Redirect Checker
Check URL redirects and response codes.
How to use Redirect Checker
Enter Your URL in the Input Field
Click the text input box labeled 'Enter URL' and paste or type the complete URL you want to check (e.g., https://example.com/page). Include the protocol (http:// or https://) for accurate results.
Click the 'Check Redirects' Button
Press the blue 'Check Redirects' button located directly below the input field. The tool will immediately process your URL and scan for all redirect chains.
Review the Redirect Chain Results
View the detailed results table showing each redirect hop, HTTP status codes (301, 302, 307, etc.), response times in milliseconds, and final destination URL. Green status codes indicate successful redirects; red indicates errors.
Analyze Response Headers and Metadata
Expand the 'Response Details' section to view server information, content type, content length, cache headers, and the final page title. This helps identify redirect issues and optimization opportunities.
Export or Share Your Results
Click the 'Copy Results' or 'Download Report' button in the top-right corner to export your redirect analysis as JSON, CSV, or PDF for sharing with your team.
Related Tools
Redirect checker online: trace the full redirect chain for any URL
Redirect checker online: trace the full redirect chain for any URL
A redirect checker follows every hop a URL makes from your starting address to its final destination, showing the HTTP status code and URL at each step. Use the free ToolHQ redirect checker to trace any URL's redirect chain instantly.
A redirect checker is a network tool that makes an HTTP request to a URL, follows every redirect response, and reports the complete chain of URLs and status codes from the initial request to the final destination.
Redirects are invisible to most users. A visitor clicks a link, the page loads, and they see the destination. Behind the scenes, the browser may have followed three redirects and traveled through two domains. That chain matters for SEO: each redirect costs a small fraction of link equity, multiple redirects slow page load time, and redirect loops trap crawlers. Checking the chain manually requires developer tools or command-line knowledge. A redirect checker does it in one paste.
Key takeaways
- Shows every hop in the redirect chain: URL, HTTP status code, and redirect type at each step
- Identifies 301 (permanent), 302 (temporary), 307, and 308 redirects correctly
- Detects redirect loops that would trap search engine crawlers
- Only the URL you enter is queried, no personal data is stored
- Free, instant, no account required
What URL redirects are and why the chain matters
When a web server returns a 3xx HTTP status code, it instructs the browser (or any HTTP client, including search engine crawlers) to request a different URL. The most common redirect types are:
- 301 Moved Permanently: the resource has moved to a new URL indefinitely. Search engines transfer ranking signals (link equity) from the old URL to the new one. This is the correct redirect type for permanent URL changes.
- 302 Found (Temporary): the resource is temporarily at a different URL. Search engines do not transfer link equity. Use this only for genuinely temporary moves.
- 307 Temporary Redirect: like 302 but requires the HTTP method to remain the same (a POST request stays a POST). Rarely needed for standard website redirects.
- 308 Permanent Redirect: like 301 but requires the HTTP method to remain the same.
The HTTP redirect documentation from MDN and RFC 9110 (HTTP Semantics) define these status codes and their intended behavior.
Why chains matter for SEO and performance. Each redirect hop adds a network round-trip. A page with three redirects takes measurably longer to load than one with zero or one. For SEO, the Google Search Central documentation confirms that a chain of 301 redirects passes link equity through the chain, but consolidating to a single redirect from source to destination is the recommended practice.
A redirect checker shows you where unnecessary hops exist (such as HTTP redirecting to HTTPS, then to www, then to the actual page), where 302 is being used when 301 should be, and whether a redirect loop exists.
When a redirect checker is essential
After a site migration. Moving a site to a new domain or restructuring URLs is the most common reason to check redirects. Every old URL should redirect to the correct new URL with a single 301. The checker confirms each URL is doing what you intend.
After setting up HTTPS. When implementing HTTPS, HTTP should redirect to HTTPS in one hop. Misconfigured servers sometimes create chains: HTTP redirects to HTTP www, then to HTTPS www, then to HTTPS without www. That is three hops where one would do.
When debugging a 404 error. A reported 404 may be the final destination of a broken redirect chain. The checker reveals whether the URL ever redirects before failing, helping you trace the cause.
When auditing backlinks or old content. Old content linked from external sites may redirect through multiple hops. The checker reveals the current destination and whether the redirect chain is efficient.
Before removing or changing a redirect. If a redirect has been in place for years, checking where it sends traffic before removing it prevents accidentally breaking links that are still sending visitors.
Mini-story: Alex, a 35-year-old SEO specialist in Amsterdam, was working with a client who had recently migrated their site and noticed crawl depth was unusually high for their new URLs. He spot-checked several URLs using the redirect checker and found a consistent pattern: the HTTP version redirected to www, which redirected to HTTPS, which redirected to the non-www HTTPS version, and then to the final URL. That was four hops where one (HTTP to final HTTPS) should have sufficed. He worked with the development team to collapse each chain to a single redirect. Googlebot crawled the site 40% more efficiently the following month.
How to use the redirect checker: step by step
Enter the URL. Paste the full URL you want to check. Include
http://orhttps://since both may behave differently at the start of a redirect chain.Run the check. The tool sends an HTTP request to the URL and follows each redirect response, recording each hop.
Review the redirect chain. The output lists each URL in the chain, its HTTP status code, and the URL it redirected to. The final row shows the destination URL and its status code (typically 200 OK for a successfully resolved page).
Identify issues. Look for: more than two hops (indicates chain optimization opportunity), 302 where 301 is expected (may affect link equity transfer), 307/308 being used unnecessarily, any loop (the chain cycles back to a URL already in the chain).
Fix and re-check. After adjusting server redirects or.htaccess rules, run the URL through the checker again to confirm the change is live.
Tips for managing redirects well
Consolidate redirect chains to one hop. A URL that redirects three times should ideally redirect once. Update the server configuration to point directly from the original URL to the final destination. This improves page load speed and passes link equity cleanly.
Use 301 for permanent changes. When a URL moves permanently, use a 301 (not a 302). 302s are for temporary situations. Miscategorizing a permanent redirect as temporary means search engines do not pass link equity and may continue to index the old URL.
Document your redirects. Keep a record of all active redirects and their creation date. Without documentation, teams routinely add new redirects without knowing a chain already exists, creating accidental multi-hop chains.
Check both HTTP and HTTPS versions. If your site has HTTPS, the HTTP version of any URL should redirect to the HTTPS version in a single hop. Check both to ensure the HTTP version of your most important URLs redirects correctly.
Mini-story: Priya, a 29-year-old content editor at a media company in Singapore, had been noticing that some of their older articles were not getting crawled as often as newer ones. She ran a sample of their top linked old URLs through the redirect checker. She found that three of them had been redirected twice: once during a CMS platform change two years ago, and once again during a domain consolidation six months ago. The combined chains had two unnecessary hops. She submitted a fix request to the technical team to collapse each to a single redirect pointing directly to the current canonical URL.
The redirect checker complements the SSL checker for a complete URL health check. The broken link checker finds URLs that return 404 errors rather than redirecting at all.
Frequently asked questions
What is a redirect?
A redirect is an HTTP response from a server that tells the browser to go to a different URL instead. The browser (or crawler) follows the redirect automatically. Redirects are used when URLs change, when HTTP traffic needs to move to HTTPS, or when duplicate URLs need to be consolidated.
What is the difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect?
A 301 (Moved Permanently) indicates the resource has permanently moved. Search engines transfer link equity and update their index. A 302 (Found/Temporary) indicates a temporary move and search engines do not transfer equity or update the old URL from their index.
How many redirects are too many?
More than two redirects in a chain is worth investigating. Google recommends keeping chains short. A chain of five or more hops creates measurable latency and may cause Googlebot to stop following the chain before reaching the final destination.
What is a redirect loop?
A redirect loop occurs when a URL in a redirect chain eventually redirects back to a URL already in the chain, creating an infinite cycle. Browsers display a "page not found" or "too many redirects" error. Redirect loops prevent any client from reaching the destination and are typically caused by misconfigured server rules.
What are meta refresh and JavaScript redirects, and how do they differ from server redirects?
Server-side redirects (301, 302, 307, 308) are the recommended approach: the server returns a 3xx response and the client follows immediately. Two alternatives exist that behave differently. A meta refresh redirect uses an HTML tag (<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;url=https://example.com">) placed in the <head> of a page. The browser loads the original page first, reads the meta tag, and then navigates to the new URL. Google can follow meta refresh redirects and typically treats a 0-second delay as equivalent to a 301, but it is slower than a server-side redirect and can cause a brief visible flash. A JavaScript redirect uses client-side script (window.location = "url") to navigate. Search engines can follow JavaScript redirects but they are less reliable than server-side ones, may not be followed at all by older crawlers, and depend on JavaScript being rendered correctly. For SEO purposes, server-side 301 redirects are always preferable. Use meta refresh only when you have no server access. Avoid JavaScript-only redirects for important URL moves.
Is my URL stored when I use the checker?
Only the URL you enter is queried to trace its redirect chain. No personal data is collected or stored.
The short version
A redirect checker follows a URL through every hop and reports the full chain with HTTP status codes at each step. ToolHQ's free tool detects unnecessary chains, wrong redirect types, and loops, giving you actionable information in one paste.
Run it after any site change that involves URL moves, HTTPS implementation, or server configuration updates.
For a complete site health picture, pair with the SSL checker and broken link checker. Browse all network tools on ToolHQ.