How to use
01
Paste the URL and press Expand
Enter the address you want traced, shortened links included, and press Expand. A server follows the redirects for you, so your browser never touches any hop in the chain.
02
Check the final destination panel
The highlighted panel shows where the chain ends and how many hops it took to get there. One hop is healthy for a moved page; three or more deserves a cleanup.
03
Walk the chain hop by hop
Each numbered row shows a URL and the status it returned, 301, 302, or the final 200. Copy any hop's URL to go fix that redirect at its source.
Why Redirect Chain Checker
- Trace the full redirect chain of any short URL.
- See exactly where bit.ly, t.co, goo.gl style links lead before you click.
- Shows every hop with its status code.
Common questions
What counts as a hop in the redirect chain checker?
Every response between your starting URL and the final destination is one hop. Enter a URL that 301s to a URL that 302s to a page returning 200, and the chain shows three rows and reports two redirects worth of travel.
How many redirect hops will Google actually follow?
Google documents following up to ten hops within a crawl before giving up and flagging a redirect error. In practice you shouldn't lean on that budget. Each hop adds latency and dilutes the crawl, so aim for a single hop from any old URL to its final home.
Can this redirect checker tell a 301 from a 302?
Yes, every hop displays its exact status code on a badge. That distinction is the whole point for SEO work: a 301 tells search engines to transfer signals permanently, while a 302 says the move is temporary and the old URL should stay indexed.
Does the tool detect meta refresh or JavaScript redirects?
No, it follows HTTP level redirects only, the kind sent in a Location header. A page that returns 200 and then forwards you via a meta refresh tag or a script shows up here as the final destination, which is precisely how you catch those patterns.
Is it safe to expand a suspicious shortened link here?
Safer than clicking it. The trace runs from a server, so the target site never sees your IP, cookies, or browser. You get the full path and final destination in plain text and can judge the link before anyone visits it for real.
What does it mean when the final hop isn't a 200?
The chain ends somewhere broken. A final 404 means the redirect points at a deleted page, and a final 5xx means the destination server is failing. Either way, every link and bookmark feeding that chain is currently dead weight.
Why would a redirect chain loop back on itself?
Usually two rules fighting: one layer forces HTTPS while another forces the www variant back to a URL the first rule rewrites again. Loops burn the entire hop budget and users see a browser error, so the trace showing the same URL twice is an urgent fix.