Why Are Some Links Not Picked Up?

Last updated: 2026-10-14

Troubleshoot why some links are not being detected by the Broken Link Manager. Common causes include PDF links, JavaScript links, and scope settings.

Question

Why are some links not reported by the SharePoint Essentials Toolkit?

Answer

The Broken Link Manager will not detect links in files (such as PDFs and Word documents) that are not clickable. Plain text URLs are treated as regular text content rather than hyperlinks.

To search for plain text URL matches, use the Content Search feature instead, which can locate text-based matches.

Why Plain Text Links Are Skipped

The tool skips plain text links because URLs may contain spaces, making it impossible to determine where the link ends. This would cause unpredictable results in both link reporting and Find & Replace operations.

PDF Files — A Common Misconception

Most web browsers automatically make text URLs clickable when viewing PDFs, so they appear to be hyperlinks. To verify whether a link in a PDF is truly clickable:

1. Open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader.

2. Go to File → Preferences → General.

3. Disable "Create links from URLs".

4. Check whether the link is still clickable in the document.