Ux cancel button

1. What is the cancel button?
2. Is a cancel button a CTA?
3. Why is the cancel button used?
4. Should cancel be a button or link?

What is the cancel button?

1. Cancel is a button or option that lets you exit a program or dialog box and not save any of the changes made.

Is a cancel button a CTA?

A Cancel button is not a call to action because no changes to the system occur after users press it. You shouldn't emphasize it with color, or you'll give users that impression. Instead, you need to let them know that the button won't make any changes and is an escape from action.

Why is the cancel button used?

Cancel is mainly useful for multi-step dialogs where the user has progressed past one or more pages with actions. At this time, pressing the Back button will not undo these actions and it would be better if the user would click Cancel.

Should cancel be a button or link?

To summarize

The cancel option is similar to aborting an action, and therefore similar to navigating back to the previous state of the UI. Navigation is represented in web UI as hyperlinks, and thus the cancel option should be a hyperlink.