Redirect checker: follow any URL to where it really ends
Enter an address. This free redirect checker follows it hop by hop, with the status code of each redirect (301, 302, 307, 308) and the page it finally reaches. Then it follows the four ways people type the domain — http or https, with or without www — and tells you whether they all land on one address in one permanent redirect.
Free, no account. One address per scan; redirects to another domain are shown, not followed. Results are kept for 24 hours and shared for the same address; up to 5 scans every 10 minutes and 20 a day.
Where a redirect goes wrong
Every hop, with its code
Each redirect in the chain, its status code and where it points, down to the page at the end and the code that page answers with.
Loops and endless chains
An address that redirects back to itself, or past ten hops. Browsers show an error, and Google Search Console reports it as "Redirect error".
Redirects onto an error
A redirect that ends on a 404 or a server error, or on an address with a broken certificate: the visitor follows it and lands on nothing.
Chains and temporary codes
More than one redirect where one would do, and a temporary 302 or 307 on a page that moved for good, which keeps its ranking from passing on.
http, https, www and the bare domain
All four ways of typing the domain should reach the same address in one permanent redirect. Two that end on different addresses split the site in two for search engines.
Deep links and the canonical tag
A deep link sent through the domain's redirects should keep its path and query, and the homepage's canonical tag should agree with where the redirects end.
What one scan can't tell you
The checker follows the address you enter and the domain's four main addresses. It doesn't crawl the site, so an old URL elsewhere that redirects badly only shows up if you enter it. A redirect to another domain is shown but not followed: Relvato only requests addresses on the site you entered.
It sees the redirects the server sends. A redirect made in JavaScript or with a meta refresh happens in the browser after the page loads, and doesn't show up here as a hop. Some sites also redirect by country, language or device, so a visitor elsewhere can get a different chain.
And it's one moment. Redirects break where nobody looks: a CDN or hosting setting, a DNS change, an SEO or redirect plugin update. Relvato's Redirects monitor follows your addresses again on a schedule and after WordPress, theme and plugin updates, and alerts you by email, Slack or webhook when a loop, a chain or a second address appears.
Questions, answered
What's the difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect?
A 301 (or 308) says the page has moved for good, so search engines move its ranking to the new address. A 302 (or 307) says the move is temporary, so they keep the old address in their index. Use 301 or 308 for a page that has moved; a temporary code is right for a short-term change, a login gate or a language choice.
How many redirects are too many?
One is enough. Browsers and Google follow a few without breaking, so two redirects is a warning, not a failure. But every extra hop costs time and is one more place for a redirect to go wrong. Google stops following after about ten, which this checker reports as an endless chain.
Why does Search Console show "Redirect error"?
Usually a loop, or a chain too long to finish, at the moment Google crawled. Enter the address from the report here to see the chain it follows. If it's clean now, the problem may have been fixed since, or may come and go with a CDN or plugin setting.
Should my site use www or not?
Either works, as long as you pick one. The other address, and both http versions, should redirect straight to it with one permanent redirect, and the homepage's canonical tag should name the same address.
What happens to the addresses I check?
Relvato makes a few ordinary requests to the address and the domain's four main addresses, only ever on that site, and keeps the result for 24 hours so the same address isn't checked again. Nothing else about the scan is stored.
Know when a redirect starts going in circles.
Relvato's Redirects monitor repeats this scan on your domain after WordPress, theme and plugin updates and on a schedule, on any website. On every plan, Free included: on Free you run it yourself or weekly; Pro also re-runs it after updates.