If a link suddenly looks broken in Chrome, even though the site is working fine, the problem is usually Chrome’s page preloading, not the website itself. Here’s why it happens and how to fix it.
Why This Happens
Chrome tries to guess which links you’ll click next and loads their data early to make browsing feel faster. This is called preloading. When that early load fails or gets interrupted, the link can briefly look broken even though the page is fine.
How to Fix It
- Click the three dots in the top right corner and select Settings.
- Go to Privacy and security.
- Click Preload pages.
- Switch it to Standard preloading or No preloading if the issue keeps happening.
Quick Tips
- Reloading the page (Ctrl+R or Cmd+R) usually clears up the error right away.
- Clearing your browser cache can help if the problem keeps coming back on the same site.
Turning preloading down might make pages load a touch slower, but you’ll stop seeing that confusing broken link message.
