--- title: "How to handle broken links" date: "2022-03-25T07:46:27+00:00" summary: "Discover and repair broken links. Learn to use PageCorrect, Prioritized Pages, and the browser extension for efficient link management." image: type: "page" url: "/web-governance/how-handle-broken-links-0" id: "7e1c608f-eaee-493b-8134-144b2f60ef04" --- Table of contents will be added Introduction ------------ There are several ways to locate and repair broken links. This article provides instructions on each of the methods. How to mark a broken link as Fixed with Content Quality ------------------------------------------------------- 1. Log in to your Web Governance account. 2. Select the domain that you want to work with. 3. Expand the left menu bar if the options are not visible. 4. Click **Content Quality**. 5. Click **Broken Content**. 6. Select **Broken Links**. 7. Click **Action** on the same row as the broken link. 8. Select **Mark as fixed** and click **Ok** on the confirmation prompt. ### When to mark a broken link as fixed Use this option to signal to your colleagues that the issue has been resolved. Use this option: * If you want for the link to be included in subsequent scans. If the error returns, it will appear again in the broken links list after the next scan.  * If the broken link is actually fixed by the web team on the HTML code of the webpage. * If the error is confirmed to be a temporary known issue, for example, in an unpublished state.  Issues that you mark as Fixed are still included in future scans and can be flagged again if the error persists.  How to mark a broken link as Ignored with Content Quality --------------------------------------------------------- 1. Log in to your Web Governance account. 2. Select the domain that you want to work with. 3. Expand the left menu bar if the options are not visible. 4. Click **Content Quality**. 5. Click **Broken Content**. 6. Select **Broken Links**. 7. Click **Action** on the same row as the broken link. 8. Select **Mark as ignored**. This instructs the scan to ignore this broken link in future scans. ### When to mark a broken link as ignored Use this option: * For link that are marked as broken when it is not. * If you need to ignore a broken link on a single-page basis.  Note Ignored issues are not acknowledged by future scans. This permanently affects the compliance score, and can damage the score if the link is an actual broken link. How to repair a broken link with PageCorrect -------------------------------------------- This section provides instructions on how to findand repair broken links with **PageCorrect**. 1. Log in to your Web Governance account. 2. Select the domain that you want to work with. 3. Expand the left menu bar if the options are not visible. 4. Click **PageCorrect**. 5. Select the **Links** tab. 6. Click **Action** on the same row as the link that you want to work with. 7. Select **Update** from the expanded menu.  * Select **Remove** if you know the link is correct and the error occurred due to, for example, a server outage at the time of the last scan. If the error persists, the system flags it again on the next scan. 8.  Enter the correct URL in the field provided. The URL must start with a protocol such as _http://._ Note All links that lead to the same destination are listed. The first five are displayed. If there are more than five, the full number of URLs is displayed. Click the number to expand them. 9. Click **Save**. This fixes the broken link in all instances throughout the website. 10. Make a note of the word and the location on the page and instruct the appropriate team to fix the broken link in the HTML code for the page. Important PageCorrect shows your corrections to visitors. However, you must also correct the issue in the page code to make the change permanent. For more information, visit the [PageCorrect](/node/58966/) documentation collection. How to handle a broken link with Prioritized Pages -------------------------------------------------- List broken links, _Ignore_ a link, or mark a link as _Fixed_ with the **Prioritized Pages** module. 1. Log in to your Web Governance account. 2. Select the domain that you want to work with. 3. Expand the left menu bar if the options are not visible. 4. Click **Prioritized Pages**. 5. Click the number in the **Notifications** column on the same row as the domain you want to work with. The menu expands with a breakdown of the notifications per category. 6. Click **Broken links**. 7. Click **Action** on the same row as the link you want to fix. The menu expands with the following options: * **Set to Fixed:** Use this option when the issue is fixed on the CMS/HTML code of the website. Items that are marked as fixed are included in future scans. * **Mark as Ignored**: Use this option if link is incorrectly marked as broken. Notes The following is the crucial difference between the issues that you mark as fixed and issues that you mark as ignore: * Issues that are marked as fixed are flagged upon future scans * Issues that are set to ignore are permanently omitted from future scans and future compliance score calculations, as long as the link gives the same broken error. Ignored links are displayed on the scan again if the status of the link changes. For example, a link previously marked as broken with a 404 status and ignored is reset if the link later receives a new "Ok" status, such as 200. If the same link starts to return a 404 error in the future, it is displayed on the broken links report again. For information on how to set up the scan to exclude a link so that it is never considered, visit [Path constraints and link exclusions](/node/58571/). * Select **Inspect page with browser extension** (Magnifying glass icon): Click to navigate to the Web Browser Extension view of the page, where it is possible to fix the highlighted link. Skip to Web Browser Extension instructions. For more information, read the [Prioritized pages](/node/58666/) document collection. How to handle a broken link with the Web Browser Extension ---------------------------------------------------------- Find broken links and their location, _Ignore_ a link, or mark a link as _Fixed_ with the web browser extension. 1. Open the website and start the **Web Browser Extension**. 2. Click to select **Content Issues** (insect icon) on the web browser extension toolbar. 3. Select **Quality Assurance** in the expanded menu. 4. Click the arrow to expand the menu further. The issues list opens. 5. Click **See Issues** in the _Broken Links / Broken Images_ section. 6. **Mark as Fixed** (checkmark icon): Click to mark the issue as fixed. Do this when the issue is fixed on the CMS/HTML code of the website. Items that are _marked as fixed_ are included in future scans. 7. **Mark as Ignored** (eye with a line through it icon): Do this when the link is not broken, but flagged by the scan for an unknown reason. Notes The following is the crucial difference between the issues that you mark as fixed and issues that you mark as ignore: * Issues that are marked as fixed are flagged upon future scans * Issues that are set to ignore are permanently omitted from future scans and future compliance score calculations, as long as the link gives the same broken error. Ignored links are displayed on the scan again if the status of the link changes. For example, a link previously marked as broken with a 404 status and ignored is reset if the link later receives a new "Ok" status, such as 200. If the same link starts to return a 404 error in the future, it is displayed on the broken links report again. For information on how to set up the scan to exclude a link so that it is never considered, visit [Path constraints and link exclusions](/node/58571/). 8. **HTML** ( icon): Click to view the location of the broken link within the page HTML code. _Tip_: Send this to the web development team, so that they can quickly find and repair the error within the HTML code. 9. **Highlight** (magnifying glass icon): Click to view the location of the broken link on the page. The page view scrolls to the location of the link and the broken link is highlighted. For more information, read [Web Browser Extension](/node/58711/). ### Examine links for accessibility issues 1. On the web browser extension toolbar, click to select **Toolkit** (tools icon). 2. Click to turn on the **Links** button to see a list of all links on the website. 3. Click on a link in the list to see the location on the website. 4. Hover the cursor over a link on the page for more information about it. See the following information about the link: * Link Text * Link Title * Link URL * Aria-label * Link Length * Link Target 5. Click on a link on the page to see the link behavior as a user experiences it. For more information, visit [Web Browser Extension](/node/58711/). Policies for links ------------------ It is sometimes necessary to set up a policy to tell the scan how to handle special or troublesome links. There are several pre-made _links policies_ that you can use. For more information, visit [Policies for links](/node/58761/).