Broken Link Checker
Validate URLs and detect broken links instantly. Paste your links, click Check, and get a clear status report. 🔗 Essential for SEO link audits
| URL | Status | Code | Time | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paste your URLs above and click "Check Links" to begin | ||||
🔍 What Is a Broken Link Checker?
A Broken Link Checker is a tool that validates URLs to detect unreachable, dead, or broken links. Broken links hurt your SEO, frustrate users, and damage credibility. Whether you're auditing a website, checking a list of resources, or validating links in a document, this tool provides a fast, private way to identify problem URLs before your users find them.
◆ This tool processes everything entirely in your browser — no data is ever sent to any server. Your URLs stay private and secure.
✨ Key Features
Batch Link Checking
Check dozens of URLs at once. Just paste one URL per line and the tool validates each one in sequence.
HEAD & GET Methods
Choose HEAD for faster checks or GET for more accurate results on servers that don't respond to HEAD requests.
Configurable Timeout
Set a timeout from 1 to 30 seconds. Slow-loading URLs won't hang your check indefinitely.
Response Time Tracking
See how long each URL takes to respond. Identify slow links that could hurt user experience.
Copy & CSV Export
Copy results to your clipboard or download a CSV file for reporting and further analysis in Excel or Sheets.
Honest CORS Reporting
When the browser's CORS policy prevents checking a URL, the tool clearly reports "Unverified" instead of faking a result.
💡 Why Use This Broken Link Checker?
100% Private & Secure
All processing happens directly in your browser using the Fetch API. Your URLs never leave your device — no uploads, no servers, no tracking.
Works Everywhere
Use it on your phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop. The interface adapts to any screen size.
Instant Feedback
Watch results appear in real-time as each URL is checked. Progress bar shows exactly where you are.
Completely Free
No sign-up, no hidden fees, no usage limits. Use it as much as you need.
Accessible & Keyboard-Friendly
Full keyboard support, visible focus states, and semantic HTML ensure everyone can use the tool effectively.
No Internet Required (After Load)
Once the page loads, the tool works without needing to load anything from a server. Only the URL checks themselves use your internet connection.
📖 How to Use the Broken Link Checker
- Paste your URLs into the input area — one URL per line. You can also use the Sample button to load example URLs.
- Configure options — set the timeout (default 8 seconds) and choose between HEAD and GET methods.
- Click Check Links — the tool validates each URL in sequence and updates the results table live.
- Review the results — see each URL's status (Working, Broken, Unverified), HTTP status code, response time, and notes.
- Copy or download — click Copy Results for a text report, or Download CSV for a spreadsheet-ready file.
- Clear everything to start fresh, or click Sample to load different URLs.
💡 Pro tip: Due to browser CORS security, URLs on domains that don't allow cross-origin requests will show as "Unverified". This is a browser limitation, not a tool error — the URL may still be perfectly valid.
🎯 Practical Use Cases
SEO Link Audits
Identify broken outbound links on your website before they hurt your SEO rankings or user experience.
Content Publishing
Verify all links in a blog post, article, or newsletter before publishing to avoid dead references.
Resource List Validation
Check that all URLs in a curated resource list, documentation, or directory are still active.
Development & Testing
Validate API endpoints, staging URLs, and external service links during development.
Migration & Redirect Audits
After a site migration, verify that old URLs still resolve or redirect correctly.
Learning & Experimentation
Test how different URLs respond to HEAD versus GET requests and understand HTTP status codes in practice.
⚠️ Important Notes & Limitations
🔹 CORS limitation: Browsers enforce Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) for security. Many websites block cross-origin requests, which means this tool cannot read their HTTP status codes. Such URLs are reported as "Unverified" — this is a browser limitation, not a tool defect.
🔹 What "Working" means: A "Working" status means the browser successfully reached the URL (even if the response was opaque). "Broken" means the request failed entirely (DNS error, connection refused, timeout).
🔹 HEAD vs GET: Some servers don't respond to HEAD requests properly. If you get unexpected errors, switch to GET mode for more accurate results.
🔹 Rate limiting: URLs are checked sequentially to avoid overwhelming your connection. Large lists (100+ URLs) will take longer to complete.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
A broken link (also called a dead link) is a URL that no longer resolves — it might return a 404 Not Found, a 500 Server Error, or fail to connect entirely. Broken links hurt SEO rankings, frustrate users, damage credibility, and waste crawl budget. Regular link audits are an essential part of SEO maintenance.
This is due to CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) — a browser security feature. When you check a URL on a different domain, the browser may block JavaScript from reading the response. This is a browser-level restriction, not a bug. The URL itself may be perfectly valid. To verify these URLs, visit them directly in your browser or use a server-side tool.
HEAD requests only ask for the response headers, not the body — they're faster and use less bandwidth. GET requests download the full page. Some servers don't respond correctly to HEAD requests, so GET may give more accurate results at the cost of speed. Use HEAD for quick checks, GET for definitive results.
Absolutely 100% safe. This tool processes everything in your browser using the Fetch API. No data is ever sent to any GenieDevs server, stored, or shared with third parties. The only network requests are the URL checks themselves, made directly from your browser.
Yes, but URLs are checked sequentially (one at a time) to keep the results stable and avoid browser throttling. Checking 100 URLs with a 5-second timeout could take up to 8 minutes in the worst case. For best results, keep your list under 50 URLs per check, or split large lists into batches.
Completely free, forever. No sign-up, no registration, no hidden fees, no usage limits. This tool is proudly offered by GenieDevs as a free resource for the developer and SEO community.
👨💻 About the Author — GenieDevs
📦 Get the Standalone Version
🔗 Broken Link Checker – Standalone Edition
Get the complete, self‑contained HTML version of this tool. Perfect for offline use, intranet deployments, or embedding in your own projects. No dependencies, no external calls — just one HTML file that works anywhere.
🎯 Final Takeaway
The Broken Link Checker is your essential tool for maintaining a healthy, professional website.
Whether you're an SEO specialist auditing a site, a developer validating API endpoints, or a content creator checking links before publishing,
this tool gives you fast, private, and honest link validation.
✨ Try it right now — paste your URLs and click Check Links.
With its 100% browser‑based architecture, your data stays private and secure.
🚀 Share this tool with your fellow developers and SEOs. Explore our growing collection of free utilities at GenieDevs.
⭐ Bookmark it — you'll be coming back to it again and again.