Softonic

External Links Extractor

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Paste raw HTML and get a clean, de-duplicated list of every external link it contains. Optionally enter a base URL so the extractor knows which host counts as internal; links pointing to any other host are reported. Useful when auditing a site for link leaks, stale partner placements, or checking that outbound links go where your policy expects.

How to extract external links

  1. 1

    Provide the source

    Paste the raw HTML of the page. Optionally add a base URL so the extractor knows which host counts as internal; leave it empty to treat every host as external.

  2. 2

    Run extraction

    Every `<a href>` is read and only absolute http/https links whose host differs from the base host are kept. Duplicates are removed.

  3. 3

    Review the list

    You get one external URL per line, ready to paste into a spreadsheet or to spot-check individual links.

  4. 4

    Use the result

    Copy the list to the clipboard, or keep the page open while you check each destination in a new tab.

What the extractor considers external

A link is external when its host differs from the base URL you provided (the comparison is case-insensitive). Subdomains count as separate hosts, so blog.example.com is external to www.example.com. If you want subdomain-wide audits, strip the subdomain from your base URL. Leave the base URL empty to list every http/https link as external.

The extractor reports destination URLs only. It does not read anchor text or rel attributes, so audit nofollow, ugc and sponsored tokens directly in the source HTML.

What it ignores

  • mailto:, tel:, javascript: and fragment-only # hrefs.
  • Relative URLs and protocol-relative URLs such as //cdn.example.com (expand them to absolute URLs in the pasted HTML if you want them counted).
  • Anchor tags without href (they are not navigable links).

Tips

  • Paste the rendered HTML when the page uses JavaScript. Links that a framework generates client-side only appear once you paste the rendered DOM (for example, copy outerHTML from DevTools).
  • Watch for tracking wrappers. Affiliate redirects through /go/ or /out/ hide the real destination; the extractor returns the wrapper URL as written, so inspect the raw href when a destination looks wrong.
  • Normalize before diffing. A URL with a different fragment or tracking parameter counts as a separate link, so normalize URLs before comparing two runs of the extractor.
  • Compare over time. Run the extractor monthly and diff the lists; new external links you did not add are the first sign of a compromised theme or plugin.

Frequently Asked Questions

It extracts the href exactly as written in the HTML. Following every redirect would slow the report dramatically and can trip bot protections on the destination; resolve them separately if you need the final landing URL.

No. The extractor parses the HTML as delivered. Links that a framework renders client-side will only appear if you paste the rendered DOM (for example, copy outerHTML from DevTools).

Only absolute http/https URLs are reported. Protocol-relative URLs such as //cdn.example.com, relative paths, and mailto: or tel: links are skipped; expand them to absolute URLs in the pasted HTML if you want them counted.

The HTML you paste is sent to our server only to run the extraction in the current request. It is not stored in a database or a log, and nothing is kept after the response reaches your browser.

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