Broken Link Checker: Free Tools + Fixes

A broken link checker crawls your site, follows every link it can find, and reports the ones that no longer resolve. It is the fastest way to catch dead internal links, missing images, and outbound URLs that have rotted since you published. This guide explains what a checker actually tests, how to read its report, and how to fix every category of issue it surfaces, using free tools you already have access to.

What a broken link checker actually does

At its core, a link checker is a small crawler. It starts from a URL you give it, reads the HTML, extracts every href and src it finds, and then sends a request to each of those targets. It records the HTTP status code that comes back. A healthy link returns a 200 OK. A dead one returns a client or server error, most commonly 404 Not Found, but sometimes 403 Forbidden, 410 Gone, or a 5xx server error, or it simply times out because the host no longer exists.

According to MDN's reference on the 404 status code, links that lead to a 404 are commonly called broken or dead links, and the slow accumulation of them is known as link rot. A checker exists to make that invisible decay visible before your visitors and search engines run into it.

Most tools distinguish between two kinds of link so you can prioritise:

• Internal links point to other pages on your own domain. These are entirely within your control to fix and usually the highest priority.
• External links point to other websites. You cannot fix the destination, but you can update, replace, or remove the link on your side.

Free tools that check broken links

There is no need to buy anything to run your first scan. Several genuinely free options cover the vast majority of use cases:

• Google Search Console is free for any verified site. Its Pages report lists URLs Google could not index, including ones returning 404, which surfaces broken internal links Google has already crawled.
• Screaming Frog SEO Spider has a free tier that crawls up to 500 URLs per site and reports response codes for every internal and external link. That ceiling covers most small and mid-size sites in a single pass.
• Browser-based scanners let you paste a URL and get a quick report without installing anything, which is handy for spot checks on a single page or a small blog.

404Pulse does not sell a proprietary crawler, and you should be sceptical of any site claiming a magic one-click fix. The value is in reading the output correctly and acting on it, which the tools above do well. For a broader look at general-purpose link scanning, see our companion guide to the link checker.

How to read the report

A typical broken link report is a table with a handful of columns. Learning to scan them quickly turns a wall of data into a short task list.

1. Source URL: the page on your site that contains the broken link. This is where you go to make the edit.
2. Destination URL: the link target that failed. This tells you what the link was pointing at.
3. Status code: the HTTP response. This is the single most useful column because it tells you what kind of failure you are dealing with.
4. Anchor text: the visible words of the link, which help you locate it in the page and choose a sensible replacement.

Sort by status code first. Group all the 404s together, then the 403s, then timeouts. Each group has a different fix, so batching them is far more efficient than working top to bottom.

Fixing what the checker finds

Every issue falls into one of a few buckets. Here is how to handle each.

Broken internal links (404). The page you linked to has moved or been deleted. If the target still exists at a new address, update the link to point there. If the content is genuinely gone, either link to the closest equivalent page or, if the old URL had inbound links and traffic, put a 301 redirect from the old address to the best replacement. A 301 tells search engines the move is permanent and passes ranking signals along. Never leave the dead link untouched.

Broken outbound links (external). You cannot repair another site's page. Check whether the resource moved (a quick search for the page title often finds the new location), and if so, update your link. If the resource is gone for good, replace it with a comparable authoritative source or remove the link entirely.

Redirect chains. Some links technically work but pass through two or three hops before landing. These are not broken, but they waste crawl budget and slow the page. Point the link directly at the final destination. Our HTTP redirect checker guide walks through inspecting a chain hop by hop.

Soft 404s. A page returns a 200 OK but the content says something like "not found". Google's documentation on HTTP and network errors notes that Search Console flags these as soft 404s. Fix them by returning a real 404 or 410 status when content is missing, or by restoring meaningful content.

Why broken links matter for SEO and users

Google's own guidance is measured here. It states that URLs returning a 4xx status are not indexed, and ones already indexed get removed, and that crawl frequency for those URLs gradually decreases. It does not claim that a few 404s poison the ranking of your healthy pages. So the SEO cost is mostly indirect: crawlers waste effort on dead ends, link equity leaks into nowhere, and your internal linking structure weakens.

The user cost is more immediate. A visitor who clicks a link and hits a dead page loses trust and often leaves. On a content site where readers follow links between related articles, broken internal links quietly cut off the paths you built for engagement. For a deeper treatment of the causes and ranking effects, read broken links: causes, SEO impact and how to fix it and our explainer on the 404 Not Found error.

Build a monitoring routine, not a one-off scan

The hardest thing about broken links is that they appear after you stop looking. An outbound link that worked when you published can rot months later when the other site restructures. A plugin update can rename URLs across your own domain overnight. Because of this, a single scan has a short shelf life.

A practical routine looks like this:

• Run a full crawl monthly for an active site, or quarterly for one you rarely change.
• Re-check immediately after any migration, redesign, or bulk URL change.
• Watch the Search Console Pages report between crawls, since it updates as Google recrawls you.
• Keep a running list of the outbound sources you cite most, and spot-check them when you publish something new.

If you want the full end-to-end workflow for discovery, prioritisation, and repair, see how to find broken links, which pairs naturally with this checker guide.

Frequently asked questions

What is a broken link checker?

A broken link checker is a tool that crawls a website, requests each link it finds, and reports the ones that fail to load, typically anything returning a 404 Not Found or another error status. It helps you locate dead internal and outbound links so you can fix or remove them.

Is there a genuinely free broken link checker?

Yes. Google Search Console is free for verified sites and reports 404s it encounters, the free tier of Screaming Frog SEO Spider crawls up to 500 URLs per site, and several browser-based scanners let you check a page without installing anything. These cover most needs at no cost.

Do broken links hurt my Google rankings?

Google says URLs returning a 4xx status are dropped from its index and crawled less often, but it does not claim that a few broken links directly lower the rankings of your healthy pages. The bigger costs are wasted crawl budget, leaked internal link equity, and a poor experience for visitors who hit dead ends.

What should I do with a broken internal link?

Update the link to the target's new address if it moved. If the page is permanently gone, add a 301 redirect from the old URL to the closest live equivalent, or link to a relevant existing page. Never leave the broken link in place.

How often should I check for broken links?

Run a full scan monthly for an active site and quarterly for a static one, and always re-check right after a migration, redesign, or bulk URL change. Outbound links rot over time without notice, so ongoing monitoring beats a single one-off scan.