Broken Link Checker
Enter a page and every link on it is tested: internal and external, with anchor text, so you can find and fix 404s fast.
Why broken links matter
A broken link sends a visitor to an error page instead of the answer they wanted. Most people leave instead of searching your site again. For search engines, broken internal links waste crawl time and stop link value flowing to your other pages, and a page full of dead outbound links looks neglected.
Links break all the time: pages get renamed, products are discontinued, other websites close or reorganise. A page that was perfect two years ago can easily have several dead links today.
What the results mean
| Result | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 404 Not found / 410 Gone | The page doesn’t exist. | Update the link to the new page, or remove it. |
| 5xx Server error | The other site is broken right now. | Check again later; remove it if it persists. |
| Unreachable / timed out | The domain doesn’t answer, often a closed website. | Replace or remove the link. |
| 403 / 429 | The site blocks automated checks or is rate-limiting. | Open it in your browser. It’s often fine for people. |
| Redirected | Works, but goes through one or more redirects. | Update internal links to the final URL. |
How to fix broken links quickly
- Internal 404s first. They’re fully in your control. Point the link to the correct page, or add a 301 redirect from the old address to the new one so every old link keeps working.
- External 404s: search the other site for the moved page, or find the same information on another trustworthy source. The Wayback Machine (web.archive.org) shows what the old page said.
- Redirected internal links: update them to the final address to save a round trip for every visitor.
Limits
The checker tests up to 200 unique links per page and checks one page at a time. Links added by JavaScript after the page loads aren’t included. To check a whole site, start with your most visited pages and your navigation menu, then use the Pages report in Google Search Console to find URLs that return 404.
How to use the Broken Link Checker
- Paste the address of the page to check.
- Tick “Only check links to the same website” if you only care about internal links.
- Click Check links, then tick “Show problems only” and fix each broken link.
Frequently asked questions
How many links can it check?
Up to 200 unique links per page. Repeated links are checked once and marked with how many times they appear.
Why does a working link show 403?
Some websites block automated requests. If it opens normally in your browser, the link is fine for visitors.
Do broken links hurt SEO?
A few won’t sink a site, but they waste crawl budget, stop internal link value and frustrate visitors. Fixing them is quick and worthwhile.