This question was asked a long ago, while the RFC 2616 was still hanging around. Some answers to this question are based in such document, which is no longer relevant nowadays. Quoting Mark Nottingham who, at the time of writing, co-chairs the IETF HTTP and QUIC Working Groups:
Don’t use RFC2616. Delete it from your hard drives, bookmarks, and burn (or responsibly recycle) any copies that are printed out.
The old RFC 2616 has been supplanted by the following documents that, together, define the HTTP/1.1 protocol:
- RFC 7230: Message Syntax and Routing
- RFC 7231: Semantics and Content
- RFC 7232: Conditional Requests
- RFC 7233: Range Requests
- RFC 7234: Caching
- RFC 7235: Authentication
And, as of June 2022, a new set of RFCs obsoleted the documents listed above:
- RFC 9110: HTTP Semantics
- RFC 9111: HTTP Caching
- RFC 9112: HTTP/1.1
So I aim to provide an answer based in the RFC 9110, which is the current reference for the HTTP semantics.
The 302 status code
A response with 302 is a common way of performing URL redirection. Along with the 302 status code, the response should include a Location header with a different URI. Such header will be parsed by the user agent and then perform the redirection:
Web browsers may change from POST to GET in the subsequent request. If this behavior is undesired, the 307 (Temporary Redirect) status code can be used instead.
This is how the 302 status code is defined in the RFC 9110:
6.4.3. 302 Found
The
302(Found) status code indicates that the target resource
resides temporarily under a different URI. Since the redirection
might be altered on occasion, the client ought to continue to use the
target URI for future requests.The server SHOULD generate a
Locationheader field in the response
containing a URI reference for the different URI. The user agent MAY
use theLocationfield value for automatic redirection. The server’s
response content usually contains a short hypertext note with a
hyperlink to the different URI(s).Note: For historical reasons, a user agent MAY change the
request method fromPOSTtoGETfor the subsequent request. If
this behavior is undesired, the307(Temporary Redirect) status
code can be used instead.
According to MDN web docs from Mozilla, a typical use case for [302]302] is:
The Web page is temporarily not available for reasons that have not been unforeseen. That way, search engines don’t update their links.
Other status codes for redirection
The RFC 9110 defines the following status codes for redirection (some of these status codes were originally defined in other RFCs, but have all been consolidated in the RFC 9110):
301: Moved Permanently302: Found307: Temporary Redirect308: Permanent Redirect
Refer to this answer for further details.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The HTTP response status code 302 Found is a common way of performing URL redirection. The HTTP/1.0 specification (RFC 1945) initially defined this code, and gave it the description phrase «Moved Temporarily» rather than «Found».
An HTTP response with this status code will additionally provide a URL in the header field Location. This is an invitation to the user agent (e.g. a web browser) to make a second, otherwise identical, request to the new URL specified in the location field. The end result is a redirection to the new URL.
Many web browsers implemented this code in a manner that violated this standard, changing the request type of the new request to GET, regardless of the type employed in the original request (e.g. POST).[1] For this reason, HTTP/1.1 (RFC 2616) added the new status codes 303 and 307 to disambiguate between the two behaviours, with 303 mandating the change of request type to GET, and 307 preserving the request type as originally sent. Despite the greater clarity provided by this disambiguation, the 302 code is still employed in web frameworks to preserve compatibility with browsers that do not implement the HTTP/1.1 specification.[2]
As a consequence, RFC 7231 (the update of RFC 2616) changes the definition to allow user agents to rewrite POST to GET.[3]
Example[edit]
Client request:
GET /index.html HTTP/1.1 Host: www.example.com
Server response:
HTTP/1.1 302 Found Location: http://www.iana.org/domains/example/
See also[edit]
- List of HTTP status codes
- HTTP 301
References[edit]
- ^ Lawrence, Eric. «HTTP Methods and Redirect Status Codes». EricLaw’s IEInternals blog. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
- ^ «Request and response objects | Django documentation | Django». Docs.djangoproject.com. Retrieved 2014-06-23.
- ^ «Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Semantics and Content». Tools.ietf.org. Retrieved 2019-01-05.
External links[edit]
- RFC 7230, RFC 7231, RFC 7232, RFC 7233, RFC 7234, RFC 7235 (HTTP 1.1)
- RFC 2616 (HTTP 1.1) (obsolete)
- RFC 1945 (HTTP 1.0)
Whenever we get a HTTP 302 error, it requires a redirect and the same questions usually arise:
Here are some of the questions:
- Is my website ready for it?
- What type of redirection is the most appropriate for my case?
- Will I lose all the SEO work I’ve done so far?
- Will Google penalize me? What happens if I eliminate redirects?
- How are they made?
- How do I fix error 302? (if it occurs)
In this article, I will answer all these questions so that you have more clarity to proceed in each case.
What is 302 redirect?
Code 302 indicates a temporary redirection.
One of the most notable features that differentiate it from a 301 redirect is that, in the case of 302 redirects, the strength of the SEO is not transferred to a new URL.
This is because this redirection has been designed to be used when there is a need to redirect content to a page that will not be the definitive one.
Thus, once the redirection is eliminated, the original page will not have lost its positioning in the Google search engine.
Although it is not very common that we find ourselves in need of a 302 redirect, this option can be very useful in some cases. These are the most frequent cases:
- When we realize that there is some inappropriate content on a page. While we solve the problem, we can redirect the user to another page that may be of interest.
- In the event that an attack on our website requires the restoration of any of the pages, this redirect can help us minimize the incidence.
A redirect 302 is a code that tells visitors of a specific URL that the page has been moved temporarily, directing them directly to the new location.
In other words, redirect 302 is activated when Google robots or other search engines request to load a specific page. At that moment, thanks to this redirection, the server returns an automatic response indicating a new URL.
In this way errors and annoyances are avoided both to search engines and users, guaranteeing smooth navigation.
What is a redirect 302 for?
The redirect 302 serves, for example, to have several versions of a homepage in different languages.
The main one can be in English, but if the visitors come from other countries then this system automatically redirects them to a page in their language.
In this way, a mobilization of web traffic is achieved, but at the same time, the influence at the SEO level of the main page is not diluted. This continues to grow, even though there is no transfer of authority, as we explained earlier.
HTTP 302 redirect example
The most common HTTP 302 redirect example case is Google.
Regardless of the country from which you access, if you type in https://www.google.com/, you will be redirected to the Google version in the language/country that corresponds to you.
In case of Germany, 302 automatically take us to https://www.google.de/ so that we can search for content in German.
Portals of successful companies such as Coca-Cola or even Fujitsu also use this system to redirect traffic to where they consider most convenient.
Here are some of the most common reasons for the 302 redirect error:
- Using 302 redirects while the domain is moving;
- Creating a 302 redirect when you move the document;
- Using a 302 redirect during site protocol change;
- Creating 302 redirects while site structure is changing.
HTML redirect 302 is not recommended when the method of the original request is to be applied to the request of the destination URL — for example, moving the URL of a form directive that uses the POST method for a specific period.
You should not use the status code 302 if you want to transfer SEO-weight to the destination URL.
How to identify HTTP 302 error?
Verifying that the 301 and 302 redirect settings are correct is very easy.
When entering into the address bar of the old address, we observe what is happening.
The change of address indicates that everything is fine with the redirect.
The address remains the same – you need to look for the source of the problem, but first, we advise you to clean the cache and try again.
There is another option – to apply for checking the server response code to online services, for example, http://example.com/e_redirect/.
If you set up a redirect correctly, after entering the domain name, you will see the response code 301 or 302. It depends on what kind of redirection you planned to receive initially.
Some services additionally display the code given by the server after the redirect, and here there is only one valid option – 200 OK.
How to fix HTTP 302 error?
Method 1: Check the server configuration
The application may run on the server that uses one of these two most common web server programs, Nginx or Apache. These two web servers account for more than 84 percent of the global web server program!
Therefore, the first step in determining the 302 response code is checking the mandatory redirect instructions in the webserver program configuration file.
For Apache web Server
Step 1: Open .htaccess file on the server
To identify the webserver, you need to find the key file. If you are using the Apache web server, locate the .htaccess file in your site’s root filesystem.
If your program is on the shared host, you might have your username linked to the host account, for example. In this case, usually, the directory of application root is located in the path:
/home/<username>/public_html/path, thus the .htaccess file is located at /home/<username>/public_html/.htaccess.
Step 2: Find the mod_rewrite directives
Once you find .htaccess file, open it in text-editor and find the line that uses the RewriteXXX directives belonging to the Apache mod_rewrite module.
However, the core idea is that the RewriteCond directive outlines a text model that is compared to the registered URL. When a visitor requests the corresponding URL on a site, the RewriteRule directive which tracks one or multiple RewriteCond instructions will actually redirect the request toward the corresponding URL.
For instance, the following is an easy combination of RewriteRule and RewriteCond that satisfies all the requirements of example.com, but instead inserts a temporary redirect into the same URI in the temporary domain — example.com:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example.com$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ HTTP://www.temporary-example.com/$1 [R=302]
Notice the additional banner at the bottom of RewriteRule, which clearly illustrates that a response code has to be 302, showing to the browser agent that it is a temporary redirect.
Step 3: Reset the directives in .htaccess file
# BEGIN WordPress
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index.php$ – [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
# END WordPress
Therefore, if you get an unusual RewriteRule or RewriteCond directive in your .htaccess file that doesn’t seem to fit to it, try to temporarily annotate them (prefixed with #) and restart the webserver to check if the issue is resolved.
For Nginx web server
Step 1: Open the nginx.conf file
If your web server is operating on Nginx, you should look for a totally different file of configuration. This file is specified as nginx.conf by default and found in one of the common directories listed below:
/usr/local/nginx/conf, /etc/nginx or, /usr/local/etc/nginx.
Step 2: Rewrite the directives on nginx.conf file
After detection, open the nginx.conf file in your text editor and find the rewrite directives that are relating to the redirect indicator.
For example, this is a plain block directive (declared a set of statements) that sets up the virtual server through generating a temporary redirect from abc.com to a temporary-abc.com:
server {
listen 80;
listen 443 ssl;
server_name www.abc.com;
rewrite ^/$ http://www.temporary-abc.com redirect;
}
Nginx rewrites directives are parallel to Apache RewriteRule and
RewriteCond because they usually comprise more complicated text-oriented search patterns.
Step 3: Check the replacement policy of nginx.conf file
In any case, check the nginx.conf file for the exception replacement policy that contains a redirect flag (other permanent flag return response code 301).
Please note any exceptions before you restart the server in order to check if the problem is resolved.
Method 2: Search for out-of-date software
The specification document of RFC for HTTP 1.0 states that the aim of a “302 Found” response code is intended to indicate that the client should execute a temporary redirect.
However, many new browsers will process the code 302 received through the POST request as an invalid GET request.
This has triggered snags and confusion with particular web server programs that attempt to force the browser to perform the right work when it needs to be redirected temporarily.
To solve this problem, the RFC HTTP 1.1 specification document returned 303 response codes, another 307 temporary redirects, which is an understandable way to manage POST-to-GET or temporary, transient responses.
Method 3: Cleaning the Logs
Almost all web applications store records on the server. The application log usually represents the application history, like which pages, servers were requested and connected, which were obtained from the provided database, and so on.
The server logs are connected to the current device that runs the programs and usually contains information about the status and health of all the connected services, and even the information about the server.
Google record [PLATFORM_NAME] in the CMS or use [PROGRAMMING_LANGUAGE] to register and register [OPERATING_SYSTEM] when launching the custom application for more information to get these records.
Method 4: Fix the application code
In the case, all the above-discussed methods fail, the problem may be in the user code of the application that caused the problem.
Try to determine the cause of the problem by manually locating the application and analyzing it in the server and application log files.
It’s a good idea to copy the full application to your local development computer and step through it to see exactly what happens to the 302 scans and see the code for each application.
HTTP 302 Error: Conclusion
Finally, as you have seen, we do not have to fear a lot about the HTTP 302 redirect errors. Without going any further, they are a fantastic way to avoid losing traffic on our web pages with the inevitable changes that arise over the years.
I hope that, after reading this article, you will not get chills every time about how do I fix the 302 moved temporarily error.
Whether you want to make a contribution to the post or if you have a question or just want to give your opinion, do not hesitate to comment below!
HTTP response status code 302 Found, also previously known as “Moved Temporarily», is returned by the server to indicate that the client redirects to a new location specified within the Location HTTP header, because HTTP response is temporary it is expected to be revalidated upon the next time the URI is requested.
Usage
When the 302 Found status code is received, the client will understand that the requested resource has temporarily moved to a new location. As such, it can make a second HTTP request to fetch the resource to continue processing the original HTTP request. This is somewhat simpler than a 301 Moved Permanently status code because the client is not expected to take action such as updating internal links.
Note
For backward compatibility, the client may change the HTTP request method from POST to GET for the subsequent HTTP request. However, this is not recommended. To remove ambiguity, the server can return an alternative status code. The 303 See Other status code indicates that the HTTP request must change to a HTTP GET method, whereas the 307 Temporary Redirect status code stipulates that the HTTP request method has to be preserved for the subsequent HTTP request.
Note
Search engines may interpret an URI returning a 302 Found status code over a prolonged period of time as equal to the 301 Moved Permanently status code and treat it as such.
Example
In the example, the client requests a resource that has been temporarily moved. The server indicates the new location and supplies a relevant message that can be displayed on the client-side.
Request
GET /news.html HTTP/1.1
Host: www.example.ai
Response
HTTP/1.1 302 Found
Location: http//www.example.ai/testing/news.html
Content-Type: text/html
Content-Length: 167
<h1>The Newsfeed has moved</h1>
<body>
The site is currently under development and the newsfeed has temporarily moved to <a href=/testing/news.html>here</a>.
</body>
Code references
.NET
HttpStatusCode.Found
Rust
http::StatusCode::FOUND
Rails
:found
Go
http.StatusFound
Symfony
Response::HTTP_FOUND
Python3.5+
http.HTTPStatus.FOUND
Java
java.net.HttpURLConnection.HTTP_MOVED_TEMP
Apache HttpComponents Core
org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpStatus.SC_MOVED_TEMPORARILY
Angular
@angular/common/http/HttpStatusCode.Found
Takeaway
The 302 Found status code indicates that the requested resource has been temporarily moved and that a second, otherwise identical HTTP request has to be made to fetch the resource. As the requested resource has moved temporarily, the URI has to be revalidated upon the next time the resource is requested.
See also
- 303 See Other
- 307 Temporary Redirect
- RFC 7231
Last updated: June 29, 2022
HTTP 302 codes are a valuable way to redirect website users to a different URL temporarily. However, if your website is delivering 302 redirects in error, it’s a sign that something’s wrong.
Don’t worry — you can fix this problem — but you’ll need to do some troubleshooting.
The first step is to understand precisely what HTTP 302 codes are, how they work, and why they occur. Once you know that, you can figure out what’s gone wrong and how to make it right.
In this post, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about HTTP 302 errors. Then we’ll share five troubleshooting tips to help you fix them.
Let’s get started!
Check Out Our Video Guide to The 302 HTTP Status Code
What Are HTTP 302 Status Codes?
302 codes are a specific type of HTTP status code. These codes are like “notes” that a server delivers to your browser.
Whenever you click on a link or navigate to a URL, your browser requests the webserver for the same. In return, the server sends back the relevant resource (e.g. the page you’re trying to access) along with an HTTP header. The HTTP status codes are inside that header.
Typically, you can’t see these status codes anywhere on the web page. You’ll only usually see them when an error occurs, or if you’ve installed a browser extension that makes them visible:
3xx status codes (301, 302, etc.) are a class of status codes called “redirection codes.” They’re returned whenever the server sends back a new resource instead of the requested resource.
In other words, they’re shown when the website page you intended to access redirects you to a different page.
The critical difference between code 301 and code 302 is that the former is used for permanent redirects, whereas the latter is for temporary redirects.
The 301 redirects also pass “link juice,” whereas 302s don’t. That has a significant impact on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Uh oh… you’ve just seen an HTTP 302 code pop up. 😬 Now what? 🤷♀️ Start with this thorough guide ⤵Click to Tweet
How 302 Redirects Work
When you set up a 302 redirect for a page on your website that’s temporarily unavailable, and a user visits that page, your webserver will respond to the visitor’s browser with a special Location header. This header will indicate the new URL that the browser should redirect the user to instead.
For example, imagine that a user types blog.example.com into their browser URL bar, but the website is configured to redirect it to blogging.example.com.
The server response will include both the 302 status code and the Location: blogging.example.com header. This setting tells the user’s browser to redirect this request to the new URL instead.
Of course, all of this happens automatically and behind the scenes. The user shouldn’t be able to see any of this play out. Instead, their browser should automatically take them to the new resource.
Why HTTP 302 Errors Happen
If something is misconfigured on your website, it might cause 302 codes to be issued in error. If this happens, you may run into problems such as:
- A page on your website that redirects your visitors elsewhere when it shouldn’t
- A page on your website that redirects your visitors to the wrong resource
- The ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error (also known as a “redirect loop”)
The last of these issues is the only one that will display an actual error page. If you’re using the Chrome browser, a redirect loop error page will look something like this:
On Mozilla Firefox, it looks like this:
All of the above problems are caused by some misconfiguration. It may be a plugin conflict, incorrect URL settings, or a misconfigured .htaccess file.
How to Fix the HTTP 302 Error (5 Methods)
Next, we’ll walk you through five troubleshooting methods that can help you figure out what’s causing the problem and fix it.
Before we get started, make sure to perform a complete backup of your website first. That way, if anything goes wrong, you can always revert to the previous version. You can use a WordPress plugin to do this.
1. Determine Whether the Redirects Are Valid
302 responses are usually not errors. Temporarily redirecting users to a different page can be a valid configuration and isn’t usually something that requires fixing.
It’s only an error if your website is responding with 302 codes that it shouldn’t be issuing, or if it’s causing a redirect loop. Therefore, the first step is to double-check which URLs are generating the HTTP 302 codes and determine whether the redirect is appropriate or not.
To do so, you can navigate to the pages on your website you suspect of issuing the 302 error and see for yourself if they behave as expected. If a temporarily unavailable page redirects to the correct resource, it’s appropriately configured.
However, if a page redirects you to the wrong resource or your browser reports a redirect loop by bringing up an ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error page, it’s a sign that one (or more) of your redirects isn’t configured quite right.
2. Check Your Plugins
One of the most common causes of 302 errors and redirect loops is plugins.
Some WordPress redirect manager plugins and SEO tools like Yoast SEO manage your website redirects for you and enable you to set up redirect rules:
If these rules are misconfigured, or if two plugins conflict, it can cause unexpected issues. Therefore, you’ll need to check each relevant tool that’s installed on your site.
For example, if you’re using the popular 301 Redirects WordPress plugin, you can check the configuration by navigating to Settings > 301 Redirects. Under Redirect Rules, you’ll see a list of all the redirect rules you’ve set up:
Check all the 302 redirects listed here, and make sure they’re all correct.
You’ll also want to ensure that you haven’t set up anything in a way that could cause a redirect loop. For example, if Page-A is set to redirect to Page-B, but Page-B is also set to redirect to Page-A, this will cause an error.
If you have multiple redirect manager plugins and you’re not sure which one is causing the issue, you can try deactivating them one by one from the WordPress Plugins page (be sure to make a backup first):
After deactivating each plugin, try revisiting the problem URL to see if the 302 error persists.
If the problem is suddenly fixed, you’ll know which plugin was causing the issue, and you can then choose to troubleshoot further or remove it from your site.
3. Ensure That Your WordPress URL Settings Are Configured Correctly
Another common cause of the HTTP 302 error is a misconfiguration in the WordPress URL settings.
To check this, navigate to Settings > General in your WordPress dashboard. Here, you should see a WordPress Address (URL) field and a Site Address (URL) field:
In most cases, the URLs in both of these fields should match. Make sure they’re both the same, including the “www” portion (or lack thereof) before the domain name.
If they don’t match, update the settings, then check the URL of the page issuing the HTTP 302 error to see if it’s fixed.
4. Check Your Server Configuration
A misconfigured server can also sometimes cause 302 redirect errors. Therefore, the next step is to check your server configuration.
If your host uses the Apache webserver, you can do this by checking your.htaccess file.
First, connect to your site’s server via a control dashboard like cPanel or an FTP client. Then navigate to the root directory of your site — the same place as the wp-admin and wp-content folders — and find the .htaccess file:
If you aren’t finding the .htaccess file here (and you’re sure on an Apache server), you may need to tell FileZilla to show hidden files before it’ll appear in the file list.
Next, open the file in your favorite text editor. It should look something like this:
Now, we’re going to look for RewriteXXX directives (the highlighted elements above). Without getting too technical, RewriteCond and RewriteRule directives are used to perform redirections from one URL to another.
The RewriteCond directive specifies the URL you want to redirect the visitor away from, while the RewriteRule directive specifies the URL you want to redirect them to. Here’s an example:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^website.com$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.temporary-website.com/$1 [R=302]The flag at the end, “[R=302]”, tells the browser that this is a temporary 302 redirect.
If you notice any RewriteXXX combinations similar to the above in your .htaccess file that shouldn’t be there, you can comment them out, save the changes, and reload the problem web page to see if it resolves the issue.
Just make sure to download and save a spare copy of your .htaccess file before you make any changes in case something goes wrong.
5. Speak to Your Web Host
If you’ve tried all of the above methods and you’re still having trouble, the next step is to speak to your web host.
Troubleshooting a 302 code error beyond this point requires a lot of technical know-how. Therefore, unless you’re a professional developer, it’s probably best to get help from an expert.
At Kinsta, we take support seriously. Our team of experts is always on-hand to help you resolve issues like this whenever they arise:
We’re available 24/7. All you have to do is log in to your MyKinsta account and contact us via live chat to connect with a support engineer who can help in real-time.
Don’t let HTTP 302 codes slow your roll. 🙅♀️ Learn how to resolve them with these 5 troubleshooting tips 💥Click to Tweet
Summary
HTTP 302 status codes are a completely normal way to redirect your website visitors. However, they should only be used when the resource page is temporarily unavailable.
Suppose your website is issuing 302 codes in error or causing redirect loops. In that case, it’s vital to fix this problem as soon as possible, or it may negatively impact your SEO and conversions.
You can follow these five steps to fix HTTP 302 errors on your website:
- Determine whether the redirects are appropriate or not by examining the URLs that are issuing the 302 redirects.
- Check your plugins to make sure any redirect settings are valid.
- Ensure that your WordPress URL settings are configured correctly.
- Check your server configuration by looking for incorrect
RewriteXXXdirectives in your .htaccess file (Apache servers only). - Speak to your web host for further technical support if the problem persists.
Do you have any questions left about the HTTP 302 error? Let us know in the comments section.