A thin-film magnetic head that has an improved protrusion efficiency under the condition of not only assuring the reliability of the-heating operation, but also stabilizing the read output is provided. The head comprises: a magnetic head element for writing and/or reading data signals; a heating element for generating heat at least during operations of the magnetic head element; and a first heatsink element provided adjacent to the heating element for receiving a part of the heat generated from the heating element, the first heatsink element being a distance from the magnetic head element.