Redirect Checker
Free redirect checker. Trace the full redirect path of any URL, see 301 vs 302 status codes, and spot redirect chains and loops. Instant results, no signup.
Trace exactly where a URL sends visitors and search engines. Our free redirect checker follows the full redirect path, shows each hop with its status code (301, 302, 307, and more), and flags chains and loops that slow your site and dilute link equity.
Follows up to ten hops, showing every status code, destination and response time, plus the response headers of the final URL.
How to use the Redirect Checker
- Paste the URL you want to trace.
- Click “Check Redirects.”
- See every hop in the chain with its status code and final destination.
How clean redirects protect your rankings
A single clean 301 passes almost all link equity, but redirect chains (URL A → B → C) and loops waste crawl budget, slow page loads, and can lose authority along the way. Checking redirects helps you keep migrations clean, confirm 301s resolve correctly, and eliminate unnecessary hops.
Status codes that matter
- 200, the destination resolved. This is what a clean URL should return in one hop.
- 301, permanent. Use this for anything you have moved for good; it consolidates signals to the target.
- 302 / 307, temporary. Search engines keep the original URL indexed, which is almost never what you want for a permanent move.
- 308, permanent, method-preserving. Fine for POST-heavy endpoints.
- 404 / 410, the chain ends nowhere. Every link pointing here is wasted.
- 5xx, server error at the destination.
What a single clean hop gains you
Each additional hop adds latency for users, consumes crawl budget, and gives you another link in a chain that can break later. Two hops is tolerable; five means nobody has cleaned up after the last two migrations. Point the original URL directly at the final destination and delete the intermediate rules.
Common problems this finds
- http → https → www → trailing slash, four hops where one would do. Normalise in a single rule.
- 302 used for a permanent move, the old URL stays indexed and the new one struggles.
- Redirect loops, usually a conflict between server config and a plugin or CDN rule.
- Redirect to the homepage, treated as a soft 404 and passes almost nothing.
- Geo or device redirects, the crawler can be sent somewhere you never intended.
Reading the headers
The final response headers tell you more than most people check: x-robots-tag can carry a noindex that never appears in the HTML, cache-control reveals whether a CDN is caching the page, content-type confirms the encoding, and server plus cf-cache-status show what is actually serving the response.
Use it during migrations
Before go-live, run your redirect map through this against staging. After go-live, re-run your top 50 URLs by traffic and links. Migrations rarely fail because of one big mistake; they fail because of fifty small redirects that resolve into chains, loops or the homepage.
Key features
- Full redirect-path tracing
- 301 vs. 302 detection
- Chain and loop warnings
- Header and status-code view
- Free, no login
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between 301 and 302?
301 is permanent and passes SEO value; 302 is temporary and is best avoided for permanent moves.
Are redirect chains bad?
Yes. Keep redirects to a single hop where possible to preserve speed and equity.
Can I check HTTPS and www redirects?
Yes, the tool traces protocol and hostname redirects too.
Related free tools
301 Redirect Map Generator · Broken Link Checker · Google Index Checker. See all of our free SEO tools.
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