---
title: Redirect Checker — Trace Every Hop & Status Code
url: https://varstatt.com/toolkit/redirects
description: Trace a URL's redirect chain hop by hop: status codes, timing, loops and what to fix.
section: Developer Toolkit (https://varstatt.com/toolkit)
tags: seo, network
related: Redirects (https://varstatt.com/toolkit/redirects), OG (https://varstatt.com/toolkit/og), Robots (https://varstatt.com/toolkit/robots), Sitemap (https://varstatt.com/toolkit/sitemap), SSL (https://varstatt.com/toolkit/ssl)
---
# Redirect Checker

Trace a URL's redirect chain hop by hop: status codes, timing, loops and what to fix.

## How It Works

1. **Enter a URL** — Type a page address like example.com/old-page. If you leave out the protocol, https is assumed.
2. **Follow the chain** — The tool requests the URL and follows each redirect, up to 10 hops, without downloading the pages. Every hop shows its status code and response time.
3. **Read the notes** — Notes flag temporary redirects, long chains, loops and a final URL that errors, and say what each hop changes: http to https, www, or a trailing slash.

## FAQ

### What is the difference between a 301 and a 302?

A 301 (and its modern twin, 308) says the page has moved for good: search engines pass the old URL's signals to the new one. A 302 (and 307) says the move is temporary, so search engines may keep the old URL indexed. Use 301 or 308 for permanent changes.

### How many redirects is too many?

One is normal, such as http to https. Two or more is a chain: each hop adds a round trip and spends crawl budget. Google follows up to 10 hops, but redirecting the first URL straight to the final one is faster and safer.

### What is a redirect loop?

Two or more rules that send a URL back to a URL already visited, such as /a to /b to /a. Browsers show 'too many redirects' and the page never loads. The checker stops at the repeated URL and marks it.

### Does it download the pages?

No. It reads each response's status and headers and drops the body. Only public http and https addresses on standard web ports can be checked, so private and local addresses are refused.

### Why does my browser show a different result?

Redirects can depend on cookies, language, device or login, and a browser may remember a 301 from earlier. This tool sends a clean request with no cookies. To check a link's tags first, build it with the [UTM builder](https://varstatt.com/toolkit/utm).

## Usage

This tool runs entirely in the browser — visit the URL above to use it.

Prefill inputs via URL parameters:

- `https://varstatt.com/toolkit/redirects?url=...`

## Related Tools

- [Redirects](https://varstatt.com/toolkit/redirects)
- [OG](https://varstatt.com/toolkit/og)
- [Robots](https://varstatt.com/toolkit/robots)
- [Sitemap](https://varstatt.com/toolkit/sitemap)
- [SSL](https://varstatt.com/toolkit/ssl)