PUBLIC WEBSITE CHECKER
Free Broken
Link Finder.
Find the links that interrupt your visitors’ journey.
Trace missing pages, failed references and unexpected redirects back to their source. Keep the anchor text, response evidence and next step together.
Free checks · Downloadable evidence · Mobile ready
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A RESPONSE CODE IS THE START
Find the problem.
Understand the context.
A useful broken link checker connects a failed destination to the places that point to it. Review your navigation after a redesign, references in an article, or old URLs following a content cleanup.
The report retains recorded source occurrences while checking each unique destination once. You can see where a link appeared, read its anchor text and review its response before making a change.
A clean bounded scan describes the checks that finished. Coverage figures show what remains unchecked.
FROM URL TO REPAIR LIST
How to check a website for broken links
Choose your starting point
Use a homepage, service page or resource hub. Choose a website crawl, a single page and its links, or a supplied list of starting pages. Bulk mode accepts pasted URLs and local TXT or first-column CSV files.
Set the scope
Choose the source-page limit. Optional checks include referenced resources and section anchors. The workspace shows the active limits before you run it. Keep the tab open; pause, resume or stop while retaining completed checks.
Inspect the evidence
Filter by outcome, scope and type. Search URLs, anchor text and source locations. Expand a destination for recorded sources, redirect hops, check time and the available response details.
Repair and verify
Save the report, make a reviewed change in your editor, then recheck selected or failed destinations. The current tab keeps the immediately previous response for comparison.
READ THE EVIDENCE
Different failures need different decisions.
Review the response and the purpose of the link together. These outcomes describe what this request observed.
Missing 404 / 410
The destination returned a missing or removed response. Confirm the intended content, then correct the source, restore the page or choose a relevant replacement.
Server error 5xx
A server failed to complete the request. Investigate availability and recheck before replacing a useful link.
Client error Other 4xx
Inspect the response, address and access requirements. A client error does not always mean a page has been permanently removed.
Blocked 401 / 403 / 429
Authentication, access rules or rate limiting prevented a normal check. A browser may receive a different response.
Unverified No final verdict
The request failed or its redirect path could not be completed. Read the detail and retry when appropriate.
Redirected / Working Response received
Confirm the final page serves the original purpose. Successful HTTP responses do not prove content accuracy, indexability or the absence of a soft error.
KEEP THE REPAIR EVIDENCE
See where the same destination appears.
Each destination can have several recorded source pages and multiple occurrences on one page. Expand its evidence to see the source URL, link text, element, page region and link attributes.
Check times, response duration, request method and redirect hops help you distinguish current evidence from an earlier observation. Starting-page rows are labelled separately from discovered source links.
Choose the right download
- CSV: all checks
- Every checked destination in the report, with response details and timestamps.
- CSV: filtered view
- The destinations currently shown, in the selected order.
- CSV: source occurrences
- Recorded source locations and anchor context, including available section-anchor outcomes.
- JSON
- The full report: checked and waiting destinations, options, limits, notices and partial-run status.
Copy a summary or print the report. Summary totals continue to describe the full scan when a filter narrows the list.
FIX THE CAUSE
Turn findings into useful repairs.
Correct an editing error
Check the slug, path, punctuation and protocol. Replace an incorrect address in the source content when the intended page still exists. Use the URL, Link and Domain Extractor to prepare links from supplied text or HTML.
Point to a relevant replacement
When content moves, update the source link to its current address. A permanent redirect can support visitors using the old URL. Review the path with the Redirect Checker; a homepage is rarely a useful replacement for an unrelated guide.
Restore content that belongs
An accidentally removed tutorial or service page may deserve restoration. Confirm the intended content first. Continue with the Indexability Checker when the replacement is intended for search discovery.
Keep a genuine removal clear
A page removed without a suitable replacement can correctly return 404 or 410. Repair unnecessary links to it from live content. A missing URL alone does not establish a sitewide ranking problem.
Replace an external citation carefully
Find the source’s current official page or another reference that supports the same statement. Read it before updating the link. If no reliable replacement exists, revise the surrounding claim.
Recheck temporary failures
Investigate server failures, rate limits and access restrictions before deleting a useful reference. Selected rechecks preserve the previous response in the open report; longer-term records can be kept in your exports.
REPAIR DECISIONS IN PRACTICE
What a focused review can look like
These are hypothetical examples, not scan results or customer outcomes.
Find the intended contact page and correct the source link.
Read the final guide, then link directly if it matches the instruction.
Verify access and recheck before assuming the research was removed.
Investigate a temporary service problem before choosing a replacement.
BUILD A BETTER PATH THROUGH YOUR SITE
Repair before expanding.
Broken navigation, outdated service references and missing supporting guides interrupt useful journeys. After repairs, the Internal Link Opportunity Finder can help you review new connections under its own scope.
For a larger backlog, explore SEO audit services. When the main issue is how your existing pages connect, internal linking services offer a focused next step.
Request a link-repair reviewMake outreach useful to the reader
A failed resource can reveal an opportunity to suggest a relevant replacement. First verify that it is unavailable, understand why it was linked and make sure the replacement serves that purpose.
For university resource pages, see the EDU broken link building guide. For a separate campaign requiring publisher research and communication, review blogger outreach services.
This checker investigates discovered links. Outreach remains a separate editorial decision.
KNOW WHAT WAS CHECKED
Scan scope and data handling
Bounded public HTML checks
Website crawl follows links on the starting origin: the same scheme, hostname and port. It can leave the starting directory through navigation. Bulk mode checks supplied source pages and their linked destinations without recursively crawling each site.
The default maximum is 25 source pages, 100 checked internal destinations and 40 external destinations. The source-page default is 10. Administrators can reduce limits; the workspace shows the active settings.
External sites are not recursively crawled. Pages that require a sign-in, local/private network addresses and links inserted only after JavaScript runs are outside this check. Query strings remain part of a destination.
Evidence with visible limits
Optional resource checks inspect HTTP availability of references such as images, scripts, stylesheets and media URLs. They do not verify that a video is playable or that a file’s content is correct.
Optional section-anchor checks compare fragments with IDs and named anchors in retrieved HTML. Incomplete or unavailable HTML produces an unverified result. Browser-generated sections and text-fragment directives are outside that comparison.
Reports live in the current tab and can be downloaded. Hosting and tool usage handling are covered by the Privacy Policy. “Send result with my order” keeps a brief summary in browser session storage and prefills the enquiry for your review; it does not submit an order.
BEFORE YOU RUN A CHECK
Broken link checker questions
Is the Broken Link Finder free?
Yes. Public checks work without an API key. The workspace displays the active scan limits. A repair service is separate.
Does it check my entire website?
It checks a bounded set of discovered pages and destinations. Limits, available links and access restrictions affect coverage. It does not reconcile the crawl against every sitemap URL.
Can I check a single page?
Yes. Single-page mode reads one source page and checks eligible linked destinations within the internal and external budgets, without recursively discovering links on those destinations.
Does it find every source linking to a broken destination?
It retains source occurrences found in the HTML it processes, up to the displayed limits. Unvisited pages, JavaScript-only links and omitted occurrences are outside that evidence.
Does a redirected link need fixing?
Review the path and final content. A valid redirect can be useful. Where you control the source, linking directly to the intended current page can simplify the journey.
Are blocked links broken?
A 401, 403 or 429 response is shown as Blocked. Authentication, access rules or rate limits can cause it. Verify access and recheck before treating the page as missing.
Can it find broken backlinks from other websites?
It checks destinations discovered from the pages supplied or crawled. It does not provide a web backlink index or enumerate every website linking to you.
Can it check images, videos and section anchors?
Optional resource checks test the HTTP availability of supported HTML references. Section-anchor checks compare fragments with available HTML IDs. Video playback, semantic file correctness and JavaScript-rendered sections require separate checks.
Does it automatically fix links in WordPress?
No. Review the evidence and make approved changes in your website editor. The checker does not rewrite your posts.
Can I stop a scan and export partial work?
Yes. Stop & keep results preserves completed responses and marks the report partial. You can also pause and resume in the same open tab.
Why are the CSV and JSON downloads different?
CSV exports offer all checked destinations, the filtered view or source occurrences. JSON includes the full report, options, coverage, waiting destinations and notices. Filters do not change full-scan summary totals.
Will fixing broken links guarantee higher rankings?
Repairs can help visitors reach the intended content and remove avoidable crawl obstacles. Rankings depend on many factors. Repairs do not guarantee rankings, indexing or traffic.
NEED HELP WITH THE REPAIR LIST?
Bring the evidence.
Plan the next step.
Share the affected page types and the outcome you want to improve. Review your enquiry before sending it.
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