---
title: "Changing aliases for nodes in Drupal 8"
description: "When working with your nodes (content unit such as Articele, page, etc), they are assigned a default node identifier. This identifier becomes part of the URL that specific page. For example, the..."
url: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/drupal/change-node-alias/
date: 2013-05-31
modified: 2021-08-16
author: "Scott Mitchell"
categories: ["Drupal"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# Changing aliases for nodes in Drupal 8

When working with your nodes (content unit such as Articele, page, etc), they are assigned a default node identifier. This identifier becomes part of the URL that specific page. For example, the first node you create, whether it be an [Article](/support/edu/drupal/add-new-article/) or a [Basic Page](/support/edu/drupal/create-basic-page/), the identifier will be */node/1* as it is the first content node created. Subsequent nodes are always numbered sequentially so the next one would be *node/2*. The URL for the first node will be *https://example.com/node/1*. This is not very descriptive, however. You may wish to have more descriptive identifiers in the URL, such as *https://example.com/firstpage*. This can be done by creating an alias. The alias can be customized so that the URL will be more understandable by humans. Below is a guide on how to add custom aliases to your nodes to increase user-friendliness in your Drupal 8 website.

## How to change node aliases in Drupal 8

1. [Log into your Drupal 8 interface](/support/edu/drupal/how-to-log-into-the-drupal-admin-dashboard/).
2. [![select menu option from toolbar](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/edu_Drupal-8__common-images_select-menu.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/edu_Drupal-8__common-images_select-menu.png) Using the toolbar across the top of the screen, click on the **Menu** link.
3. [![select the content menu option](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/edu_Drupal-8__common-images_select-content.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/edu_Drupal-8__common-images_select-content.png) Another menu bar will appear directly under the first one. From here, select the **Content** option.
4. [![click on the edit button](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/edu_Drupal-8_102_assign-menu_2-click-edit.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/edu_Drupal-8_102_assign-menu_2-click-edit.png) This leads you to the main content page displaying a list of all current nodes (basic pages, articles,etc) that exist on your site. Locate the node you wish to work with and click on the **Edit** link at the end of its respective row under the *Operations* column. In this example we will select the Introduction page.
5. [![enter your node alias](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/edu_Drupal-8_102_create-alias_3-change-alias.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/edu_Drupal-8_102_create-alias_3-change-alias.png) Now that you are on the content editor page, look to the right hand sidebar and click on the **URL Settings** category. This will expand the area and allow you to insert your custom alias in the **URL alias** field. For our example, we will enter the alias *intro*.
6. Once you have chosen and entered an alias, click on the **Save and keep published** button at the bottom of the page. This will activate the new alias for the node. As you can see below, the URL for the Introduction page is now */drupal8/intro*, which is more readable and memorable than the previous URL of */drupal8/node/4*. Before After [![before the alias is changed](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/edu_Drupal-8_102_create-alias_before.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/edu_Drupal-8_102_create-alias_before.png) [![after the alias is changed](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/edu_Drupal-8_102_create-alias_after.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/edu_Drupal-8_102_create-alias_after.png)