What this checks
Starting from the URL you enter, the checker follows each redirect one hop at a time and records every step: the URL visited, the HTTP status it returned, and where it pointed next. It keeps going until it reaches a page that doesn't redirect, hits a loop, or reaches the 10-hop safety limit. The result is the full path from your starting URL to wherever it finally lands.
Each hop shows a status badge coloured by kind — permanent redirects (301, 308) in grey, temporary ones (302, 307) in amber, a successful final page in green, and errors in red. The destination URL is shown as plain text. A long chain is capped for readability with a "show all" toggle.
How to read the results
Read the chain top to bottom: the first row is the URL you submitted, each following row is where the previous one sent the browser, and the last row is the final destination. A clean chain ends on a 2xx. If the trace stopped early — a loop, the hop limit, an unreachable hop, or a blocked private address — a panel above the chain explains why. Watch for an insecure downgrade badge: it marks a hop that dropped from HTTPS back to plain HTTP, which briefly exposes the request.
Redirect problems to watch for
- 301 vs 302, and SEO. A 301 is permanent — search engines pass ranking signals to the target and remember the move. A 302 is temporary — the original URL keeps its authority. Use 302 by mistake for a permanent move and you can quietly hold back the new URL's SEO.
- Chains that are too long. Every hop is another round trip before the page starts loading. Two or three is normal; five or more is worth collapsing, especially on mobile networks where each round trip is expensive.
- HTTPS→HTTP downgrades. A hop that drops back to plain HTTP exposes that request to interception, even if the chain later returns to HTTPS. The checker flags these with a badge.
- Loops and dead ends. A chain that redirects back to a URL it already visited never resolves; one that ends on a 4xx or 5xx lands on an error page. Both are flagged.
FAQ
301 vs 302 — which should I use?
Use a 301 for a permanent move — the old URL is gone for good and you want search engines to transfer its ranking to the new one. Use a 302 (or 307) only when the redirect is genuinely temporary, like an A/B test or a maintenance page, and you want the original URL to keep its authority. When in doubt for a real site move, it's a 301.
How many redirects is too many?
One or two is fine and often unavoidable (HTTP→HTTPS, apex→www). Beyond three, each extra hop adds a round trip that delays the page for no benefit, and browsers give up entirely after about twenty. If your chain is long, look for hops you can collapse into a single direct redirect.
Why does my chain end at a 4xx?
It means a redirect pointed at a URL that doesn't serve — a 404 (the target no longer exists), a 403 (forbidden), or a 410 (gone). The redirect itself works; its destination is the problem. Check the final hop's URL and confirm that page is actually meant to be reachable.
Do redirect chains slow my site down?
Yes, measurably. Each hop is a separate request-and-response before the real page can even begin loading, and the cost is highest on high-latency mobile connections. Collapsing a multi-hop chain into one direct redirect is one of the simplest speed wins available.