CleanorTools
Markdown

Markdown Link Extractor

Details

How to use Markdown Link Extractor

What the tool does, how to run it, and what to expect from the result.

How to extract links from Markdown

To extract links from Markdown, paste your source into the input box. The extractor parses the text and pulls out every link it finds, including inline links, reference-style links, image links, and bare autolinks, then lists them so you can review or reuse the URLs.

Image links are listed separately from normal inline links, so image references do not get mixed into the same output as page links. You can copy the full result as a plain text list or export it as JSON for scripting and further processing.

All parsing happens locally in your browser. Your Markdown is never uploaded to a server, so you can safely inspect links in private docs or unpublished content.

  • Paste Markdown into the input box
  • Review extracted inline, reference, image, and autolinks
  • Copy as text or export as JSON

Why link extraction belongs in a docs workflow

A surprising amount of documentation cleanup comes down to link QA. Before publishing, migrating, or diffing a Markdown file, it helps to see exactly which links it contains, so you can spot broken targets, outdated URLs, or links that should be updated.

Pulling links into a structured list also makes batch work easier. You can scan a README for external references, audit a docs page before a site migration, or feed the JSON output into a script that checks each URL for status.

Because images are separated from inline links, you also get a clear view of every asset a page references, which is useful when moving or rehosting media.

Tips

Getting a better result out of Markdown Link Extractor

Specific settings and thresholds, not general advice.

  • The same link is reported under more than one type. An inline link like [Docs](https://example.com) also matches the bare-URL pattern, and an image with alt text also matches the inline pattern, so one image with a description can produce three rows. De-duplicate by URL if you need a unique list.
  • Reference definitions ([label]: https://example.com) are captured, but the places that use them ([text][label]) are not. You are counting definitions, so an unused definition looks identical to a used one.
  • A URL that contains a closing parenthesis is cut short, because the inline pattern stops at the first one. A Wikipedia link ending in _(disambiguation) is a common casualty and comes back truncated.
  • Relative links are extracted, not skipped. [Setup](./docs/setup.md) is reported with its relative target, which is exactly what a README link audit needs, since relative links are the ones that break when a file gets moved.
  • Nothing is fetched, so a link to a page that was deleted last year looks identical to a working one. This tool finds every link in the source; it checks none of them.
Limits

What Markdown Link Extractor does not do

The honest boundary, so you do not lose time finding it yourself.

  • No HTTP checking, so 404s, redirects, and dead domains are invisible.
  • Reference usages ([text][label]) are not resolved; only the definitions are found.
  • The extraction is regex-based, so URLs containing a closing parenthesis or a space are truncated.
  • Bare mailto: addresses and www. links with no scheme are not detected.
Reference

Terms used on this page

Short, plain-language definitions for the formats and settings above.

Files & formatsMarkdownMarkdown is a lightweight, plain-text formatting syntax that turns simple symbols into formatted text — `#` for headings, `*` for emphasis, and `-` for lists. It stays readable as raw text and converts cleanly to HTML.General
At a glance

Who Markdown Link Extractor is for

A quick way to understand who this helps, what it solves, and where it connects next.

Best fit

Docs writers, SEO teams, content QA operators, and developers reviewing README or docs link quality.

Ideal for

Auditing Markdown links without manually scanning long docs files or copied release notes.

FAQ

Common questions

Short answers for the questions people usually have before trying a utility like this.

Is the Markdown Link Extractor free?

Yes. This tool is completely free to use, with no sign-up required.

Does it upload my Markdown anywhere?

No. All link parsing happens locally in your browser, so your Markdown never leaves your device.

Does it include image links too?

Yes. Image links are listed separately so image references do not disappear into the same output as normal inline links.

Can I export the result as JSON?

Yes. The extractor offers a JSON export alongside a plain text list, which is handy for scripting and link checking.

What link types does it handle?

It handles inline links, reference-style links, image links, and bare autolinks found in the Markdown source.

Is an image link counted twice?

No. The patterns overlap by nature, since an image is also a bracketed link and an inline link contains a bare URL, so each match claims the characters it consumed and the later patterns skip them. Every link is counted once.

Does it check whether the links are alive?

No. It is a parser, not a link checker: no request is made to any URL. That is what keeps it fully local and instant, and it is also the limitation to be aware of, since a dead link looks exactly like a working one in the output.

Are relative links included?

Yes. Any inline link is extracted regardless of whether its target has a scheme, so ./docs/setup.md and /pricing both show up. For a README audit those are the important ones, because they break silently when a file is renamed.

Why is my Wikipedia link cut off?

The inline-link pattern reads the target up to the first closing parenthesis, and URLs like the ones ending in _(disambiguation) contain one. The extracted URL is therefore truncated. This is a known limitation of parsing Markdown links with a regex, and it affects the count too.

Is my document uploaded to extract the links?

No. Extraction runs in the browser and both the text list and the JSON download are generated locally, so internal docs and unreleased changelogs stay in the tab.

What is in the JSON export?

An array of entries, each with the link text, the URL, and a type of inline, image, reference, autolink, or bare-url. It is the version to use when the next step is a script that checks the links or rewrites them, since the plain-text list is formatted for reading, not parsing.

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