# Links Spy

> Find broken links and colour-code every link by destination: internal, external, nofollow, redirects, insecure HTTP and dead ends.

Canonical page: [https://chrome-stats.com/d/links-spy](https://chrome-stats.com/d/links-spy)

## Overview

- **ID:** `links-spy`
- **Platform:** Firefox
- **Type:** Firefox add-on
- **Status:** Available
- **Publisher:** Keral Patel
- **Category:** web-development,privacy-security,appearance
- **Version:** 1.0
- **Last updated:** 2026-08-20
- **First published:** 2026-08-17
- **Size:** 45 KB
- **Data as of:** 2026-09-12
- **Store listing:** [Firefox Add-ons Store](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/links-spy/)
- **Website:** [https://www.keralpatel.com/](https://www.keralpatel.com/)

## Description

Links Spy finds the broken links on any web page and colour-codes every other link by where it goes. Click the toolbar icon to outline internal, external, nofollow and dead-end links, then check every destination's HTTP status in a single pass.

<strong>Finding broken links</strong>
<ul>
<li>Broken - answered 4xx or 5xx</li>
<li>Redirected - does not go where the markup says it does</li>
<li>Unreachable - DNS failure, refused connection or timeout</li>
<li>Reachable - confirmed working</li>
</ul>
Each unique URL is checked once, results appear as they arrive, and a badge on the toolbar icon counts how many links need attention.

<strong>Where every link goes</strong>
<ul>
<li>Internal - elsewhere on the same site</li>
<li>Subdomain - same root domain, different host</li>
<li>External - leaves your site entirely</li>
<li>Anchor - jumps to a section of the current page</li>
<li>Mail and phone - mailto:, tel:, sms:</li>
<li>File download - PDF, ZIP, DOC and similar</li>
<li>Dead end - no href, an empty href, "#" or javascript:</li>
</ul>

<strong>Problems it flags</strong>
<ul>
<li>Nofollow, sponsored and UGC links that pass no ranking signal</li>
<li>Duplicate destinations, where one URL is linked several times over</li>
<li>Insecure http:// links sitting on an https:// page</li>
<li>Links with no anchor text, invisible to screen readers and search engines</li>
<li>target="_blank" without rel="noopener"</li>
</ul>
A panel in the corner keeps a live count of everything found. Click any row to isolate just those links and hide the rest.

<strong>Stays out of the way</strong>
<ul>
<li>Highlighting is fully removable. Your page styles are never modified.</li>
<li>Outline mode does not shift the layout. Switch to a background tint if you prefer.</li>
<li>Toggle on and off with Ctrl+Shift+L, no page reload needed.</li>
<li>Every colour is configurable and any category can be switched off.</li>
<li>Follows your light or dark theme.</li>
</ul>

<strong>Privacy and permissions</strong>

No account, no analytics, no servers. Links Spy collects nothing and transmits nothing. Your settings stay in your own browser.

Access to other websites is an <em>optional</em> permission, never requested at install. It is asked for only if you choose to status-check links that point off-site. Links on the site you are already viewing can be checked without granting anything extra.

<strong>Who it is for</strong>

SEO audits, site migrations, content QA, accessibility reviews, and anyone who needs to know that a page's links still work.

## Rankings

- #141,778 — Overall
- #104 — ad spy

## Permissions and access

### Permissions

- `activeTab`
- `scripting`
- `storage`

## Safety

- **Risk impact:** Very low risk impact
- **Risk likelihood:** High risk likelihood

### Analysis details

- This extension was recently updated in the past month. New updates may not be stable or safe.

> Some risk analysis details are omitted from this free response. [Upgrade to view the full analysis](https://chrome-stats.com/pricing).

## Similar extensions and apps

- [Broken Link Finder](https://chrome-stats.com/d/website-broken-link-finder)
- [LinkCheck](https://chrome-stats.com/d/linkcheck) — 6 users, 5.00 / 5
- [Link Health Inspector](https://chrome-stats.com/d/link-health-inspector) — 1 users
- [Simple Link Checker](https://chrome-stats.com/d/simple-link-checker) — 823 users, 4.62 / 5
- [Free Backlink Checker by LRT](https://chrome-stats.com/d/free-backlink-checker-by-lrt) — 200 users, 4.00 / 5
- [LinkGuardian: Smart Link Checker](https://chrome-stats.com/d/linkguardian-smart-link) — 1 users
- [LinkSense](https://chrome-stats.com/d/linksense)
- [Dead Link Finder](https://chrome-stats.com/d/dead-link-finder) — 31 users
- [Link Health Checker](https://chrome-stats.com/d/linkhealthchecker)
- [LinkCheck](https://chrome-stats.com/d/linkcheck_) — 29 users
- [Link Checker](https://chrome-stats.com/d/linkchecker) — 37 users
- [Link Checke5](https://chrome-stats.com/d/link-checke5)

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Source: [Chrome-Stats](https://chrome-stats.com/d/links-spy)