an internal file, folder, page or content element on a page.

On the **Page** tab, select the page in the page tree that you want
to link to, then click the **Link to ...** button.

You can also link directly to a content element. In that case an anchor
(link with a hashtag) is used so your readers will automatically jump to the
desired content element.

You can also link to uploaded files, for example PDF files:

![Linking to a file for download in TYPO3](../../Images/ManualScreenshots/Link/LinkBrowserFile.png)

### External links

1.  In the **Link Browser** window, go to the **External URL** tab.
1.  Type your link in the **URL** field.
1.  In the Target drop-down list, select **New window** to open the
    link in a new browser window.

    ![Display the anchors on a page](../../Images/ManualScreenshots/Link/LinkBrowserExternal.png)
1.  Click the **Set Link** button to close the **Link Browser**
    window.

## Removing a link

To remove a link from text, put your cursor anywhere in the linked text then
click the **Unlink** button in the popover:

![Unlinking using the popover in the rich text editor](../../Images/ManualScreenshots/ContentElements/Text/Unlink.png)

## Non-breaking spaces and soft hyphens

Two characters that are normally invisible are highlighted with a colour in the
rich text editor so that you can see where they have been placed:

-   A **non-breaking space** keeps two words together on the same line, so they
    are never split across a line break.
-   A **soft hyphen** marks a point where a word may be hyphenated and wrapped to
    the next line, but only if the word does not otherwise fit.

The colour highlighting is only shown while you edit. It helps you spot these
characters in the editor and does not appear on the website itself.

![A non-breaking space and a soft hyphen highlighted in the rich text editor](../../Images/ManualScreenshots/ContentElements/Text/Whitespace.avif)

You can insert both characters with a [keyboard command](https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/t3editors:keyboard-commands-rte@main).