HTTP status and redirect checker

See what an address answers and every redirect on the way: each hop, its status code and where it sends you next.

This tool needs JavaScript to send the address and show the answer. From a command line, curl -sIL followed by the address prints the same chain.

What it shows

When you open an address, the server answers with a status code. A code in the 300s is a redirect: it names another address, and the browser goes there and asks again. This tool makes the same requests and lists each one, so you can see the whole path and where it ends.

Reading the result

200 at the end means the page was served.
301 and 308 are permanent redirects. Search engines treat the new address as the page's address from then on. Use one of these when a page has moved for good.
302 and 307 are temporary. Use one of these only when the old address will come back.
404 means nothing is at that address. If the page exists in WordPress, see how to fix 404 errors on posts and pages that exist.
403 means the server refused. See how to fix the 403 Forbidden error.
A code in the 500s means the server failed. See how to fix the 500 internal server error.

What a good chain looks like

One redirect, or none. Each extra hop is another round trip before the page starts to load. A common long chain goes from http to https, then to www, then to a new path. Point the first address straight at the last one instead.

After a site moves to a new address, check a few old addresses here. How to change your WordPress URL covers the redirects a move needs.

What it does with the address you type

This tool is different from the others here: it cannot work in your browser alone. The address you type is sent to our server, which requests it and reports what came back. We do not keep the address.

To stop the tool being misused, we count how many checks come from one visitor. The count is kept under a scrambled form of your IP address, which cannot be turned back into it.

What it will not check

Addresses that are not on the public internet, such as a site on your own computer or inside an office network.
IP addresses, addresses with a port number, and addresses with a username or password in them.
The page itself. Only the status and the redirect are read. The content is not downloaded.

Common questions

Why does it show a different result from my browser?

Your browser may be using a redirect it remembered from before, or a cookie that changes what the server does. This tool asks fresh, with no cookies and nothing remembered, which is what a first-time visitor or a search engine gets.

It says the redirects go in a circle. What causes that?

Two rules that undo each other: one sends http to https and another sends it back, or the address saved in WordPress disagrees with a rule on the server or at a service in front of it. Find the two addresses that repeat in the list; the rules that produce them are the ones to compare.

Can I check a page that needs a login?

Not past the login. The tool sends no cookies, so it sees what a visitor who is not logged in sees, which is usually a redirect to the login page.

How many addresses can I check?

Enough for ordinary use. There is a limit for each visitor in an hour and in a day, and the tool says so when it is reached.

Redirects not doing what you expect?

Tell us the address and what should happen. We reply with the cause and a fixed quote, and the diagnosis is free.

Get a free diagnosis