Broken Link Checker (404 Checker)

What is the Broken Link Checker (404 Checker)?

The Broken Link Checker (404 Checker) is a free tool that finds the dead links on one web page. It reads every link in the page's HTML, requests each destination, and lists the ones that return an error, such as a 404 or 500, or never answer. Working links are left out, so the list is only what needs fixing.

How to use the Broken Link Checker (404 Checker)

1. Paste the URL of the page you want to scan, such as a blog post or a resources page with many outbound links.
2. Press Check broken links. The tool reads the page's <a href> links and requests each destination, up to 60 unique links.
3. Read the count, Broken Links Found, and the list of dead URLs under it. Each one opens in a new tab.
4. Fix or remove each link on your page. To see the status code behind a failure, run the same page through the 404 Page Checker.

What counts as a broken link?

A broken link is one whose destination does not answer with a success status. That covers a 404 for a page that moved or was deleted, a 403 for a page behind a login, a 500 from a failing server, and a DNS failure for a domain that has lapsed.

This checker sends a HEAD request first and retries with GET when that fails, since some servers refuse HEAD. Redirects are followed, so a link that redirects to a working page counts as working, and a link whose server never answers is listed as broken. To see the status code behind each failure, use the 404 Page Checker.

How many links does the broken link checker test?

Up to 60 unique links per page, in the order they appear in the HTML. It checks the <a href> links to http and https addresses, which are the links a visitor clicks through to another page.

Each unique URL is requested once, so a link repeated in the header, the body and the footer counts as one link and shows once in the list.

Do broken links affect SEO?

Not as a direct penalty, but they cost you in two ways. Internal broken links waste crawls on URLs that return nothing, and the page you meant to link to loses that link. Both ends are yours, so these are the quickest fix.

Broken outbound links lose the visitor at the click and make a page look unmaintained. Old posts that cite sources are where they pile up.

How can I check if a link is broken?

Request the link's URL and read the status code: a 2xx answer after any redirects means it works, while a 4xx, a 5xx or no answer at all means it is broken. Clicking it in a browser tells you the same thing for one link, but not for a page with dozens.

For a single URL, curl -sIL https://example.com/page prints each response in the redirect chain and the final status. For every link on a page at once, paste the page into this checker. To work through a whole site, list its pages with the XML Sitemap Viewer and check the ones that carry the most links first, such as resource pages, old blog posts and navigation templates.

What happens if a link is broken?

The visitor who clicks it lands on an error page instead of the content they expected, and most of them leave rather than search for it. A crawler that follows it gets the same error and has nothing to index at the end of it.

For an internal link, the page it was meant to support also loses that link, so it is harder for search engines to find and understand. For an outbound link, the cost is trust: a reference that no longer resolves weakens the claim it was supporting, and a page full of them reads as abandoned.

Why does a working link show as broken?

Usually because the other site refused or ignored an automated request. Many sites run bot protection that answers a checker with a 403 or 429 while serving the page normally to a browser, and some only respond slowly.

This checker gives each link a few seconds to answer and the whole page about 15 seconds. A link that does not answer within its time is listed as broken, while links the scan did not reach before the page budget ran out are left out of the list rather than reported. Before removing a link, open it in your browser, and run the page through the 404 Page Checker to see the status code each link returned.