Angular Router

The Router maps URLs to views and lets users navigate your app.

Router Essentials

URL-driven UI: The Router swaps views based on the URL.
RouterOutlet: Placeholder where the active route's component renders.
routerLink: Navigate without full page reloads.
RouterLinkActive: Adds classes to active links (use { exact: true } for root).
Performance & control: Lazy load feature areas; use guards to allow/block navigation.

import { provideRouter, withHashLocation, RouterOutlet, RouterLink } from '@angular/router';

const routes = [
  { path: '', component: Home },
  { path: 'about', component: About }
];

bootstrapApplication(App, {
  providers: [provideRouter(routes, withHashLocation())]
});

// Template
// <a routerLink="/about">About</a>
// <router-outlet></router-outlet>

Notes:

Related: See Components for building views, Services for shared logic/guards, and Templates for markup and directives.
Standalone apps: import RouterOutlet/RouterLink and provide routes with provideRouter().
Sandboxes/runners: use withHashLocation() so links work without server config (hash URLs look like /#/path).

Router Basics

Define a routes array that maps paths to components.
Provide routes with provideRouter() (use withHashLocation() for sandboxes).
Use routerLink for navigation and RouterOutlet to render views.

const routes = [ { path: '', component: Home }, { path: 'about', component: About } ];
// template
// <a routerLink="/about">About</a>
// <router-outlet></router-outlet>

Example

import { bootstrapApplication } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { Component } from '@angular/core';
import { provideRouter, RouterOutlet, RouterLink, withHashLocation } from '@angular/router';

@Component({
  selector: 'app-root',
  standalone: true,
  imports: [RouterOutlet, RouterLink],
  template: `
    <h3>Router</h3>
    <nav>
      <a routerLink="/">Home</a> |
      <a routerLink="/about">About</a>
    </nav>
    <router-outlet></router-outlet>
  `
})
export class App {}

@Component({
  standalone: true,
  template: `<p>Home works!</p>`
})
export class Home {}

@Component({
  standalone: true,
  template: `<p>About works!</p>`
})
export class About {}

const routes = [
  { path: '', component: Home },
  { path: 'about', component: About }
];

bootstrapApplication(App, {
  providers: [provideRouter(routes, withHashLocation())]
});

<app-root></app-root>

Run Example »

Example explained

provideRouter(routes): Registers the routes for the app.
RouterOutlet: Placeholder where the active route's component renders.
routerLink: Navigates without reloading the page.
withHashLocation(): Uses hash URLs so links work in sandboxes without server rewrites.

Notes:

Use routerLink, not href: href reloads the page.
Use routerLink for SPA navigation.
Standalone imports: Import RouterOutlet/RouterLink and provide routes with provideRouter().

REMOVE ADS

Router Params

Capture variables in paths with :id (e.g., /product/42).
Read them via ActivatedRoute (snapshot or paramMap observable).

{ path: 'product/:id', component: Product }
// class Product {
//  id = '';
//  route = inject(ActivatedRoute);
//  ngOnInit() { this.id = this.route.snapshot.paramMap.get('id') ?? ''; }
// }

Example

import { bootstrapApplication } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { Component, OnInit, inject } from '@angular/core';
import { provideRouter, RouterOutlet, RouterLink, RouterLinkActive, ActivatedRoute, withHashLocation } from '@angular/router';

@Component({
  selector: 'home-cmp',
  standalone: true,
  template: `<p>Home works!</p>`
})
export class Home {}

@Component({
  selector: 'product-cmp',
  standalone: true,
  template: `<p>Product ID: {{ id }}</p>`
})
export class Product implements OnInit {
  id = '';
  private route = inject(ActivatedRoute);
  ngOnInit() {
    this.id = this.route.snapshot.paramMap.get('id') ?? '';
  }
}

@Component({
  selector: 'app-root',
  standalone: true,
  imports: [RouterOutlet, RouterLink, RouterLinkActive],
  template: `
    <h3>Router Params</h3>
    <nav>
      <a routerLink="/">Home</a> |
      <a routerLink="/product/1" routerLinkActive="active">Product 1</a> |
      <a routerLink="/product/2" routerLinkActive="active">Product 2</a>
    </nav>
    <router-outlet></router-outlet>
  `,
  styles: [`nav a { margin-right: 6px; } .active { font-weight: bold; }`]
})
export class App {}

const routes = [
  { path: '', component: Home },
  { path: 'product/:id', component: Product }
];

bootstrapApplication(App, {
  providers: [provideRouter(routes, withHashLocation())]
});

<app-root></app-root>

Run Example »

Example explained

product/:id: Declares a path parameter named id.
ActivatedRoute: Reads id from snapshot.paramMap.get('id') in ngOnInit.
Links: routerLink="/product/1" and /product/2 demonstrate parameterized navigation.

Params update within the same component: If navigating to the same route with different params, subscribe to paramMap (or params) instead of using a one-time snapshot.

Active Links

Use routerLinkActive to toggle classes when a link matches.
Set { exact: true } for root links like /.

<a routerLink="/" routerLinkActive="active" [routerLinkActiveOptions]="{ exact: true }">Home</a>
<a routerLink="/about" routerLinkActive="active">About</a>

Example

import { bootstrapApplication } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { Component } from '@angular/core';
import { provideRouter, RouterOutlet, RouterLink, RouterLinkActive, withHashLocation } from '@angular/router';

@Component({
  standalone: true,
  template: `<p>Home works!</p>`
})
export class Home {}

@Component({
  standalone: true,
  template: `<p>About works!</p>`
})
export class About {}

@Component({
  selector: 'app-root',
  standalone: true,
  imports: [RouterOutlet, RouterLink, RouterLinkActive],
  styles: [`
    nav a { margin-right: 8px; text-decoration: none; }
    .active { font-weight: 600; color: seagreen; }
  `],
  template: `
    <h3>Active Links (routerLinkActive)</h3>
    <nav>
      <a routerLink="/" routerLinkActive="active" [routerLinkActiveOptions]="{ exact: true }">Home</a>
      <a routerLink="/about" routerLinkActive="active">About</a>
    </nav>
    <router-outlet></router-outlet>
  `
})
export class App {}

const routes = [
  { path: '', component: Home },
  { path: 'about', component: About }
];

bootstrapApplication(App, {
  providers: [provideRouter(routes, withHashLocation())]
});

<app-root></app-root>

Run Example »

Example explained

routerLinkActive="active": Adds the active class when the link matches the current URL.
[routerLinkActiveOptions]="{ exact: true }": For the root (/), only mark active on exact match.
RouterOutlet: Renders the matched component for the current route.

Notes:

Exact for root: For / links, set { exact: true } so parent paths don't keep them active.
Apply on containers: Put routerLinkActive on a parent element to style groups of links.
Multiple classes: You can add several classes: routerLinkActive="active bold".

Lazy-loaded Component

Defer loading code until navigation with loadComponent or loadChildren.
Improves initial load time by splitting bundles.

{ path: 'about', loadComponent: () => import('./about').then(m => m.About) }

Example

import { bootstrapApplication } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { Component } from '@angular/core';
import { provideRouter, RouterOutlet, RouterLink, withHashLocation } from '@angular/router';

@Component({
  standalone: true,
  template: `<p>Home works!</p>`
})
export class Home {}

@Component({
  standalone: true,
  template: `<p>About works (lazy)!</p>`
})
export class About {}

@Component({
  selector: 'app-root',
  standalone: true,
  imports: [RouterOutlet, RouterLink],
  styles: [`
    nav a { margin-right: 8px; text-decoration: none; }
  `],
  template: `
    <h3>Lazy-loaded Component (loadComponent)</h3>
    <nav>
      <a routerLink="/">Home</a>
      <a routerLink="/about">About (lazy)</a>
    </nav>
    <router-outlet></router-outlet>
  `
})
export class App {}

const routes = [
  { path: '', component: Home },
  // Use Promise.resolve to simulate lazy loading without dynamic imports
  { path: 'about', loadComponent: () => Promise.resolve(About) }
];

bootstrapApplication(App, {
  providers: [provideRouter(routes, withHashLocation())]
});

<app-root></app-root>

Run Example »

Example explained

loadComponent: Defers loading the route's component until navigation (here simulated with Promise.resolve).
Routes: Home is eager; About is lazy.
Navigation: Clicking “About (lazy)” loads and renders the component on demand.

Notes:

Route order and wildcards: Put catch-all routes last so they don't swallow other routes.
Deep-link refreshes: Without server rewrites, refreshes may 404.
In demos/sandboxes use withHashLocation().

Route Guard (canActivate)

Guards decide if navigation is allowed.
Return true (allow), false/UrlTree (block/redirect), or async equivalents.

export const authGuard = () => isLoggedIn ? true : inject(Router).createUrlTree(['/']);
{ path: 'protected', component: Protected, canActivate: [authGuard] }

Example

import { bootstrapApplication } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { Component, inject } from '@angular/core';
import { provideRouter, RouterOutlet, RouterLink, withHashLocation, Router } from '@angular/router';

let loggedIn = false;

export const authGuard = () => {
  if (loggedIn) return true;
  const router = inject(Router);
  return router.createUrlTree(['/']);
};

@Component({
  standalone: true,
  template: `<p>Home (public).</p>
<p>Login to access protected route.</p>`
})
export class Home {}

@Component({
  standalone: true,
  template: `<p>Protected works! You are logged in.</p>`
})
export class Protected {}

@Component({
  selector: 'app-root',
  standalone: true,
  imports: [RouterOutlet, RouterLink],
  styles: [`
    nav a { margin-right: 8px; text-decoration: none; }
    .status { margin-left: 8px; font-weight: 600; }
  `],
  template: `
    <h3>Route Guard (canActivate)</h3>
    <div class="toolbar">
      <button (click)="toggle()">{{ loggedIn ? 'Log out' : 'Log in' }}</button>
      <span class="status">Status: {{ loggedIn ? 'Logged in' : 'Logged out' }}</span>
    </div>
    <nav>
      <a routerLink="/">Home</a>
      <a routerLink="/protected">Protected</a>
    </nav>
    <router-outlet></router-outlet>
  `
})
export class App {
  get loggedIn() { return loggedIn; }
  toggle() { loggedIn = !loggedIn; }
}

const routes = [
  { path: '', component: Home },
  { path: 'protected', component: Protected, canActivate: [authGuard] }
];

bootstrapApplication(App, {
  providers: [provideRouter(routes, withHashLocation())]
});

<app-root></app-root>

Run Example »

Example explained

authGuard: Returns true when logged in; otherwise returns a UrlTree that redirects to /.
inject(Router): Accesses the Router to create a redirect UrlTree inside the guard function.
canActivate: Applies the guard to the /protected route.
Toggle: The button flips the loggedIn state to test both branches.

Guard return types: Return boolean, UrlTree, or an observable/promise of those.

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Advanced Angular

Angular Exercises

Angular Router

Router Essentials

Router Basics

Example

Example explained

Router Params

Example

Example explained

Active Links

Example

Example explained

Lazy-loaded Component

Example

Example explained

Route Guard (canActivate)

Example

Example explained

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