Redirects

A redirect answers a request for an old address with a status code and the new address in the Location header; the browser then loads the new one. Where you set it depends on the web server: .htaccess on Apache, nginx.conf on Nginx. The outputs on this page come from test containers with Apache 2.4 and Nginx 1.23, checked on 26 October 2026.

301, 302, 307, 308

All codes: HTTP status codes.

Apache: .htaccess

In the .htaccess of the site root, one line per redirect: the old path from the root of the site, then the new address. Redirect belongs to mod_alias and needs no RewriteEngine on:

Redirect 301 /old_url1.php /new_url.php Redirect 301 /old_dir/url1.php /new_dir/url1.php

A rule for a folder moves everything below it and keeps the rest of the path, so /old_dir/a.php goes to /new_dir/a.php:

Redirect 301 /old_dir /new_dir

If the site runs behind a proxy that ends HTTPS, a relative target such as /new_url.php can come back as an http:// address. Why, and the mod_rewrite form that avoids it: .htaccess.

Two rules for one page

A folder moved, and one page in it also got a new name:

/old_dir/a.php → /new_dir/a.php

/old_dir/page.php → /new_dir/new_page.php

Apache uses the first Redirect that matches. With the folder rule first, page.php first goes to /new_dir/page.php, which does not exist, and needs a second rule from there. The visitor makes two hops:

Redirect 301 /old_dir /new_dir Redirect 301 /new_dir/page.php /new_dir/new_page.php

curl -sIL http://127.0.0.1:18080/old_dir/page.php | grep -E '^(HTTP|Location)'

HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently Location: http://127.0.0.1:18080/new_dir/page.php HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently Location: http://127.0.0.1:18080/new_dir/new_page.php HTTP/1.1 200 OK

Put the rule for the single page first, and it is one hop:

Redirect 301 /old_dir/page.php /new_dir/new_page.php Redirect 301 /old_dir /new_dir

HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently Location: http://127.0.0.1:18080/new_dir/new_page.php HTTP/1.1 200 OK

Exact rules before folder rules, in every server.

Nginx

Nginx has no .htaccess; the rules go into the server block of the site, see nginx.conf. An exact location wins over a prefix one regardless of the order:

location = /old_url1.php { return 301 /new_url.php; } location = /old_dir/page.php { return 301 /new_dir/new_page.php; } location ^~ /old_dir/ { rewrite ^/old_dir/(.*)$ /new_dir/$1 permanent; }

Nginx turns a relative target into a full address with the host and its own port. Behind a port mapping or a proxy that is the wrong port. The test container listened on 80, mapped to 18081 outside:

curl -sI http://127.0.0.1:18081/old_dir/page.php | grep -E '^(HTTP|Location)'

HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently Location: http://127.0.0.1/new_dir/new_page.php

The port is lost. With absolute_redirect off; in the server block Nginx sends the target as written, and the browser keeps the host and port it used:

HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently Location: /new_dir/new_page.php

Check a redirect

curl shows the first answer only with -I, and follows the whole chain with -L, as in the examples above. Every hop is a Location line; more than one means a chain to shorten.

When it does not work

Read the error log of the site. At most hosting providers it is in the control panel or in a logs folder next to the site; on your own Apache server it is usually /var/log/apache2/error.log. The last 100 lines:

tail -n 100 /var/log/apache2/error.log

A request for a page that no longer exists shows up there with its path; that path is the old address to redirect. A browser also remembers 301 answers: test a changed rule with curl or in a private window.

Article authors: Andrei Olegovich, Klavdiya Kondakova