How to Fix Broken Links in WordPress: 4 Easy Steps

To fix broken links in WordPress, scan your posts and pages for URLs that return errors such as 404, decide on the right fix for each one (update the URL, redirect a moved page, or remove the link), and then re-scan on a schedule so new problems are caught early. A broken link checker that edits the link directly in your content turns this from a long manual job into a few clicks.

Why broken links hurt your WordPress site

A broken link sends a visitor to a dead end. They wanted an answer, a product, or a download, and they got an error page instead. Many will leave rather than search again, and the trust you built with your content takes a hit.

Search engines feel it too. Every time a crawler follows a dead link, it spends time on a page that offers nothing. Redirect chains add a quieter cost: each extra hop slows the page and adds work for browsers and crawlers. Google explains how it handles moved pages in its guide to redirects and Google Search.

Common causes of broken links

• A page was deleted or its slug changed without a redirect.
• An external site moved, closed, or restructured its URLs.
• A typo in a URL, such as a missing character or an extra slash.
• A site migration or domain change left old absolute URLs in your content.
• Old HTTP links remain on an HTTPS site, which creates mixed content warnings.

How to fix broken links in WordPress in 4 steps

Step 1: Scan your content for broken links

Start with a full scan of the post types that matter, usually posts and pages. In Antimanual, go to Antimanual > Broken Links, choose the post types in the configuration bar, and click Run Scan. A progress card shows posts analyzed, links checked, and the running count of broken links, redirect chains, and mixed content issues.

The scanner works in short background chunks of about 12 seconds each, saving its progress between chunks, so large sites do not hit PHP timeouts. Checked URLs are cached for 6 hours to avoid hammering other servers, and a Clear cache button forces a fresh check after you fix things elsewhere.

Step 2: Read the status code and choose a fix

Each broken link shows its HTTP status, and the status tells you what to do. Google documents how it treats each response in its page on HTTP status codes and network errors. As a rule of thumb:

• 404 Not Found: the page is gone. Update the URL, remove the link, or redirect the old address if it was your own page.
• 500 errors: the target server failed. This is often temporary, so re-check later before you change anything.
• Timeout: the target was too slow to respond. Verify it manually before acting.
• Mixed content: an HTTP link on an HTTPS page. Swap the protocol to HTTPS. MDN explains why mixed content is a problem.

Step 3: Apply the fix in one click

Opening every post, hunting for the anchor text, and swapping the URL by hand is the slow part. The Antimanual Broken Link Checker puts four actions under every flagged URL:

• Update URL: paste a replacement and save. The change is written to the post content without opening the editor.
• Remove: strips the link tag but keeps the anchor text, so the sentence still reads naturally.
• Ignore: skips a URL in future scans, which is useful when an external site is only down for a while.
• Re-check: pings the URL again immediately, bypassing the 6-hour cache.

For larger clean-ups, the documentation describes bulk actions in Pro Max: tick several links, then remove them all or replace them with one target URL. You can also export issues to CSV for an offline review.

Step 4: Bypass redirect chains

A redirect chain is a link that bounces through several URLs before it lands. Antimanual traces redirects up to 10 hops, shows each hop with its status code, and flags circular loops. The Use Final URL button rewrites the original link so it points straight to the final destination. The redirect chain bypass guide walks through the Redirect chains tab in detail.

Keep links healthy with scheduled scans

Links break all the time, so a one-off scan is not enough (our guide to WordPress SEO monitoring covers wider technical checks). On the Schedule tab, switch on scheduled scans, pick a daily, weekly, or monthly frequency, choose the post types, and save. Tick the email option to get a summary whenever new broken links, redirect chains, or mixed content appear. If you leave the recipient blank, it goes to the site admin email.

Scheduled scans run on WP-Cron, which only fires when someone visits your site. On low-traffic sites, the docs recommend a real server cron job so scans start on time. The WordPress handbook explains how WP-Cron works.

Tips to prevent broken links

• Add a 301 redirect whenever you change a slug or delete a page that has traffic or backlinks.
• Prefer linking to stable pages, such as official documentation, rather than short-lived news posts.
• Re-scan straight after a migration, a domain change, or a large content clean-up.
• Check menus and widgets by hand too, because the scanner reads the post types you select.
• Strengthen the links you keep. Our guides on fixing orphan pages and how to automate internal links in WordPress cover the other half of link health.

Which Antimanual plan includes the Broken Link Checker?

The plan comparison on the pricing page lists the Broken Link Checker under Pro Max. The plugin changelog for version 3.10.0 also notes that site-wide scans and one-click URL fixes became available in the free version, so check the current split on the pricing page before you choose.

Start fixing broken links today

Install Antimanual on WordPress.org, run your first scan, and clear the worst 404s in an afternoon. When you want bulk actions and the full SEO toolkit, see the Broken Link Checker page and compare Antimanual plans.

Frequently asked questions