Broken Link CheckerMost extension problems come from the page you are on or from how a scan counts links. By the end of this page you will know the likely cause and the fix for each problem.
Plan: these fixes apply on every plan and in guest mode.
"This page cannot be scanned"
Some pages are closed to extensions, and the popup shows NOT SCANNABLE on them:
- Browser pages whose address starts with chrome:, edge:, about:, view-source: or devtools:.
- Other extensions, whose pages start with chrome-extension:.
- The Chrome Web Store, which Chrome keeps closed to all extensions.
- Local files on your computer, whose address starts with file:.
- PDF files, meaning any address that ends in .pdf.
Open a normal page whose address starts with http or https, and try again. You can also type an address into the field and click Paste a URL instead. Highlight only works for a pasted address when the scanned tab shows that page.
You cannot scan private addresses, such as localhost or an address on your local network.
The scan misses some links
Our servers fetch the page without your login, and they do not run the scripts on the page. So links behind a login, or links a script adds after the page loads, stay out of the scan.
"This site asks crawlers to stay out"
The robots.txt file of the site blocks crawlers from the whole site, and the scan respects that by default. If you own the site, switch on Scan anyway, I own this site on that screen. Click View robots.txt to read the file itself on the site.
With Respect robots.txt on, the scan skips paths the file disallows without any message. Extension options and shortcuts shows where to switch it off.
The site blocks the scan
Links to LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and similar sites often show BLOCK, and they never count as broken. The four link states lists every case that counts as blocked.
If the site you scan blocks our crawler itself, the scan fails with a message that says why. My scan found only one page covers firewalls that block the scanner.
The counts do not match
The broken count and the list can differ, and so can the extension and the website. These are the usual reasons behind a difference in the numbers:
- Timeouts and failed connections. The list shows them as broken, but the summary count leaves them out. Those failures can be temporary, so the website files them as warnings.
- A recent result. A repeat scan within 6 hours can show the earlier result. Click Rescan, fresh crawl in the three-dot menu for a new crawl.
- Page or site. A page scan checks one page, while a site scan covers many pages.
- Your options. External links off, images off, ignored query parameters, exclude patterns and ignored links all change the total.
- Redirects. A redirect to a working page never counts as broken, in the extension or on the website.
- The WordPress plugin. The plugin counts only 404 and 410 answers as broken. The extension counts every 4xx and 5xx code as broken, except the blocked cases.
A red 0 on the badge
A red 0 means no link is broken, but some sites blocked the check. Open the popup and look under BLOCKED to see which links were refused.
"Your session expired"
This screen appears when the extension loses its sign-in in the middle of a scan. That happens when you revoke the extension under Connected apps, or when the account is deleted.
The popup keeps up to six cached broken links, greyed out and read-only. The scan itself keeps running on our servers and finishes as normal. Click Sign in again to reconnect the extension to your account.
The cached rows disappear once you sign in again, so start a new scan for fresh results. If nothing was on screen yet, the popup goes straight to the sign-in screen instead.
"You already have a scan running"
Only one scan runs at a time, across the extension and the website together. Wait for the first scan to finish, then start the next one.
"You have used this month's scans"
The popup shows QUOTA when your account has used all its scans for the month. The screen shows the date your allowance resets, which is the 1st of the next month. A cancelled scan counts toward the total, but a recent result shown again does not.
Plan limits lists the monthly scans and page limits on every plan.
"We could not reach the scan API"
The popup shows OFFLINE when it fails to reach brokenlinkchecker.io three times in a row. Check your internet connection first, then click Retry now to start the scan again. Retry now starts a fresh scan and spends one of the month's scans. Click Status page to see whether brokenlinkchecker.io has a known problem.
A short note that reads "Connection is flaky, still trying" means the popup is retrying on its own.
The icon opens the side panel instead of the popup
The Open side panel on results option is on, so a finished scan made the icon open the panel. Turning the option off in Options does not bring the popup back by itself.
- Right-click the extension icon and click Options.
- Switch off Open side panel on results.
- In the Account card, click Sign out, or Sign in if you are a guest.
After you sign out or sign in, the icon opens the popup again.
The results vanished after switching sites
Results belong to the site they ran on, so another site opens the start screen. Go back to the scanned page, and the Last scan · this page card links to the report. That report link stops working 30 days after the scan.
The notification never appears
Switch on Notify on new broken links again and click Allow when Chrome asks. The permission belongs to each computer, and removing it in Chrome turns the switch off again.
Still stuck
Contact support with the extension version from the top of the Options page.