Free YouTube Broken Link Checker
Scan any YouTube video description for dead affiliate links, 404 errors, and lost revenue — in seconds.
How to Check YouTube Links for Free
Paste the Video URL
Copy the URL of any public YouTube video and paste it into the field above. Works with standard watch?v=, youtu.be, and Shorts links.
Click Scan Now
Our scanner fetches the video description, extracts every link, and checks each URL in real-time by simulating a real visitor — the same way a viewer clicking your affiliate link would experience it.
Review & Fix Dead Links
Links marked BROKEN are returning 404 errors or dead redirects. Go to YouTube Studio, open that video's description, and replace them with working affiliate URLs to recover lost commissions immediately.
Why Dead Links Destroy Your YouTube Channel
A broken link doesn't just mean one missed sale. The compounding damage to your channel is far worse than most creators realise.
Silent Commission Loss
Every click on a broken affiliate link earns you $0. For a channel with 50,000 monthly description clicks, even a 10% broken link rate means thousands of dollars in lost commissions — every single month, silently, in the background.
Frustrated, Distrustful Viewers
When a viewer clicks your recommendation and hits a 404 page, they don't just lose trust in that link — they lose trust in you. A channel whose links consistently work is a channel whose audience buys.
Platform & Algorithm Risk
Links that were once legitimate can be re-registered as spam or phishing sites. If YouTube's spam detection flags your description, your video — and potentially your entire channel — can be demonetised or removed without warning.
Stop Checking Videos One by One!
You just checked one video — but what about the other 500 videos on your channel? Don't waste hours clicking links manually. Connect your YouTube channel and let BrokenTube's AI scan everything in 60 seconds, then monitor it automatically so you never lose another commission to a dead link.
Frequently Asked Questions
Links break for many reasons: the product is removed or goes out of stock; the brand restructures their website; an affiliate program ends; a domain expires and isn't renewed; or a link shortener (like bit.ly or tinyurl) is discontinued. Links can also soft-break — redirecting to a homepage instead of the product — which is impossible to catch by eye but this scanner will flag immediately.
There is no direct YouTube SEO penalty for broken links. However, the indirect damage is serious: a previously safe link can be re-registered as a spam or phishing domain. If YouTube's systems flag your description, your video — and potentially your channel — can be demonetised or removed without warning. The primary damage is financial: every broken link is a lost commission.
This free tool checks one video at a time — great for quick spot-checks. To scan your entire channel automatically, including every video description across hundreds of videos, use BrokenTube's full channel scanner. Connect your YouTube account once, and BrokenTube scans everything in about 60 seconds, then continues monitoring 24/7 so you're alerted the moment any new link breaks.
Try Full Channel Scan — FreeA link is BROKEN if it returns a 404 Not Found, 410 Gone, or redirects to a homepage/error page instead of the intended destination. Links returning 5xx server errors are flagged as UNKNOWN since they may be temporarily down. Links returning 2xx or 3xx codes that successfully reach their destination are marked as HEALTHY.
Daily Free Scans Used!
Guest users can scan 3 videos per day. Create a free account to get more scans, or upgrade for unlimited bulk channel scanning.