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url-validator

A URL validator checks whether a string is a syntactically valid URL (per WHATWG URL spec) — correct scheme, host, port, path, query, fragment — and optionally probes the URL to see if it actually resolves and returns a successful HTTP status, distinguishing dead links, redirects, and broken paths. The ZTools URL Validator handles bulk lists up to 500 URLs, supports HTTP / HTTPS / FTP / mailto / tel / custom schemes, exports labelled CSV with status code and final-URL columns, and is the right pre-flight check before importing a CSV of links into a CMS or CRM.

Use cases​

CMS content audit​

Editors paste hundreds of links. Validate before publish; catch typos ("htttp://", missing TLD, dangling redirects) before users see them.

CSV / spreadsheet cleanup​

A "links" column in a spreadsheet has dirty formatting. Bulk-validate; emit clean canonical URLs and flag dead ones.

Old blog posts accumulate dead links. Run reachability check; produce a CSV of broken URLs to fix or replace.

Form input validation​

User-supplied homepage URL on profile signup. Strict syntax + reachability check ensures the link is actually browsable.

How it works​

  1. Paste URL(s) — Single URL or one-per-line bulk up to 500. Auto-detect scheme; missing scheme prompts whether to assume https://.
  2. Syntax parse — WHATWG URL parser confirms scheme, host, port, path, query, fragment.
  3. Optional reachability — HEAD request via the browser; reports HTTP status, final URL after redirects, and content-type. Skipped when CORS blocks the host.
  4. Inspect results — syntax_valid, status_code, final_url, redirect_count, content_type. Dead links show 404 / 410 / DNS error.
  5. Export — CSV / JSON with one row per URL.

Examples​

Input: https://example.com/path?q=1#top

Output: syntax_valid=true, scheme=https, host=example.com, status=200

Input: htttp://broken-typo.com

Output: syntax_valid=false, reason="invalid scheme"

Input: https://www.google.com

Output: syntax_valid=true, status=200, final_url=https://www.google.com/

Frequently asked questions​

Does the reachability check follow redirects?

Yes — up to 10 hops. final_url shows the destination; redirect_count shows how many hops it took.

Why is reachability blocked for some hosts?

CORS — the browser only allows cross-origin HEAD requests when the server permits it. For locked-down hosts the syntax check still works; reachability returns "blocked".

What about HTTPS certificate issues?

Browsers report TLS failures as fetch errors. The validator surfaces "TLS error" so you know the link is fundamentally broken even if the syntax is fine.

Can it detect dead links inside content?

Yes — paste the entire content; the validator extracts URLs (http/https) and checks each. Useful for a single-page audit.

Does it handle internationalised domain names?

Yes — IDN ("xn--..." or unicode) parses cleanly. Reachability uses the punycode form internally.

Is the data uploaded?

Syntax parsing is fully local. Reachability checks fetch the URLs from your browser — that traffic obviously hits the target servers but does not pass through any third-party proxy.

Tips​

  • Always run syntax + reachability for content audits — syntax alone misses dead links that look fine.
  • For CMS imports, soft-suppress dead URLs — do not silently delete; editors may want to fix them.
  • When CORS blocks reachability, fall back to a server-side checker for those specific hosts.
  • Tag long redirect chains for review — they are slow and often indicate stale tracking links.
  • For RSS / sitemap audits, this tool plus periodic re-runs catches link rot before users do.

Try it now​

The full url-validator runs in your browser at https://ztools.zaions.com/url-validator — no signup, no upload, no data leaves your device.

Open the tool ↗

Last updated: 2026-05-05 · Author: Ahsan Mahmood · Edit this page on GitHub