Redirect & Indexability Checker
Enter a URL. The checker follows every redirect, shows each status code, then tests the final page the way Google's indexing does: robots.txt, noindex, canonical and soft 404 signs.
- Free, no sign-up
- Full redirect chain
- robots.txt, noindex, canonical
- Nothing is stored
How to use the redirect checker
- Enter the URL exactly as people or links reach it, including the old
http://version or a URL without the trailing slash if that is what's linked. - Read the chain. Each line is one request: its status code and URL. The last line is the page that finally loads.
- Read the verdict. Problems that stop indexing come first, then things to check, then notes. Each links to the matching Search Console status in our guide.
- Fix and check again. After a change, test both the old and the new URL.
What each status code means for Google
| Code | Meaning | What Google does |
|---|---|---|
| 200 | OK | Can index the page |
| 301, 308 | Permanent redirect | Follows it and treats the target as the URL to index |
| 302, 303, 307 | Temporary redirect | Follows it, but the old URL may stay in search |
| 404, 410 | Not found, gone | Drops the URL over time; fine for removed pages |
| 401, 403 | Login required, forbidden | Can't access the page |
| 5xx | Server error | Retries later; repeated errors slow crawling of the site |
Google prefers server-side redirects. It also reads an instant meta refresh as a permanent redirect and a delayed one as temporary, and it may follow JavaScript redirects if rendering succeeds, but those are less reliable. The checker flags a meta refresh when it finds one.
Redirect chains
A chain is a redirect that leads to another redirect. The typical one after a site move:
http://example.com/page → https://example.com/page → https://www.example.com/page → https://www.example.com/page/
Each step works, but every hop is another request for crawlers and visitors. Google's crawlers follow up to 10 redirect hops; longer chains and loops end as “Redirect error” in Search Console. Fix chains in two places:
- Server rules: make the first redirect go straight to the final URL (protocol, host and trailing slash in one step).
- Internal links, sitemaps and canonicals: point them at the final URL, so most visits need no redirect at all.
What else the checker tests
- robots.txt: whether Googlebot may crawl the final URL, and which line decides. Our robots.txt tester shows the same for AI crawlers.
- noindex: in a robots meta tag, a googlebot meta tag or the
X-Robots-TagHTTP header. - Canonical: whether the page names itself or another URL, in the HTML or a
Linkheader, and whether there are several conflicting tags. - Soft 404 signs: a success code on a page whose title or heading says “not found”, or with almost no text.
Limits
The checker requests the page as a regular crawler and reads the HTML the server sends, without running JavaScript. A firewall that treats Googlebot differently, or content and tags added by JavaScript, can change what Google sees. URL Inspection in Search Console shows Google's own view of the page.
A clean result doesn't guarantee indexing. “Crawled – currently not indexed” and “Discovered – currently not indexed” are decisions about quality and crawl priority; the guide covers what to do about them.
Redirect checker FAQ
Every hop from the URL you enter to the page that finally loads, with the status code of each: 301, 302, 307, 308, then 200 or an error. It then checks the final page the way Google's indexing does: robots.txt, noindex in the HTML and in the X-Robots-Tag header, the canonical tag, and signs of a soft 404.
For a permanent move, 301 or 308. Google treats them as a strong signal that the target should be the indexed URL. Temporary redirects (302, 303, 307) don't move that signal, so the old URL can stay in search. Use them only when the redirect really will be reverted.
A chain of two or three hops still works, but each hop costs crawl time and adds a point of failure. Long chains or loops end as “Redirect error” in Search Console. Link to the final URL directly and point old redirects straight at it.
A URL check sees technical blockers: status codes, robots.txt, noindex, canonical. “Crawled – currently not indexed” and “Discovered – currently not indexed” are decisions about quality and crawl priority that no outside tool can see. Our Search Console statuses guide explains each one.
Close, not identical. It requests the page as a regular crawler. A site that treats Googlebot differently, through firewall rules or cloaking, may answer Google another way. For Google's own view, use URL Inspection in Search Console.
Pages still not indexed?
A URL check finds technical blockers. We look at the whole site: crawling, indexing, internal links and content, and send a prioritized list of fixes.