A broken image occurs when a web browser cannot load or display an image referenced in HTML. This typically appears as a small broken icon (or empty space) where the image should be. Common causes include: the image file was deleted or moved, the URL path is incorrect, the server hosting the image is down, permission issues (403 Forbidden), or the domain has expired. Broken images degrade user experience and can negatively impact SEO rankings.

Search engines like Google consider page quality and user experience as ranking factors. Broken images signal poor maintenance, leading to: higher bounce rates (users leave when content appears broken), reduced crawl efficiency (search bots waste time on dead resources), lower perceived authority, and missed image search traffic. Additionally, broken images fail to contribute to accessibility (missing alt text context), which further impacts SEO. Regular scanning with a tool like this helps maintain a healthy, well-ranked website.

Our tool works in three steps: (1) Extract — it parses your HTML or URL to find all image references (including <img> tags, srcset attributes, <picture> elements, and lazy-load attributes like data-src). (2) Detect — each image URL is tested by attempting to load it; if the server returns an error or the image fails to render, it's flagged as broken. (3) Report — results are displayed with previews, status codes, and response times. You can export broken URLs for fixing. The tool runs entirely in your browser — no data is uploaded to any server.

The most frequent causes include: Incorrect file paths (typos, wrong directory structure, case-sensitivity issues on Linux servers), Deleted or renamed files without updating references, Hotlinking restrictions (external sites blocking image requests), Expired CDN or hosting accounts, SSL certificate issues causing mixed content warnings (HTTP images on HTTPS pages), Database migration errors (WordPress sites commonly face this), and Domain expiration. Our tool helps you quickly identify all affected images so you can fix them systematically.

After identifying broken images with this tool: (1) Check if the original file still exists on your server — if moved, update the path. (2) If the file is truly missing, restore it from a backup or recreate it. (3) For hotlinked images, download and host them locally or find alternative sources. (4) Update your CMS (WordPress, etc.) media library paths if needed — plugins like "Better Search Replace" can help. (5) Set up 301 redirects for permanently moved images. (6) Implement a regular monitoring schedule using this tool to catch issues early. For large sites, consider using a CDN with robust caching to prevent future breakage.

Yes! Our tool intelligently scans for lazy-loaded images by checking common lazy-load attributes including data-src, data-lazy-src, data-original, data-srcset, and data-lazy-srcset. These are used by popular lazy-load libraries and frameworks (like LazyLoad.js, WordPress lazy load plugins, and native loading="lazy" with fallback). The "Check lazy-load attrs" option is enabled by default. This ensures you catch broken images even when they use deferred loading techniques — giving you a complete picture of your page's image health.

This can happen due to several reasons: Hotlink protection — some servers allow image loading only when the Referer header matches their domain; our tool's direct requests may be blocked while your browser (sending the correct referer) loads them fine. CORS restrictions — the server may reject cross-origin image checks. CDN geo-restrictions — images may be served only to specific regions. Rate limiting — aggressive scanning may trigger temporary blocks. If this occurs, try reducing concurrency in the advanced options, or verify flagged images manually. For the most accurate check on your own website, use the HTML Paste method after viewing your page source.

Since this tool runs entirely in your browser, it can only access images that are publicly reachable or that your browser can already access. For images behind authentication: (1) Log into the protected site in another tab first. (2) Use the HTML Paste method — open the page source while logged in, copy all HTML, and paste it here. (3) The tool will then check image URLs using your browser's existing session cookies. Note: If images require specific authentication tokens in their URLs, ensure those tokens are included in the pasted HTML. For enterprise needs, consider server-side scanning solutions.