What does URL stand for?
Quick answer
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. It’s the address of a specific resource on the internet, such as a web page, image or file. A URL tells your browser how to reach the resource (the protocol, like https), where it is (the domain name) and which page or file to fetch (the path).
The parts of a URL
Take this example: https://www.example.com/blog/article?id=42#comments
| Part | Example | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Scheme (protocol) | https:// | How to connect; see what HTTPS adds to HTTP |
| Subdomain | www. | A section of the domain |
| Domain name | example.com | The website’s name, which points to a server |
| Path | /blog/article | The specific page or file |
| Query string | ?id=42 | Extra information sent to the server |
| Fragment | #comments | A spot within the page |
The domain name is turned into a numerical server address by the Domain Name System; see what DNS is.
URL vs domain name vs URI
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Domain name | Just the site’s name, like example.com |
| URL | The full address of a specific resource |
| URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) | A broader term; every URL is a URI |
Who invented URLs?
Tim Berners-Lee created URLs, along with HTML and HTTP, when he invented the World Wide Web at CERN in 1989–1990; see who invented the World Wide Web. He later said the two slashes after “http:” weren’t really necessary.
URL tips
- URLs are mostly case-insensitive in the domain part, but the path can be case-sensitive.
- Spaces aren’t allowed; they’re replaced with
%20or hyphens. - Shortened links (from link shorteners) hide the real URL. Before clicking a link in an unexpected message, check where it really leads; see what phishing is.
Other “URL” words
- Permalink: a permanent URL for a specific page or post
- Slug: the readable part of a URL that identifies a page, like
/what-does-url-stand-for/
For another common abbreviation, see what PDF stands for.
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