Redirect Checker (301/302)

Trace the full redirect chain and status codes for any URL.

100% Free · No Sign-up · Runs in Your Browser

About the Redirect Checker (301/302)

When a URL redirects to another URL — which itself might redirect again — search engines and browsers follow that entire chain before reaching the final destination. Long or broken redirect chains slow down page loads and can dilute SEO value. This Redirect Checker traces the complete chain for any URL, showing every hop, its status code, and the final destination.

This tool is useful for SEO specialists auditing a site migration for redirect issues, developers debugging why a link isn't working as expected, and webmasters verifying that old URLs correctly forward to their new locations after a site restructuring.

To use it, enter any URL and click "Check Redirects." Because browsers restrict direct cross-origin requests for security reasons, this check runs through a small server-side API that fetches the URL's headers on your behalf and follows each redirect step, reporting the status code (301, 302, 307, 308) and destination URL at every hop until it reaches a final 200 OK response or an error.

For example, checking an old blog URL might reveal: Step 1: https://example.com/old-post → 301 → https://example.com/blog/old-post, Step 2: https://example.com/blog/old-post → 200 OK — showing a clean, single-hop permanent redirect, which is exactly what you want for preserving SEO value from the original URL.

A common issue this tool surfaces is redirect chains that are too long (three or more hops), which search engines may not fully follow and which noticeably slow down the user's page load — whenever possible, update internal links and old redirects to point directly to the final destination rather than chaining through multiple intermediate URLs. Another frequent problem is finding a 302 (temporary) redirect where a 301 (permanent) should be used for a page that has permanently moved, since this affects how much ranking signal is passed to the new URL.

Tip: after any major site migration, systematically check your most important legacy URLs with this tool to confirm they all resolve with a single 301 redirect to their correct new destination, rather than assuming your migration script worked correctly for every single URL.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q.Why can't this run entirely in my browser?

Browsers block direct cross-origin header inspection for security (CORS), so a lightweight server-side check is used to fetch and follow redirects on your behalf.

Q.What's the difference between 301 and 302 in a redirect chain?

301 signals a permanent move and passes most ranking signals to the new URL; 302 signals a temporary move and search engines generally keep indexing the original URL.

Q.How many redirect hops is too many?

Ideally 0-1. Chains of 3 or more hops slow down page loads and may not be fully followed by all crawlers.

Q.Can this tool check any website, not just my own?

Yes, you can check the redirect chain of any publicly accessible URL.

Q.Does it check HTTPS and HTTP separately?

Yes, enter the exact URL including protocol; check both http:// and https:// versions if you want to confirm your HTTPS redirect is correctly configured.

Related Tools