App StoreApp Store
Google PlayGoogle Play
Temp Mail Logo

Temp Mail safeguards your privacy while keeping your inbox free from spam.

🔀 301 · 302 · 307 · 308 · Redirect Chains · Loops

Redirect Checker

Free redirect checker. Trace the full redirect chain for any URL — see every hop, HTTP status code, and final destination. Detect redirect chains, loops, and SEO-damaging temporary redirects instantly.

✓ Full redirect chain✓ Every hop visible✓ 301 vs 302 SEO check✓ Loop detection✓ No signup
URL Redirect Chain Tracer
Try:
🔀
Enter a URL to trace its full redirect chain
What this tool does

Free redirect checker — trace HTTP redirect chains and diagnose 301, 302, 307 and 308 redirects

How redirect checking works, what each status code means for SEO, and how to fix redirect chains

This redirect checker makes a server-side HTTP request to the URL you enter and follows each redirect manually — one hop at a time — capturing the status code and headers at every step. Unlike browser-based tools, our server-side approach means CORS restrictions never interfere, and you see the raw redirect chain exactly as search engine crawlers do. All redirect types are supported: 301, 302, 303, 307, 308, and meta refresh redirects at the HTTP level.

Redirect chains are one of the most common and overlooked SEO problems. Every extra hop in a redirect chain adds latency (a full TCP connection and HTTP round-trip per hop), dilutes link equity passing to the final destination, and wastes crawl budget — the limited number of pages Googlebot will crawl on your site per day. A chain of three redirects can reduce the link equity passed to the destination by 15–30% compared to a direct 301.

The most common scenario is the HTTP-to-HTTPS + www-to-non-www chain: http://example.com → https://example.com → https://www.example.com. Each leg is a separate redirect that should be collapsed into one direct rule pointing from http://example.com straight to https://www.example.com.

Features and capabilities
Full Chain Tracing
Follows every redirect hop manually — not just the final destination — so you see every intermediate URL and status code.
301 vs 302 Advisory
Flags temporary redirects (302, 307) that don't pass link equity and recommends switching to 301 for permanent moves.
Chain Detection
Warns when more than one redirect hop is detected and recommends collapsing the chain to a single direct 301.
HTTP → HTTPS Check
Highlights the hop where HTTP upgrades to HTTPS so you can verify the upgrade is happening at the right place.
Visual Hop Diagram
Each redirect displayed in a vertical chain with colour-coded status badges — green for 2xx, amber for 3xx, red for 4xx/5xx.
All Status Codes
Supports 301, 302, 303, 307, 308, and any other 3xx codes including non-standard ones returned by proxies or CDNs.
Response Headers
Full response headers stored for every hop — expand any hop to inspect cache-control, location, server, and CDN headers.
Server-Side Fetch
Requests made from our server — no CORS, no browser redirect following — sees the chain exactly as Googlebot would.
Up to 12 Hops
Traces up to 12 consecutive redirects — enough to catch even deeply nested chains — then stops to prevent loop runaway.
No Signup Required
Enter a URL and click Check — no account, no rate limit, instant results for any publicly accessible URL.
Examples

Redirect examples — clean 301s, chains, loops, and how to fix each

Real-world redirect scenarios with HTTP status codes and how to resolve each issue
Clean 301Single permanent redirect — ideal SEO configuration
http://example.com └─ 301 Moved Permanently └─ https://example.com ← Final (200 OK) Hops: 1 Status: 200 OK SEO: ✓ Full link equity passes — no chain

A single 301 redirect from HTTP to HTTPS is the ideal configuration. The browser and search engine crawlers make two requests total (original + final) and full link equity passes to the destination. Achieving this requires consolidating all redirect rules into one server-level directive.

Chain3-hop redirect chain — common after site migrations
http://www.example.com └─ 301 → http://example.com (HTTP www → non-www) └─ 301 → https://example.com (HTTP → HTTPS) └─ 301 → https://www.example.com (Final) Hops: 3 ← should be 1 Latency: 3× round trips instead of 1 SEO: ⚠ Link equity reduced through each hop Fix (Nginx): # Single rule handles all cases at once server { listen 80; server_name example.com www.example.com; return 301 https://www.example.com$request_uri; }

This 3-hop chain is the most common pattern after migrations — HTTP→HTTPS and www→non-www rules were added separately over time. The fix is a single Nginx server block that matches both HTTP variants and redirects directly to the canonical HTTPS destination in one jump.

LoopRedirect loop — causes ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS
https://example.com └─ 301 → https://www.example.com └─ 301 → https://example.com ← loops back! └─ 301 → https://www.example.com └─ ... (browser stops after ~20 hops) Error: ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS Common causes: - Conflicting .htaccess and server-level rules - CDN redirect rule fighting application redirect - Cookie-based redirect logic on HTTPS check

A redirect loop means two or more rules keep bouncing the request between URLs indefinitely. The fix requires finding and removing the conflicting rules. Check Nginx/Apache config AND Cloudflare Page Rules for overlapping redirect rules that fight each other. Temporarily disable the CDN to isolate whether the loop is server-side or CDN-side.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about URL redirects and redirect chains

What is an HTTP redirect?
An HTTP redirect is a server response that instructs the browser to go to a different URL instead of the one it requested. The server returns a 3xx status code (301, 302, 307, or 308) along with a Location header containing the destination URL. The browser automatically follows the redirect and requests the new URL. Redirects are used to handle URL changes, enforce HTTPS, canonicalise www vs non-www, and route users to localised versions of a page.
What is the difference between 301 and 302 redirects?
A 301 (Moved Permanently) redirect signals that the resource has permanently moved to the new URL. Search engines transfer most of the original URL's link equity (PageRank) to the destination, eventually removing the old URL from their index. A 302 (Found) redirect signals a temporary move — search engines keep indexing the original URL and do not transfer link equity. Use 301 for permanent URL changes, site migrations, and HTTP→HTTPS enforcement. Use 302 only for genuinely temporary redirects.
What is a redirect chain and why is it bad?
A redirect chain occurs when a URL redirects to a second URL which redirects to a third, and so on. For example: http://example.com → https://example.com → https://www.example.com → https://www.example.com/home. Each hop adds latency (a full HTTP round-trip), dilutes link equity, and increases the risk of a browser giving up (most stop after 10–20 hops). Google's crawler also uses fewer crawl budget resources on chains. Chains should be collapsed to a single direct 301 whenever possible.
What is a redirect loop?
A redirect loop occurs when a URL redirects to a second URL that redirects back to the first (or to another URL that eventually loops back). Browsers detect and break out of loops after a certain number of hops (usually 10–20) and show an error like 'This page isn't redirecting properly' or ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS. Common causes include misconfigured HTTPS redirect rules, conflicting server-level and application-level redirects, or incorrect rewrite rules in .htaccess.
How does this tool check redirects?
This tool makes a server-side HTTP request to the URL you enter, following redirects one hop at a time (using manual redirect mode so each individual hop is captured). For each hop, it records the HTTP status code, the Location header (destination), and all response headers. This approach avoids browser CORS restrictions and gives you the complete unmodified picture of the redirect chain as seen by search engine crawlers.
Does the redirect method (GET vs POST) matter?
Yes. A 301 redirect from a POST request historically meant browsers changed the method to GET for the new URL, which could cause form resubmission issues. The HTTP specification clarified this with 307 (Temporary Redirect) and 308 (Permanent Redirect), which preserve the original HTTP method. For web pages (which are GET requests), 301 and 308 are equivalent. For API endpoints handling POST, PUT, or DELETE, use 307 (temporary) or 308 (permanent) to ensure the method is preserved.
What is a meta refresh redirect?
A meta refresh is an HTML redirect using a <meta http-equiv='refresh' content='0;url=https://destination.com'> tag in the page's <head>. Unlike HTTP 3xx redirects, meta refreshes are processed by the browser, not the server. They are slower, transfer less link equity than 301 redirects, and are generally discouraged for SEO purposes. This tool only checks HTTP-level redirects (3xx status codes), not meta refresh redirects, since those require rendering the page HTML.
How do I fix a redirect chain?
To collapse a redirect chain, update the original URL to redirect directly to the final destination with a single 301. For example, if http://example.com → https://example.com → https://www.example.com, update the HTTP→HTTPS rule to redirect directly to https://www.example.com. In Nginx, check for multiple rewrite rules and consolidate them. In Apache, review .htaccess for stacking RewriteRule directives. In Cloudflare Page Rules, ensure rules don't chain into each other. After fixing, run this tool again to verify the chain is resolved.
Related Tools

Need a disposable email address?Get a free instant throwaway email — no signup, no trace.

Get Free Temp Mail →