diff --git a/src/app/components/url-preview/UrlPreviewCard.tsx b/src/app/components/url-preview/UrlPreviewCard.tsx
index 2a51969..f055a79 100644
--- a/src/app/components/url-preview/UrlPreviewCard.tsx
+++ b/src/app/components/url-preview/UrlPreviewCard.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import React, { useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
+import React, { MouseEvent, useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import { IPreviewUrlResponse } from 'matrix-js-sdk';
 import { Box, Icon, IconButton, Icons, Scroll, Spinner, Text, as, color, config } from 'folds';
 import { AsyncStatus, useAsyncCallback } from '../../hooks/useAsyncCallback';
@@ -12,9 +12,21 @@ import * as css from './UrlPreviewCard.css';
 import { tryDecodeURIComponent } from '../../utils/dom';
 import { mxcUrlToHttp } from '../../utils/matrix';
 import { useMediaAuthentication } from '../../hooks/useMediaAuthentication';
+import { openExternalUrl } from '../../utils/tauri';
 
 const linkStyles = { color: color.Success.Main };
 
+/**
+ * Click handler for external links - uses Tauri shell on desktop/mobile
+ */
+const handleExternalLinkClick = (e: MouseEvent<HTMLAnchorElement>) => {
+  const href = e.currentTarget.href;
+  if (href && (href.startsWith('http://') || href.startsWith('https://'))) {
+    e.preventDefault();
+    openExternalUrl(href);
+  }
+};
+
 export const UrlPreviewCard = as<'div', { url: string; ts: number }>(
   ({ url, ts, ...props }, ref) => {
     const mx = useMatrixClient();
@@ -45,6 +57,7 @@ export const UrlPreviewCard = as<'div', { url: string; ts: number }>(
               rel="no-referrer"
               size="T200"
               priority="300"
+              onClick={handleExternalLinkClick}
             >
               {typeof prev['og:site_name'] === 'string' && `${prev['og:site_name']} | `}
               {tryDecodeURIComponent(url)}
diff --git a/src/app/plugins/react-custom-html-parser.tsx b/src/app/plugins/react-custom-html-parser.tsx
index ad249a6..2c73d51 100644
--- a/src/app/plugins/react-custom-html-parser.tsx
+++ b/src/app/plugins/react-custom-html-parser.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 /* eslint-disable jsx-a11y/alt-text */
 import React, {
   ComponentPropsWithoutRef,
+  MouseEvent,
   ReactEventHandler,
   Suspense,
   lazy,
@@ -42,15 +43,28 @@ import { onEnterOrSpace } from '../utils/keyboard';
 import { copyToClipboard, tryDecodeURIComponent } from '../utils/dom';
 import { useTimeoutToggle } from '../hooks/useTimeoutToggle';
 import { AuthenticatedImg } from '../components/authenticated-media';
+import { openExternalUrl } from '../utils/tauri';
 
 const ReactPrism = lazy(() => import('./react-prism/ReactPrism'));
 
 const EMOJI_REG_G = new RegExp(`${URL_NEG_LB}(${EMOJI_PATTERN})`, 'g');
 
+/**
+ * Click handler for external links - uses Tauri shell on desktop/mobile
+ */
+const handleExternalLinkClick = (e: MouseEvent<HTMLAnchorElement>) => {
+  const href = e.currentTarget.href;
+  if (href && (href.startsWith('http://') || href.startsWith('https://'))) {
+    e.preventDefault();
+    openExternalUrl(href);
+  }
+};
+
 export const LINKIFY_OPTS: LinkifyOpts = {
   attributes: {
     target: '_blank',
     rel: 'noreferrer noopener',
+    onClick: handleExternalLinkClick,
   },
   validate: {
     url: (value) => /^(https|http|ftp|mailto|magnet)?:/.test(value),
@@ -161,7 +175,7 @@ export const factoryRenderLinkifyWithMention = (
       if (mention) return mention;
     }
 
-    return <a {...attributes}>{content}</a>;
+    return <a {...attributes} onClick={handleExternalLinkClick}>{content}</a>;
   };
   return render;
 };
@@ -441,19 +455,31 @@ export const getReactCustomHtmlParser = (
           }
         }
 
-        if (name === 'a' && testMatrixTo(tryDecodeURIComponent(props.href))) {
-          const content = children.find((child) => !(child instanceof DOMText))
-            ? undefined
-            : children.map((c) => (c instanceof DOMText ? c.data : '')).join();
+        if (name === 'a') {
+          const href = tryDecodeURIComponent(props.href);
+          // Handle matrix.to links as mentions
+          if (testMatrixTo(href)) {
+            const content = children.find((child) => !(child instanceof DOMText))
+              ? undefined
+              : children.map((c) => (c instanceof DOMText ? c.data : '')).join();
 
-          const mention = renderMatrixMention(
-            mx,
-            roomId,
-            tryDecodeURIComponent(props.href),
-            makeMentionCustomProps(params.handleMentionClick, content)
-          );
+            const mention = renderMatrixMention(
+              mx,
+              roomId,
+              href,
+              makeMentionCustomProps(params.handleMentionClick, content)
+            );
 
-          if (mention) return mention;
+            if (mention) return mention;
+          }
+          // Handle external links - add click handler for Tauri
+          if (props.href?.startsWith('http://') || props.href?.startsWith('https://')) {
+            return (
+              <a {...props} onClick={handleExternalLinkClick}>
+                {domToReact(children, opts)}
+              </a>
+            );
+          }
         }
 
         if (name === 'span' && 'data-mx-spoiler' in props) {