How to Check URL Redirects

You set up a redirect. Maybe you moved a page, maybe you migrated domains, maybe you fixed a broken link. Now you need to verify it actually works — and works correctly.

Here are four ways to check URL redirects, from quick manual checks to automated monitoring.

Method 1: Browser Developer Tools

The fastest way to check a single redirect. No tools needed.

Method 2: cURL Command Line

cURL gives you the most control and the clearest output. It is the tool of choice for developers.

curl -sIL "https://example.com/old-page" 2>&1 | grep -E "^(HTTP/|location:)" -i

This shows every status code and Location header in the redirect chain. The flags:

• -s — silent mode, no progress bar
• -I — fetch headers only (HEAD request)
• -L — follow redirects automatically

For the full redirect trace with response times:

curl -w "time_total: %{time_total}s\n" -sIL "https://example.com/old-page"

Method 3: Online Redirect Checker Tools

When you need a quick check without opening a terminal, online tools work. Paste a URL, get the redirect chain.

Most free tools check one URL at a time. That is fine for spot checks, but falls apart when you need to verify dozens or hundreds of URLs after a migration.

Method 4: Automated Redirect Monitoring

Checking once is not enough. Redirects break. Server configs change. SSL certificates expire. Plugins update.

Automated monitoring catches problems before your users do. Set up recurring checks on your critical redirect URLs, and get alerted when:

• A redirect chain gets longer (added hops)
• A status code changes (301 becomes 302, or worse, 404)
• A redirect loop appears
• Response time degrades

This matters most after site migrations, CMS updates, and CDN configuration changes.

Which Method Should You Use?

Common Problems to Watch For

Redirect chains: Multiple hops from A to B to C. Each hop costs 50-200ms of latency and dilutes link equity for SEO. Flatten them.

Mixed protocol redirects: http:// to http://www. to https://www. — that is three requests before any content loads. Redirect directly to the canonical HTTPS URL.

Soft 404s: The URL returns a 200 status code but shows a "page not found" message. This is not a redirect problem per se, but redirect checkers can reveal when your redirects land on these.

Expired or changed redirects: A redirect that worked last month might point to a page that has since moved again. Regular monitoring catches these cascading failures.

Checking Redirects at Scale

If you are checking more than a handful of URLs — say, after a site migration — you need a bulk approach. Export your URL list, feed it to cURL in a loop or use a crawling tool, and verify every redirect resolves to the correct final destination with the correct status code.

while IFS= read -r url; do
  final=$(curl -sIL -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code} %{url_effective}" "$url")
  echo "$url -> $final"
done < urls.txt

This prints each original URL and its final status code plus destination. Pipe it to a file and diff against your expected results.

---

Every broken redirect is a lost visitor. Check yours before they do.