How to Check If a Link Is Dofollow or Nofollow in Chrome (Step-by-Step Guide)
If you're serious about link building, guest posting, or backlink audits, you need to know how to check if a link is dofollow or nofollow in Chrome before you count it toward your SEO efforts. A dofollow link passes authority (link juice) to your site, while a nofollow link doesn't. Knowing the difference in seconds can save you hours of wasted outreach.
Quick Answer: To check if a link is dofollow or nofollow in Chrome, right-click the link, select Inspect, and look at the HTML <a> tag. If it contains rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", or rel="ugc", it's nofollow. If there's no rel attribute (or it's absent entirely), the link is dofollow.
Below, we'll break down both the manual method and the fastest automated tools so you never have to guess again.
Understanding HTML Code: Dofollow vs Nofollow Links
Before checking links, it helps to understand the actual dofollow vs nofollow HTML markup search engines read. Every link on a webpage is wrapped in an <a> tag, and the rel attribute inside that tag tells Google how to treat it.
Here's what each variation looks like in code:
Dofollow link (default, no rel attribute):
<a href="https://example.com">Anchor Text</a>Nofollow link:
<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Anchor Text</a>Sponsored link (paid/affiliate content):
<a href="https://example.com" rel="sponsored">Anchor Text</a>UGC link (user-generated content, like blog comments/forums):
<a href="https://example.com" rel="ugc">Anchor Text</a>Google introduced rel="sponsored" and rel="ugc" in 2019 as more specific signals, but functionally, all three (nofollow, sponsored, ugc) tell search engines not to pass link juice through that link. If a link has no rel attribute at all, it's dofollow by default.
Method 1: How to Check Nofollow Link in Chrome Using Inspect Element (Manual Method)
This is the most reliable way to check dofollow link inspect element-style, directly from the source code, with zero extensions required.
Step 1: Open the Webpage
Navigate to the page containing the link you want to verify.
Step 2: Right-Click the Link
Right-click directly on the hyperlink text or anchor text you want to check.
Step 3: Select "Inspect"
Choose Inspect (or Inspect Element) from the context menu. This opens Chrome DevTools with the relevant HTML line already highlighted.
Step 4: Locate the <a> Tag
Look at the highlighted <a href="..."> tag in the Elements panel.
- If you see
rel="nofollow",rel="sponsored", orrel="ugc"→ the link is nofollow. - If there's no
relattribute, or it saysrel="dofollow"→ the link is dofollow.
Step 5: Double-Check with Ctrl+F (Optional)
Within the DevTools Elements panel, press Ctrl+F and search "nofollow" to quickly scan the entire page's HTML for all nofollow instances at once — useful for auditing many links fast.
Fig 1: Inspecting a Hyperlink in Chrome DevTools to Check Nofollow Attribute
This manual method works every time, but it's slow if you're auditing dozens of links on a single page. That's where extensions come in.
Method 2: Best Chrome Extensions for Dofollow and Nofollow Links (Automated Method)
If you regularly do backlink audits or outreach verification, manually inspecting every link isn't practical. The best Chrome extension for nofollow links automatically highlights or strikes through nofollow links on any page you visit no right-clicking required.
Extensions are ideal for:
- SEO audit Chrome extension workflows across large sites
- Quickly scanning guest post pages before submission
- Verifying backlinks from link building campaigns at scale
Strike Out Nofollow Links Extension
This lightweight extension automatically strikes through (crosses out) every nofollow link on a page the moment it loads. It's visual, fast, and requires no clicking just glance at the page and see which links are crossed out.
NoFollow Simple Extension
A minimalist alternative that outlines nofollow links with a colored border or background highlight instead of a strikethrough. Great if you prefer a cleaner visual style while auditing content.
MozBar / SEOquake Extension
These are full-featured SEO audit Chrome extension toolbars that go beyond nofollow detection. Alongside highlighting nofollow links, they show:
- Domain Authority (DA) / Page Authority (PA)
- On-page SEO elements (title tags, headers, word count)
- Backlink counts and keyword density
MozBar and SEOquake are best if you want an all-in-one toolbar rather than a single-purpose extension.
Fig 2: Chrome Extension Automatically Highlighting Nofollow Links on a Webpage
Why Checking Link Attributes Matters for SEO
Understanding how to know if a link is dofollow isn't just a technical exercise it directly impacts your SEO strategy in three key ways:
- Link building outreach verification — Before counting a guest post or backlink as valuable, confirm it's actually dofollow. Many sites quietly add nofollow to outbound links by default.
- Competitor backlink audits — When analyzing competitor backlink profiles, separating dofollow from nofollow links reveals which sources are actually boosting their rankings.
- Internal link equity distribution — On your own site, checking internal links ensures link juice flows to priority pages instead of leaking to unimportant ones (like login pages or ToS).
Skipping this link building verification step means you might celebrate a backlink that contributes zero ranking value.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is every link dofollow by default in Chrome?
Yes. Chrome (and all browsers) treat any <a> tag without a rel="nofollow" attribute as dofollow by default. The dofollow status comes from the HTML markup itself, not a browser setting.
Does Google pass PageRank through nofollow links?
As of Google's 2019 update, nofollow, sponsored, and UGC links are treated as "hints" rather than strict directives. Google may still crawl and consider them in rare cases, but generally, they don't pass meaningful link equity.
To learn more about when to use these tags, read our guide on dofollow vs nofollow links
Can I check link attributes on Chrome mobile?
Yes, but it's harder. Chrome mobile doesn't have a built-in Inspect Element option like desktop. You'll need to request the desktop site first, or use a mobile SEO extension/app that supports element inspection.
Conclusion
Knowing how to check if a link is dofollow or nofollow in Chrome is a non-negotiable skill for bloggers, SEO specialists, and link builders. The manual Inspect Element method is perfect for one-off checks, while extensions like Strike Out Nofollow Links, NoFollow Simple, or MozBar are better for auditing entire pages quickly.
For most SEO professionals, the ideal workflow combines both: use an extension for fast visual scanning, then verify critical links manually via Inspect Element before finalizing any link building report.