Seeing broken image icons or missing pictures on a website is frustrating—whether you’re visiting someone else’s site or managing your own. Sometimes it’s a simple problem with your browser. Other times, it’s a coding or server issue that needs to be fixed on the backend.
This guide explains the most common reasons images don’t load and what you can do to fix them—whether you’re a visitor or the site owner.
Quick Checks for Visitors: Is It Just You?
Before assuming something’s wrong with the website, try these steps:
- Reload the page. It might just be a temporary hiccup.
- Clear your browser’s cache. Cached versions of pages sometimes hold onto broken image data.
- Open the site in a different browser or Incognito mode to rule out extensions or cookies.
- Check your internet connection, especially if images are large or hosted externally.
- Try on a different device (like your phone) to see if the issue is local to your computer.
If the images appear normally on other devices or browsers, the issue is probably on your side. If they’re missing everywhere, it’s a website problem.
Common Reasons Why Images Don’t Load
If you’re the site owner or developer, here are the most common causes of image display issues:
- Incorrect file paths: The
<img src>link might point to a file that doesn’t exist or is in the wrong folder. - File name mismatch: Web servers are case-sensitive. “image.jpg” and “Image.JPG” are not the same.
- File is missing or deleted: If the image was removed from the server or hosting account, it won’t load.
- Wrong file permissions: If your images are not publicly readable, browsers can’t display them.
- Mixed content errors: On secure (HTTPS) sites, linking to images using HTTP can cause browsers to block them.
These are simple issues, but they cause images to disappear or show broken links on your website.
For Site Owners: How to Troubleshoot Broken Images
If you manage the website, here’s how to find and fix broken image problems:
- Inspect the HTML source code and verify the image URL is correct. Check for typos in file names or folders.
- Use your browser’s Developer Tools (press F12) and go to the Network tab. Reload the page and look for failed image requests. These usually show up as red entries with a “404” (not found) or “403” (forbidden) status.
- Verify the image exists on your server by going to the direct image URL in the browser. If it doesn’t load, you’ll know the problem is with the file or its location.
- Fix any broken links or upload the missing images again. Make sure to follow naming rules (no spaces or special characters).
- Check image file permissions. Files should usually have 644 permissions so they are publicly accessible.
- Make sure all image URLs use HTTPS on a secure site. If you’re mixing HTTP and HTTPS, the browser may block some resources for security.
- Clear your site and CDN cache if you’ve recently updated the images but don’t see changes.
CMS-Specific Problems (WordPress, Shopify, etc.)
If you’re using a CMS like WordPress, Shopify, or Squarespace, image loading problems may come from:
- Broken media library links after site migration or plugin changes.
- Incorrect theme or template settings that hide images.
- Corrupted database entries pointing to deleted files.
- Plugin conflicts that override how images are loaded or displayed.
Try re-uploading the image using the CMS media manager or switching to a default theme to test.
Issues Caused by Caching, CDNs, or SSL
Sometimes, a Content Delivery Network (CDN) like Cloudflare or a website optimization plugin may cause image display problems. This can happen if the cache is outdated, if file paths are rewritten incorrectly, or if security rules block the file from loading.
Also, SSL-related mixed content issues can prevent images from showing. For example, if your site runs on HTTPS but some images use HTTP, modern browsers may block them by default.
In these cases, try purging the cache from your hosting provider, CDN, or optimization plugin. Then reload the site to see if the issue resolves.
Final Tips: Prevent Future Image Errors
To avoid broken images down the road:
- Use consistent, lowercase file names with no spaces.
- Stick to standard formats like .jpg, .png, or .webp.
- Store images in organized folders to avoid confusion.
- Use relative paths within the same domain whenever possible.
- Test your site on both desktop and mobile browsers.
- Run image loading checks regularly using tools like Google Search Console or browser dev tools.
If you’re still seeing broken images or failed downloads after trying these steps, it may be time to contact your hosting provider for help.
Found another fix that worked for you? Drop it in the comments to help others troubleshoot faster.