HTML Link Extractor
HTML Link Extractor finds <a> tags containing href values enclosed in single or double quotes, returns exact captured strings in first-seen order, and removes exact duplicates. It does not parse a DOM, resolve relative URLs, decode entities, find unquoted hrefs, area/link elements, JavaScript-created links, base-URL effects, redirects, status, rel attributes, or crawlability.
Runs locally — files stay on your deviceAre relative links converted to absolute URLs?
No. Captured href text is returned unchanged.
Extracted attributes are not a crawl audit
A crawler evaluates rendered HTML, base URLs, robots directives, status, link semantics, and script behavior beyond a regex capture.
How it works
A case-insensitive anchor/href regex captures quoted values; Set removes identical strings.
Key concepts
Exact-string deduplication
/a and https://host/a remain distinct.
Anchor tags only
Canonical, stylesheet, image, and area URLs are outside the pattern.
When to use it
- List links from simple pasted markup.
- Deduplicate exact anchor href strings.
- Prepare a small URL review list.
When not to use it
- Do not use it as proof of crawlability.
- Do not expect malformed HTML or unquoted attributes reliably.
- Do not expect URL normalization.
Worked examples
Quoted anchors
- Input
<a href="/a">A</a>- Expected output
/a
Relative value stays relative.
Duplicate
- Input
Two href="/a"- Expected output
One line
Exact duplicates collapse.
Unquoted
- Input
<a href=/a>- Expected output
No link
Quotes are required by the regex.
Common mistakes
Assuming DOM correctness
Regex does not repair HTML. Correction: Use an HTML parser.
Calling every value crawlable
Schemes and directives are unchecked. Correction: Classify and crawl-test results.
Expecting resolution
No page base is known. Correction: Resolve relative values separately.
Best practices
- Use well-formed final HTML.
- Normalize and classify extracted values.
- Run a crawler for status, directives, and rendered links.
Related operations and differences
Canonical Tag Generator
Choose Canonical Tag Generator when you need to generate a canonical link element from a URL.; use HTML Link Extractor specifically for links.
Internal Link Extractor
Choose Internal Link Extractor when you need to extract relative and same-host links.; use HTML Link Extractor specifically for links.
Meta Tag Generator
Choose Meta Tag Generator when you need to generate title and description HTML tags.; use HTML Link Extractor specifically for links.
Robots.txt Generator
Choose Robots.txt Generator when you need to generate a basic robots.txt file.; use HTML Link Extractor specifically for links.
SERP Snippet Preview
Choose SERP Snippet Preview when you need to preview title, URL and description as text.; use HTML Link Extractor specifically for links.
Sitemap XML Generator
Choose Sitemap XML Generator when you need to create a simple sitemap from a URL list.; use HTML Link Extractor specifically for links.
Limitations and privacy
- Quoted anchor hrefs only.
- No DOM parsing, entity decoding, URL resolution, scheme filtering, live fetch, status, rel, robots, visibility, or JavaScript 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 duplicates removed?
Exact duplicates are.
Are unquoted hrefs found?
No.
Are URLs fetched?
No.
Are relative paths preserved?
Yes.