---
schema_version: "1"
id: 976ca3d903fd4ec054b5f4ee8a4ada583180cbc331716e04d5c918bdd8fd66a7
title: Navigate Across Your Apps with Page References
collection: developer
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/developer/current/en-us/platform/aura-platform/guides/aura/components/components-navigation.md
canonical_url: https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/guide/components-navigation.html
source_site: developer.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 46b65c83e75ce1262d5c541c3fcb09b8745cc553c03175d8111dc9d070a23964
products:
  - Lightning Aura Components Developer Guide
  - Platform Developer Content
---

# Navigate Across Your Apps with Page References

The `pageReference` JavaScript object represents a URL for a page. You can use a `pageReference` instead of parsing or creating a URL directly. This approach helps you avoid broken navigation if Salesforce changes URL formats in the future.

These navigation resources are supported only in Lightning Experience, Experience Builder sites, and the Salesforce mobile app. They’re not supported in other containers, such as Lightning Components for Visualforce, or Lightning Out. This is true even if you access these containers inside Lightning Experience or the Salesforce mobile app.

-   **[Basic Navigation](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/guide/components-navigation-basic.md)**  


    The `pageReference` JavaScript object represents a URL for a page. You can use a `pageReference` instead of parsing or creating a URL directly. This approach helps you avoid broken navigation if Salesforce changes URL formats in the future.

-   **[Add Links to Lightning Pages from Your Custom Components](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/guide/components-navigation-add-links.md)**  


    To link to Lightning Experience pages, use `lightning:formattedUrl` in your custom component. The `lightning:formattedUrl` component displays a URL as a hyperlink.

-   **[Add Query Parameters](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/guide/components-navigate-add-params.md)**  


    To add query parameters to the URL, update the PageReference `state` property. The key-value pairs of the `state` property are serialized to URL query parameters. The query parameters describe the page and form a more specific URL that the user can save or bookmark.

-   **[Navigate to a Record Create Page with Default Field Values](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/guide/components-navigation-dfv.md)**  


    The `lightning:pageReferenceUtils` component provides utilities for encoding default field values into a string. Pass this string into the `pageReference.state.defaultFieldValues` attribute on `standard__objectPage` page reference types.

-   **[Navigate to a Web Page](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/guide/components-navigation-web-page.md)**  


    The navigation service supports different kinds of pages in Lightning. Each page reference type supports a different set of attributes and state properties.

-   **[Migrate to lightning:isUrlAddressable from from force:navigateToComponent](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/guide/components-navigation-migrate-to-isurladdressable.md)**  


    The `pageReference` JavaScript object represents a URL for a page. You can use a `pageReference` instead of parsing or creating a URL directly. This approach helps you avoid broken navigation if Salesforce changes URL formats in the future.

-   **[pageReference Types](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/aura-platform/guide/components-navigation-page-definitions.md)**  


    To navigate in Lightning Experience, Experience Builder sites, or the Salesforce mobile app, define a `PageReference` object. The `pageReference` type generates a unique URL format and defines attributes that apply to all pages of that type. For Experience Builder sites, depending on the page type, the `pageReference` property requirements can differ between LWR sites and Aura sites.