diff --git a/apps/web/playwright/e2e/links/messages.spec.ts b/apps/web/playwright/e2e/links/messages.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..579a070722
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/web/playwright/e2e/links/messages.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2026 New Vector Ltd.
+
+SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only OR GPL-3.0-only OR LicenseRef-Element-Commercial
+Please see LICENSE files in the repository root for full details.
+*/
+import { test, expect } from "../../element-web-test";
+
+test.describe("Message links", () => {
+    test.use({
+        displayName: "Alice",
+        room: async ({ user, app, bot }, use) => {
+            const roomId = await app.client.createRoom({ name: "Test room" });
+            await use({ roomId });
+        },
+    });
+    for (const link of ["https://example.org", "example.org", "ftp://example.org"]) {
+        test(`should linkify a regular link '${link}'`, async ({ page, user, app, room }) => {
+            await page.goto(`#/room/${room.roomId}`);
+            // Needs to be unformatted so we test linkifing
+            await app.client.sendMessage(room.roomId, `Check out ${link}`);
+            const linkElement = page.locator(".mx_EventTile_last").getByRole("link", { name: link });
+            await app.timeline.scrollToBottom();
+            await expect(linkElement).toBeVisible();
+        });
+    }
+    test("should linkify a User ID", async ({ page, user, app, room }) => {
+        await page.goto(`#/room/${room.roomId}`);
+        // Needs to be unformatted so we test linkifing
+        await app.client.sendMessage(room.roomId, `Check out @bob:example.org`);
+        const linkElement = page.locator(".mx_EventTile_last").getByRole("link", { name: "@bob:example.org" });
+        await expect(linkElement).toHaveAttribute("href", `https://matrix.to/#/@bob:example.org`);
+    });
+    test("should linkify a Room alias", async ({ page, user, app, room }) => {
+        await page.goto(`#/room/${room.roomId}`);
+        // Needs to be unformatted so we test linkifing
+        await app.client.sendMessage(room.roomId, "Check out #aroom:example.org");
+        const linkElement = page.locator(".mx_EventTile_last").getByRole("link", { name: "#aroom:example.org" });
+        await expect(linkElement).toHaveAttribute("href", "https://matrix.to/#/#aroom:example.org");
+    });
+    test("should linkify text inside a URL preview", { tag: "@screenshot" }, async ({ page, user, app, room, axe }) => {
+        axe.disableRules("color-contrast");
+        await page.route(/.*\/_matrix\/(client\/v1\/media|media\/v3)\/preview_url.*/, (route, request) => {
+            const requestedPage = new URL(request.url()).searchParams.get("url");
+            expect(requestedPage).toEqual("https://example.org/");
+            return route.fulfill({
+                json: {
+                    "og:title": "A simple site",
+                    "og:description": "And with a brief description containing https://example.org/another-link",
+                },
+            });
+        });
+        await page.goto(`#/room/${room.roomId}`);
+        await app.client.sendMessage(room.roomId, "Check out https://example.org/");
+        await expect(
+            page.locator(".mx_EventTile_last").getByRole("link", { name: "https://example.org/another-link" }),
+        ).toBeVisible();
+    });
+});
diff --git a/apps/web/playwright/e2e/permalinks/permalinks.spec.ts b/apps/web/playwright/e2e/links/permalinks.spec.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from apps/web/playwright/e2e/permalinks/permalinks.spec.ts
rename to apps/web/playwright/e2e/links/permalinks.spec.ts
diff --git a/apps/web/playwright/e2e/links/topic.spec.ts b/apps/web/playwright/e2e/links/topic.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f6574860cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/web/playwright/e2e/links/topic.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2026 New Vector Ltd.
+
+SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only OR GPL-3.0-only OR LicenseRef-Element-Commercial
+Please see LICENSE files in the repository root for full details.
+*/
+import { test, expect } from "../../element-web-test";
+
+test.describe("Topic links", () => {
+    test.use({
+        displayName: "Alice",
+        room: async ({ user, app, bot }, use) => {
+            const roomId = await app.client.createRoom({ name: "Test room" });
+            await use({ roomId });
+        },
+    });
+    for (const link of [
+        "https://example.org",
+        "example.org",
+        "ftp://example.org",
+        "#aroom:example.org",
+        "@alice:example.org",
+    ]) {
+        // Playwright treats '@' as a tag, so replace it to be safe
+        test(`should linkify plaintext '${link.replace("@", "_@")}'`, async ({ page, user, app, room }) => {
+            await app.client.sendStateEvent(
+                room.roomId,
+                "m.room.topic",
+                {
+                    "m.topic": {
+                        // Deliberately no HTML version.
+                        "m.text": [
+                            {
+                                body: `An interesting room topic containing ${link}`,
+                            },
+                        ],
+                    },
+                    "topic": `An interesting room topic containing ${link}`,
+                },
+                "",
+            );
+            await page.goto(`#/room/${room.roomId}`);
+            await expect(page.getByTestId("topic").getByRole("link", { name: link })).toBeVisible();
+            const locator = await app.toggleRoomInfoPanel();
+            await expect(locator.getByRole("link", { name: link })).toBeVisible();
+        });
+    }
+});
diff --git a/apps/web/playwright/snapshots/permalinks/permalinks.spec.ts/permalink-rendering-linux.png b/apps/web/playwright/snapshots/links/permalinks.spec.ts/permalink-rendering-linux.png
similarity index 100%
rename from apps/web/playwright/snapshots/permalinks/permalinks.spec.ts/permalink-rendering-linux.png
rename to apps/web/playwright/snapshots/links/permalinks.spec.ts/permalink-rendering-linux.png