Free SEO Tool

hreflang Checker

Validate hreflang tags on any page or check your entire sitemap at once. Verify reciprocal return links, detect missing self-references, and find implementation issues across all language versions.

Last updated: April 2026

Mode:

How this hreflang validator works

A hreflang checker exists because international SEO breaks in subtle ways. A missing self-referencing tag or a bad language code like "uk" instead of "en-GB" can make Google ignore all your hreflang annotations on that page. And you won't notice until the wrong language version shows up in search results for the wrong country.

This hreflang checker validates every <link rel="alternate" hreflang="..."> tag on a page: language codes, self-references, x-default, return links, HTTPS mismatches, and trailing slash inconsistencies. Switch to Sitemap mode to check up to 2,000 URLs at once with parallel validation, so you get the full picture of your international SEO setup across all pages.

Common hreflang errors this checker finds

The usual suspects. Self-referencing tag missing on one version of a page. A language code that looks right but isn't: "uk" for English (UK instead of Ukrainian) or "en-EU" for Europe (EU isn't a valid country code). Return links broken because the alternate page doesn't link back to this one. Trailing slash mismatch where /de/ and /de redirect to each other. And the silent killer: all correct in HTML, but the sitemap tells a different story.

hreflang checker vs. Google Search Console

Google removed the International Targeting report from GSC in 2022. Since then, GSC only surfaces hreflang errors through the URL Inspection tool, one URL at a time. This tool checks every hreflang tag on a page the moment you paste the URL.

hreflang checker for large multilingual websites

If you run 10,000+ pages across 8+ locales, one-URL-at-a-time checking won't cut it. Switch to Sitemap mode. Paste your sitemap URL and the tool processes up to 2,000 URLs in parallel, flagging every return link mismatch and invalid locale code. It's the fastest way to audit a multilingual site before a relaunch or after a restructure. If your setup uses both HTML link tags and sitemap hreflang entries, the tool checks both sources and flags any mismatch between them, which is one of the most common silent bugs in international SEO.

Explore more tools

Meta Tag Analyzer

Analyze all SEO meta tags.

Redirect Checker

Follow redirect chains.

Schema Validator

Validate JSON-LD schema.

Crawler Access

Check bot access and robots.txt.

Sitemap Validator

Validate XML sitemaps and check URL status.

FAQ

What is hreflang?+

hreflang is an HTML attribute that tells search engines which language and region a page targets. It helps prevent duplicate content issues for multilingual sites and ensures users see the right language version in search results.

Do I need a self-referencing hreflang tag?+

Yes. Google requires every page that uses hreflang to include a self-referencing tag pointing to itself. Without it, Google may ignore all hreflang annotations on that page.

What is x-default?+

x-default specifies the fallback URL for users whose language/region doesn't match any hreflang tag. It's strongly recommended for all multilingual implementations.

Can hreflang errors hurt rankings?+

Yes. Invalid hreflang tags, missing return links, or incorrect language codes can cause Google to ignore all hreflang annotations on a page. This may lead to the wrong language version appearing in search results or duplicate content issues.

How many hreflang tags do I need?+

You need one hreflang tag for each language or regional version of a page, plus a self-referencing tag for the current page. Adding an x-default tag for the fallback version is also strongly recommended.

Can I check my entire sitemap?+

Yes! Switch to Sitemap mode and enter your XML sitemap URL. The tool will parse all URLs (up to 2,000) and check hreflang tags on each page. It supports sitemap index files with nested sitemaps. Note: only standard XML sitemaps are supported — HTML sitemaps (like /sitemap pages) cannot be parsed.

hreflang validation on every page

Lumina checks hreflang tags automatically with return link verification.

Add Lumina to Chrome — Free