Overall, Confluence is pretty strong in maintaining its own referential integrity. Internal hyperlinks are based on:
- A name (should be unique within the space)
- A space key (optional, when omitted, the hyperlink is assumed to be within the same space)
A broken hyperlink can have several causes:
- The referenced page is deleted
- The referenced page has another name (e.g. when a new add-on is combined with an older version of Instant 27001)
- The referenced page is in a space that does not exist (e.g. an add-on that was not backup up or purchased)
When the amount of broken links is minimal, the fastest way to fix them is to open the page in the editor and recreate the broken link(s) by hand.
Only continue reading if you wish to restore the broken links in bulk 🙂
Restoring broken links in bulk
The key to fixing broken links in bulk, is to make sure that there will be a page with the expected name, in the expected space. Once Confluence finds it, it will restore the broken links automatically.
First, find out what page Confluence is looking for, by selecting … > Advanced details > View Storage Format:
This will show the XML source of the page. Now search for the name(s) of the broken link(s):
In this case, the first broken link references a page called HR on boarding process in the space with key ISMS.
⚠️In case the space key is not specified, it means Confluence will look for the page in the current space.
Secondly, make sure that page can be found by Confluence. This can be accomplished by:
- Creating a new page with that exact name (in the expected space), or
- Renaming an existing page to that exact name (in the expected space), or
- Moving an existing page with that exact name into the expected space
⚠️In case the hyperlink points to a page a non-existing space key, you should first create a new space with the exact same key (e.g. ISMS).
Once you have observed that the previously broken hyperlink(s) are restored correctly, it should be safe to rename or move the page to its previous state.
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