Run the Status Code & 404 Checker
Paste URLs directly, or upload a spreadsheet — check up to 200 URLs per scan for 404s, redirects, and server errors.
Scanning URLs — this may take up to 30 seconds if the tool has been idle…
Free Status Code Checker & 404 Checker Tool
Instantly check the HTTP status code of any URL. This free status code checker and 404 checker scans your links in bulk — flagging broken pages, redirects, and server errors — so you can fix issues before they hurt your SEO.
What This Status Code Checker Looks For
Every URL returns a status code the moment it’s requested. Here’s what each range means when you run a scan.
Working Fine
The page loads correctly. Nothing to fix here.
Redirected
The URL points somewhere else. Worth checking for redirect chains.
Client Error (404s)
The request couldn’t be completed — most often a missing (404) or restricted page. This is exactly what a 404 checker is built to catch.
Server Error
The server failed to respond. Usually a hosting or config issue.
Why Run a Status Code Checker Regularly
Status codes change quietly — a redirect gets added, a page 404s, a server hiccups. Running this status code and 404 checker regularly is how you catch it before your visitors or Google do.
Bulk URL Scanning
Check dozens or hundreds of URLs in one pass instead of clicking through each one manually.
Instant Results
Get status codes back in seconds — no waiting, no manual checking one link at a time.
Color-Coded Reports
Results are grouped by status range, so working pages, redirects, and 404 errors are obvious at a glance.
Redirect Chain Detection
See when a URL redirects more than once, so you can flatten it into a single clean hop.
Exportable Results
Copy or export your scan results to hand off to a developer or keep for your own audit trail.
No Sign-Up Needed
Paste your URLs and scan — free to use, right in your browser.
How the Status Code Checker Works
Three steps, no technical setup required.
Paste Your URLs
Drop in a single link or a full list — one per line.
Run the Scan
Each URL is checked live and returns its actual status code.
Review Your Results
Scan the color-coded report and prioritize the 404s and 5xx results first.
Status Code Checker & 404 Checker: FAQ
Common questions about checking status codes and finding broken links on your site.
What is a status code checker?
A status code checker is a tool that sends a request to one or more URLs and reports back the HTTP status code each one returns — such as 200 (OK), 301 (redirect), 404 (not found), or 500 (server error).
What is a 404 checker used for?
A 404 checker scans a list of URLs and flags any that return a “404 Not Found” error, so you can find and fix broken links before they hurt user experience or SEO rankings.
How many URLs can I check at once?
You can paste or upload up to 200 URLs per scan with this status code checker. Larger files are still accepted — only the first 200 are checked per run.
Is this 404 checker free to use?
Yes — this status code and 404 checker is completely free, with no sign-up required.
A single broken link rarely shows up on its own — it’s usually one of dozens quietly sitting across your site, each one returning a status code that tells you exactly what’s wrong. Here’s what those codes mean, why they matter for your SEO, and how to catch them before they cost you rankings or visitors.
What Is an HTTP Status Code?
Every time a browser, crawler, or tool requests a page on your website, your server responds with a three-digit status code — even if that response never shows up on screen. A working page quietly returns 200. A moved page returns a 301. A missing page returns 404. These codes are the server’s way of reporting what actually happened, separate from whatever the visitor sees rendered in their browser.
Most site owners never see these codes directly, which is exactly why problems go unnoticed for months — a page can look fine in a screenshot while still returning an error code behind the scenes, or worse, redirecting through three hops before it finally loads.
Why Status Codes Matter for SEO
Search engines don’t just read your content — they read your status codes first. A page returning a 404 or 500 typically won’t get indexed at all, no matter how good the content on it is. A redirect chain (a URL that hops through several 301s before landing on the final page) wastes crawl budget and can dilute the ranking signal that would otherwise pass straight through.
- Broken pages (4xx) hurt both rankings and user trust — visitors who hit a 404 from a search result rarely stay to look for another page.
- Server errors (5xx) can cause search engines to slow down or pause crawling your site entirely if they happen frequently.
- Redirect chains (3xx) slow down page load and can weaken the SEO value passed from an old URL to its replacement.
HTTP Status Codes, Explained
Status codes are grouped into five ranges, each signaling a different category of outcome:
How to Find and Fix Status Code Issues
Checking status codes manually means clicking through every page one at a time — realistic for five pages, not for a full site. A bulk status code checker solves this by scanning a full list of URLs at once and returning every result in seconds, grouped by status range so the problems that need attention are obvious immediately.
Once you have your results, prioritize in this order:
- Fix 5xx errors first — these affect your whole site’s crawlability, not just one page.
- Fix or redirect 4xx pages that still receive traffic or backlinks.
- Flatten redirect chains so old URLs point directly to their final destination in a single hop.
How Often Should You Check Your Site’s Status Codes?
For most websites, a monthly scan is enough to catch new issues before they compound. If you publish frequently, migrate URLs often, or run an e-commerce site where products get discontinued regularly, checking every one to two weeks is a safer habit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does having 404 errors hurt my website’s SEO?
Not by itself. A normal, functioning website will always have some 404s — Google has confirmed they’re a routine part of the web and don’t damage your overall domain rankings. What actually costs you SEO value is a 404 on a page that still has backlinks or organic traffic pointing to it, since that traffic and link equity has nowhere to go. Those are the ones worth fixing or redirecting — not every 404 you find.
What’s the difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect?
A 301 tells browsers and search engines the move is permanent, so the new URL replaces the old one in the index and inherits its ranking value. A 302 signals a temporary move — the original URL stays indexed and treated as the “real” page. If a page has moved for good, use a 301; if it’s a short-term change (like a sale page or maintenance redirect), use a 302.
How many redirects in a chain is too many?
Ideally, none — a URL should redirect once, directly to its final destination. Each extra hop adds load time and gives search engines more chances to lose track of the redirect entirely. Two or more hops is generally considered a problem worth fixing; anything beyond three or four hops risks the redirect not being followed at all.
What causes a 500 Internal Server Error, and how do I fix it?
A 500 means the server hit an unexpected problem and couldn’t complete the request — the cause is on your server, not the visitor’s browser. On WordPress specifically, this is most often a plugin or theme conflict, a corrupted .htaccess file, or the site exceeding its PHP memory limit. Deactivating recently added plugins one at a time, or checking your host’s error logs, usually identifies the cause quickly.
What’s the difference between a 403 Forbidden and a 404 Not Found?
A 404 means the page simply doesn’t exist at that address. A 403 means the page does exist, but the server is refusing to let you access it — usually a permissions or security setting blocking that specific URL or folder. Seeing 403s unexpectedly across your site is often a sign of a misconfigured security plugin or server rule, not missing content.
Why does my WordPress site show 404 errors after I changed my permalink structure?
This usually means WordPress hasn’t refreshed its rewrite rules for the new URL structure. Going to Settings → Permalinks and simply clicking “Save Changes” (without changing anything) forces WordPress to regenerate them. If that doesn’t resolve it, the site’s .htaccess file may need to be regenerated manually, which is usually a hosting-level fix.
Should I try to fix every single 404 on my site?
No — only the ones that matter. Prioritize 404s on pages that still receive backlinks, organic traffic, or internal links from other pages on your site. A 404 on a page nobody links to or visits anymore can usually be left alone, or given a proper 410 status if you want to explicitly tell search engines it’s gone for good.