diff --git a/docs/guide/deploy.md b/docs/guide/deploy.md
index 9c884e5f..25c3058f 100644
--- a/docs/guide/deploy.md
+++ b/docs/guide/deploy.md
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ $ yarn docs:build
 $ yarn docs:serve
 ```
 
-The `serve` command will boot up local static web server that serves the files from `.vitepress/dist` at http://localhost:5000. It's an easy way to check if the production build looks OK in your local environment.
+The `serve` command will boot up local static web server that serves the files from `.vitepress/dist` at `http://localhost:5000`. It's an easy way to check if the production build looks OK in your local environment.
 
 You may configure the port of the server py passing `--port` flag as an argument.
 
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ You may configure the port of the server py passing `--port` flag as an argument
 }
 ```
 
-Now the `docs:serve` method will launch the server at http://localhost:8080.
+Now the `docs:serve` method will launch the server at `http://localhost:8080`.
 
 ## GitHub Pages
 
diff --git a/docs/guide/getting-started.md b/docs/guide/getting-started.md
index 8436901e..2b891fd3 100644
--- a/docs/guide/getting-started.md
+++ b/docs/guide/getting-started.md
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ This section will help you build a basic VitePress documentation site from groun
   $ yarn docs:dev
   ```
 
-  VitePress will start a hot-reloading development server at http://localhost:3000.
+  VitePress will start a hot-reloading development server at `http://localhost:3000`.
 
 By now, you should have a basic but functional VitePress documentation site.
 
diff --git a/src/node/markdown/plugins/link.ts b/src/node/markdown/plugins/link.ts
index 7d7c71f7..38063208 100644
--- a/src/node/markdown/plugins/link.ts
+++ b/src/node/markdown/plugins/link.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ export const linkPlugin = (
         Object.entries(externalAttrs).forEach(([key, val]) => {
           token.attrSet(key, val)
         })
+        // catch localhost links as dead link
+        if (url.replace(EXTERNAL_URL_RE, '').startsWith('//localhost:')) {
+          pushLink(url)
+        }
       } else if (
         // internal anchor links
         !url.startsWith('#') &&
@@ -70,11 +74,15 @@ export const linkPlugin = (
     }
 
     // export it for existence check
-    const data = (md as any).__data as MarkdownParsedData
-    const links = data.links || (data.links = [])
-    links.push(url.replace(/\.html$/, ''))
+    pushLink(url.replace(/\.html$/, ''))
 
     // markdown-it encodes the uri
     hrefAttr[1] = decodeURI(url)
   }
+
+  function pushLink(link: string) {
+    const data = (md as any).__data as MarkdownParsedData
+    const links = data.links || (data.links = [])
+    links.push(link)
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/node/markdownToVue.ts b/src/node/markdownToVue.ts
index 083f60da..fc3c755d 100644
--- a/src/node/markdownToVue.ts
+++ b/src/node/markdownToVue.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import matter from 'gray-matter'
 import LRUCache from 'lru-cache'
 import { createMarkdownRenderer, MarkdownOptions } from './markdown/markdown'
 import { deeplyParseHeader } from './utils/parseHeader'
-import { PageData, HeadConfig } from './shared'
+import { PageData, HeadConfig, EXTERNAL_URL_RE } from './shared'
 import { slash } from './utils/slash'
 import chalk from 'chalk'
 import _debug from 'debug'
@@ -83,10 +83,26 @@ export function createMarkdownToVueRenderFn(
     }
 
     // validate data.links
-    const deadLinks = []
+    const deadLinks: string[] = []
+    const recordDeadLink = (url: string) => {
+      console.warn(
+        chalk.yellow(
+          `\n(!) Found dead link ${chalk.cyan(url)} in file ${chalk.white.dim(
+            file
+          )}`
+        )
+      )
+      deadLinks.push(url)
+    }
+
     if (data.links) {
       const dir = path.dirname(file)
       for (let url of data.links) {
+        if (url.replace(EXTERNAL_URL_RE, '').startsWith('//localhost:')) {
+          recordDeadLink(url)
+          continue
+        }
+
         url = url.replace(/[?#].*$/, '').replace(/\.(html|md)$/, '')
         if (url.endsWith('/')) url += `index`
         const resolved = decodeURIComponent(
@@ -100,14 +116,7 @@ export function createMarkdownToVueRenderFn(
           !pages.includes(resolved) &&
           !fs.existsSync(path.resolve(dir, publicDir, `${resolved}.html`))
         ) {
-          console.warn(
-            chalk.yellow(
-              `\n(!) Found dead link ${chalk.cyan(
-                url
-              )} in file ${chalk.white.dim(file)}`
-            )
-          )
-          deadLinks.push(url)
+          recordDeadLink(url)
         }
       }
     }