HTTP Redirect Chain Checker
Trace the full redirect chain for any URL with our free HTTP Redirect Chain Checker. Follow each redirect hop one by one - see every 301, 302, 307, and 308 status code, the Location header URL, and the response time for each step. Automatically detects redirect loops and truncates excessively long chains. Essential for SEO audits, security investigations, and debugging website redirect configurations. No signup required.
Enter a URL to trace the full redirect chain. The tool follows each redirect hop (301, 302, 307, 308) one by one, showing the status code, Location header, and timing for each step. Detects redirect loops and truncates excessively long chains.
Enter a URL to trace its redirect chain (https:// is added automatically if missing)
The tool sends sequential HEAD requests with redirect: "manual" to prevent the browser from automatically following redirects. Each hop manually reads the Locationheader and follows it. Visited URLs are tracked to detect redirect loops. All requests run directly from your browser - no server proxy is used. Some servers may block HEAD requests or have CORS restrictions that prevent certain hops from being traced.
Why Use Our HTTP Redirect Chain Checker?
Full Redirect Chain Tracing
Trace every redirect hop from the original URL to the final destination. Each hop shows the HTTP status code (301, 302, 307, 308), response time, and the Location header URL. See the complete path your URL takes across the web.
Redirect Loop Detection
Automatically detect redirect loops by tracking all visited URLs. If a URL is visited more than once in the chain, the tool immediately terminates the check and reports the loop. Prevents infinite redirect chains that would never resolve.
Per-Hop Timing & Performance Insights
Each redirect hop includes precise response time measurements so you can identify slow redirects, performance bottlenecks, and latency issues. See total chain time and individual hop timings for comprehensive performance analysis.
Secure Browser-Based Redirect Checker
All redirect chain tracing happens entirely in your browser. URLs are never sent to our servers. The tool sends HEAD requests directly from your browser with redirect: "manual" to intercept and follow each hop. No signup, no data collection, no server proxy.
Common Use Cases for HTTP Redirect Chain Checker
SEO Redirect Audit
Audit your website's redirect chains to ensure search engines can efficiently crawl and index your pages. Long redirect chains waste crawl budget and dilute PageRank. Identify unnecessary redirects, broken chains, and non-optimized redirect paths that hurt your SEO performance.
Security & Phishing Investigation
Investigate suspicious URLs by tracing their full redirect chain. See where shortened URLs, obfuscated links, and redirect services ultimately lead before clicking. Our HTTP redirect chain checker reveals the true destination of any URL, helping identify phishing attempts and malicious redirects.
URL Shortener Resolution
Trace URL shortener links (bit.ly, t.co, ow.ly, tinyurl.com, etc.) to find their true destination. See every intermediate redirect hop and verify where shortened links actually lead before sharing or clicking them.
Redirect Configuration Debugging
Debug misconfigured redirects in your web server, CDN, or application. Identify circular redirects, incorrect status codes (using 302 when 301 is needed), broken Location headers, and redirect chains that end in 404 errors instead of the intended destination.
HTTP to HTTPS Migration Verification
After migrating your website from HTTP to HTTPS, use the redirect chain checker to verify that all URL variants (http://, https://, with/without www) correctly redirect to the canonical HTTPS URL. Detect mixed-content redirects and ensure a seamless migration with proper 301 redirects.
CDN & Hosting Redirect Performance
Analyze the performance impact of redirects added by CDNs, load balancers, and hosting platforms. Measure per-hop response times to identify slow redirects and optimize your infrastructure for faster page loads and better user experience.
Understanding HTTP Redirect Chains
What is an HTTP Redirect Chain?
An HTTP redirect chain is a sequence of HTTP redirects that occurs when a URL redirects to another URL, which then redirects to another, and so on, until a final destination is reached. Each step in the chain is called a redirect hop and is identified by a 3xx status code (301, 302, 303, 307, or 308) along with a Location header pointing to the next URL. Redirect chains are common on the web - for example, http://example.com might redirect to https://example.com, which might redirect to https://www.example.com. While single redirects are usually harmless, long redirect chains can significantly impact page load times and SEO performance.
How Our HTTP Redirect Chain Checker Works
- Enter a URL: Type any URL (with or without https://) and click "Check Redirect Chain". We automatically add https:// if no protocol is specified and send an HTTP HEAD request with
redirect: "manual"to intercept all redirects manually. - Follow Redirects: If the server responds with a 3xx status code and a Location header, we record the hop and send a new request to the redirected URL. This process repeats until we get a non-redirect response, detect a loop (same URL visited twice), or exceed the maximum hop limit.
- Analyze the Chain: Each hop is displayed with its status code, Location header, and response time. The tool shows the total number of redirects, total chain time, and the final destination URL. Redirect loops and truncated chains are clearly flagged with detailed explanations.
Redirect Status Codes Explained
- 301 Moved Permanently: The resource has been permanently moved. Search engines update their indexes to the new URL. Browsers cache this redirect and skip the server on subsequent requests. Use for permanent URL changes.
- 302 Found (Temporary Redirect): The resource is temporarily at a different URL. Search engines keep indexing the original URL. Browsers do NOT cache this redirect. Use for temporary maintenance or A/B testing.
- 303 See Other: The response is available at a different URL and should be retrieved using GET. Commonly used in POST-Redirect-GET (PRG) patterns after form submissions to prevent duplicate submissions on refresh.
- 307 Temporary Redirect: Like 302, but guarantees that the HTTP method and request body are NOT changed when following the redirect. Important for API endpoints where POST data must be preserved.
- 308 Permanent Redirect: Like 301, but guarantees that the HTTP method and request body are NOT changed. The permanent version of 307. Use when permanently moving API endpoints that receive POST requests.
Privacy, Security & Limitations
Our HTTP Redirect Chain Checker sends all requests directly from your browser to the target servers. We do not proxy, store, log, or process any URL checks on our servers. The tool is 100% free with no signup, no account, and no usage limits. All redirect tracing and analysis happens client-side in your browser.
Important limitations: Some servers block HEAD requests, which may cause redirect checks to fail even though the URL is accessible in a regular browser. CORS restrictions can also prevent the browser from reading Location headers on cross-origin redirects. In these cases, the tool will report the error and stop the chain at that point. For accurate results, test URLs that are publicly accessible without authentication or geolocation restrictions.
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Frequently Asked Questions About HTTP Redirect Chain Checker
An HTTP redirect chain checker is a tool that traces the full path a URL takes through multiple redirects before reaching its final destination. Each redirect hop is shown with its HTTP status code (301, 302, 307, 308), the Location header URL, and the response time. The tool detects redirect loops and truncated chains, making it essential for SEO audits, security investigations, and debugging website redirect configurations.
Enter a URL and click "Check Redirect Chain". The tool sends sequential HEAD requests with redirect: "manual" to intercept each redirect manually. When a server responds with a 3xx status code and a Location header, the tool records the hop and sends a new request to the redirected URL. This repeats until a non-redirect response is received, a redirect loop is detected (same URL visited twice), or the maximum number of hops is exceeded. All requests run directly from your browser - no server proxy is used.
Long redirect chains hurt website performance and SEO. Each redirect hop adds HTTP round-trip time, and browsers and search engines must follow each redirect sequentially - they cannot skip ahead. For SEO, long chains waste crawl budget, dilute PageRank through multiple redirects, and can cause search engines to miss the final page entirely. Google recommends keeping redirect chains to a maximum of 3 hops. Every additional hop beyond the first adds latency and increases the risk of failure.
A 301 (Moved Permanently) tells search engines and browsers that the resource has permanently moved to a new URL. Search engines update their indexes to the new URL, and browsers cache this redirect for future requests. A 302 (Found) indicates a temporary move - search engines keep indexing the original URL, and browsers do not cache the redirect. For permanent URL changes like HTTP to HTTPS migration or domain changes, use 301. For temporary maintenance or A/B testing, use 302.
The tool maintains a set of all URLs visited during the redirect chain check. Before following each redirect hop, the tool checks if the current URL has already been visited. If a URL appears twice in the chain, a redirect loop is detected and the check is immediately terminated. The tool clearly reports which URL caused the loop and shows all hops leading up to it. This prevents infinite redirects and helps you diagnose circular redirect configurations.
Some servers block HEAD requests (the method used by our tool) or have CORS restrictions that prevent cross-origin requests from reading response headers. Additionally, firewalls, DDoS protection services (like Cloudflare), and WAFs may block requests that appear to come from automated tools. If a URL is accessible in your regular browser but fails in our tool, the server may be blocking the HEAD method or rejecting cross-origin requests. Try the URL in a regular browser to confirm it's accessible.
No. All redirect chain checks run directly from your browser to the target servers. We do not proxy, store, log, or process any URL checks on our servers. The URL you enter and the redirect chain results stay completely private on your device. No data is sent to our servers at any point.
Yes! Our HTTP Redirect Chain Checker is 100% free with no signup, no account, no API key, and no usage limits. Check the redirect chain for any URL as many times as you need - completely free, forever. All processing happens in your browser, so there are no server costs to pass on to users.