Why are my SendGrid links broken and how do I fix it?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 28 May 2025
Updated 19 Aug 2025
7 min read
Discovering that your SendGrid links are broken can be frustrating, especially when you're relying on emails for critical communications, marketing campaigns, or transactional updates. This issue typically manifests as recipients clicking a link in your email only to be led to an error page, or a URL that doesn't resemble the original destination.
The root cause often lies in how SendGrid's click tracking or link branding features interact with your domain's DNS records and SSL configuration. While these features are designed to provide valuable analytics and enhance brand consistency, they can inadvertently break links if not set up correctly.
I'll guide you through the common reasons why SendGrid links might break and provide practical steps to diagnose and fix them. Understanding the underlying mechanisms is key to ensuring your emails function as intended and reach their recipients without issues.
Understanding SendGrid's link modification
SendGrid offers features like click tracking and link branding to enhance email performance and sender reputation. Click tracking automatically rewrites your original links to a SendGrid-hosted URL (or your branded domain, if configured) to monitor engagement. This rewritten link then redirects users to the original destination.
Link branding (formerly whitelabeling) allows you to use your own domain for these tracking links, making them appear more trustworthy to recipients and improving deliverability. Instead of seeing a generic sendgrid.net domain, your links will use a subdomain like clicks.yourdomain.com. This requires specific CNAME DNS recordsto point back to SendGrid, allowing SendGrid to track the click and redirect the user.
The issue of broken links often arises when these tracking or branding mechanisms are enabled without the necessary backend configuration. For instance, if click tracking is on but the CNAME record for your branded link domain is missing or incorrect, the rewritten URL will lead to an unresolvable address, resulting in a broken link experience for your recipients.
Diagnosing broken links
When SendGrid links are broken, it's typically due to a misconfiguration related to their click tracking or link branding features. One of the most frequent culprits is an improperly configured or missing CNAME DNS record for your link branding domain. If this record isn't correctly set up, SendGrid cannot properly redirect the clicks, leading to a DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error or a wrong link page.
Another common cause is an SSL certificate mismatch or misconfiguration, especially if you're using HTTPS links. SendGrid requires proper SSL setup for click tracking on branded links to function correctly. If the SSL certificate isn't correctly installed or verified, browsers will flag the link as insecure or block access entirely, leading to errors like ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID. This can impact tracking links in Chrome and other browsers.
When troubleshooting, it's crucial to distinguish between a link that's not being rewritten and one that's being rewritten incorrectly. A link that isn't rewritten might indicate that click tracking is disabled, while an incorrectly rewritten link points to a configuration problem.
Less common, but still possible, are issues with the content itself, such as incorrect URL formatting within your email templates, or conflicts with other email services that might also be modifying links. This is also why email filters can modify or break links. Additionally, some email clients or security software might block or alter links if they detect suspicious patterns, though this is usually secondary to a core SendGrid configuration problem.
Resolving common SendGrid link issues
The first step to resolving broken SendGrid links is to systematically check your SendGrid account settings. Navigate to the Settings > Tracking section in your SendGrid dashboard. Here, verify the status of Click Tracking and Link Branding. If click tracking is enabled and you are using link branding, ensure that your branded link domain is verified and correctly configured with the necessary CNAME records pointing to SendGrid. An unverified or improperly configured domain will cause links to break.
For SSL-related link issues, especially if you're seeing security warnings, you need to ensure SSL Click Tracking is enabled in SendGrid under Settings > Sender Authentication > Link Branding. If your emails contain HTTPS links, this feature must be active for SendGrid to properly rewrite and track them without security errors. SendGrid provides specific steps for SSL click tracking setup.
If you cannot identify or resolve the DNS or SSL issues, a temporary solution is to disable click tracking. This will stop SendGrid from rewriting your links, allowing them to function as direct URLs. While this foregoes valuable click data, it can quickly restore link functionality. You can disable click tracking for all emails or for specific links by adding sg_track=off to individual URLs. This can be especially useful for common SendGrid unsubscribe and tracking issues.
Disabling click tracking in SendGrid
Global Setting: In your SendGrid dashboard, go to Settings > Tracking and toggle off Click Tracking. This will prevent SendGrid from rewriting any links in your emails.
Per-Link Basis: Add sg_track=off as a query parameter to specific URLs within your email HTML. For example: https://yourdomain.com/page?sg_track=off.
Preventing future link problems
To prevent broken links in the future, meticulous attention to your SendGrid setup and DNS management is essential. Always ensure that your sender authentication, including domain authentication, and link branding (including SSL settings) are fully verified within SendGrid. Regularly review your DNS records to confirm they align with SendGrid's requirements.
Consider testing your emails thoroughly before sending large campaigns. You can use an email deliverability test to check how your links render across different email clients and verify that they resolve correctly. This proactive approach can help catch issues before they impact your recipients. Remember, broken links can negatively affect your domain reputation during warming.
Additionally, if you're experiencing issues with very long SendGrid tracking links, there are methods to shorten them. This doesn't directly fix broken links, but it can improve the visual appearance of your emails and prevent potential rendering issues in some email clients.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Always verify your SendGrid domain and link branding settings, ensuring all CNAME records are correctly published and active.
Enable SSL click tracking if your emails contain HTTPS links to prevent certificate errors and enhance security.
Regularly test your email links across various clients and devices to catch issues before they affect a wider audience.
Work closely with your IT team or DNS administrator to ensure timely and accurate DNS record updates for your email sending domains.
Implement a consistent email authentication strategy, including DMARC, SPF, and DKIM, to bolster your sender reputation.
Common pitfalls
Forgetting to update or correctly configure CNAME records after enabling SendGrid's link branding feature.
Not enabling SSL click tracking for HTTPS links, leading to security warnings or broken links in some email clients.
Assuming click tracking is off when it's still active, causing unexpected link modifications.
Overlooking discrepancies between the desired link destination and the actual URL generated by SendGrid's tracking.
Failing to monitor DMARC reports for insights into link authentication and potential delivery issues.
Expert tips
If your organization uses a web application firewall or CDN (like Cloudflare), ensure it's not interfering with the CNAME resolution for SendGrid's click tracking domain.
For transactional emails where click tracking isn't critical, consider disabling it selectively to avoid potential link modification issues.
Leverage SendGrid's activity feed to inspect the raw email content and verify how links are being rewritten, which can help pinpoint the exact problem.
When migrating email services or DNS providers, prioritize updating SendGrid's CNAME and SSL configurations to maintain continuous link functionality.
For complex setups, consider dedicated IP addresses with proper warm-up to stabilize reputation and reduce the likelihood of deliverability issues affecting links.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says they were dealing with DMARC for emails through Mailchimp, but then SendGrid links started breaking with all links being amended along the way, making the website unreachable.
2020-03-12 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says the broken links look like they are a result of click tracking being turned on without proper DNS setup, suggesting that the ESP (SendGrid) enabled it without working with the user on the necessary DNS records.
2020-03-12 - Email Geeks
Ensuring reliable email communication
Broken links in your SendGrid emails can severely impact user experience, analytics, and ultimately, your email deliverability. The primary culprits are often misconfigurations in SendGrid's click tracking and link branding features, especially concerning DNS CNAME records and SSL certificates.
By diligently checking your SendGrid account settings, verifying your DNS records, and ensuring SSL click tracking is properly enabled for HTTPS links, you can resolve most broken link issues. When in doubt, temporarily disabling click tracking can serve as a quick fix while you delve into the technical details.
Proactive monitoring and thorough testing of your email links before sending are critical steps to maintain reliable email communication and a strong sender reputation. Ensuring your links work seamlessly is fundamental to successful email campaigns and transactional messaging.
