External Link Extractor
External Link Extractor captures only quoted anchor hrefs beginning http:// or https://, then excludes any value containing the entered hostname text case-insensitively. Because this is substring logic rather than parsed-host comparison, same-site and outside links can be misclassified. Protocol-relative URLs, mailto links, relative outbound redirects, malformed markup, JavaScript links, and links generated at runtime are not included.
Runs locally — files stay on your deviceDoes it compare URL hostnames exactly?
No. It checks whether the full href string contains the supplied text.
Outbound classification needs URL parsing
A robust check resolves references, parses origins, handles subdomain policy explicitly, and compares the actual hostname rather than arbitrary URL text.
How it works
A regex captures quoted absolute HTTP(S) hrefs, a case-insensitive substring exclusion applies, and exact duplicates are removed.
Key concepts
Absolute HTTP(S) only
//cdn.example and mailto: are omitted.
Host text can appear elsewhere
Queries or paths can create false exclusions.
When to use it
- Triage obvious absolute outbound links in controlled HTML.
- Build a quick review list.
- Deduplicate exact external-looking href strings.
When not to use it
- Do not use it for allowlisting or security.
- Do not expect protocol-relative or relative redirects.
- Do not infer link status or trust.
Worked examples
Clear outbound
- Input
https://other.test/a- Expected output
Included
Host text is absent.
Same site
- Input
https://example.com/a- Expected output
Excluded for example.com
Substring matches.
Misleading query
- Input
https://other.test/?ref=example.com- Expected output
Excluded incorrectly
The host string appears in the query.
Common mistakes
Calling it exact host comparison
It is substring filtering. Correction: Parse and compare URL.hostname.
Missing protocol-relative links
Regex requires http(s):. Correction: Resolve all hrefs against a base.
Assuming external means unsafe
Location alone does not establish trust. Correction: Apply policy and reputation checks separately.
Best practices
- Use results as candidates only.
- Resolve and parse every href.
- Check status, redirects, rel, and destination policy with a crawler.
Related operations and differences
Image Alt Attribute Checker
Choose Image Alt Attribute Checker when you need to find image tags missing non-empty alt text.; use External Link Extractor specifically for external links.
Internal Link Extractor
Choose Internal Link Extractor when you need to extract relative and same-host links.; use External Link Extractor specifically for external links.
Canonical Tag Generator
Choose Canonical Tag Generator when you need to generate a canonical link element from a URL.; use External Link Extractor specifically for external links.
FAQ Schema Generator
Choose FAQ Schema Generator when you need to generate FAQPage JSON-LD from question-answer blocks.; use External Link Extractor specifically for external links.
Heading Structure Checker
Choose Heading Structure Checker when you need to list H1–H6 elements from pasted HTML.; use External Link Extractor specifically for external links.
Hreflang Tag Generator
Choose Hreflang Tag Generator when you need to generate language alternate tags from URL lines.; use External Link Extractor specifically for external links.
Limitations and privacy
- Quoted absolute HTTP(S) anchors only.
- No exact host/origin, URL resolution, protocol-relative links, live fetch, redirect/status, rel, trust, or security analysis.
The pasted text or URL is processed locally in this browser and is not fetched or submitted by the tool.
Frequently asked questions
Are mailto links listed?
No.
Are protocol-relative URLs listed?
No.
Can host matching be wrong?
Yes.
Are redirects followed?
No.