Too Many Redirects: What This Error Means & How to Fix It

When surfing the web, we’ve all likely stumbled upon a “too many redirects” error message. This can be frustrating for users — and downright scary for site owners. You don’t want this error message to get in the way of the user experience or conversions on your site.

In this post, we’ll go over what this error means and how to fix it on different browsers so you can get your site back up and running.

This error might show up differently depending on what browser you’re using. Here are some variations below.

Too Many Redirects Chrome

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Too Many Redirects Safari

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Too Many Redirects Firefox

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This error is likely caused by a configuration error on the website you’re trying to visit. If the website in question is your website, then you have to take steps to resolve it as soon as possible. Let’s walk through solutions below.

These steps apply to any website, no matter what website builder or content management system (CMS) it uses.

However, if you have a WordPress website, then there are some unique steps you can take to resolve the too many redirects error. Check out How to Fix the Redirect Loop Error in WordPress to learn more.

1. Clear cookies on the redirecting website.

To start, try clearing cookies on the website causing the redirect loop. The process is similar for any web browser. The steps for each are outlined below.

Chrome

• At the top right, click the Customize icon then click Settings.

• Click Privacy and security from the left toolbar.
• Click Cookies and other site data.

• Scroll down and click See all cookies and site data.

• At the top right, search for the website's name.
• To the right of the site, click Remove.

Safari

• Click Safari > Preferences.

• Click Privacy.
• Click Manage Website Data.

• Use the Search field to find the name of the website causing the redirect loop.
• Select the site and click Remove.

• Click Done.

Firefox

• Click Firefox > Preferences.
• Click Privacy & Security from the left toolbar.
• Scroll to the Cookies and Site Data section.

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• Click Manage Data…
• In the Search field, type the name of the website causing the redirect loop.

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• Click Remove All Shown.
• Click Save Changes.

2. Clear your browser cache.

If clearing cookies on the specific website causing the redirect loop doesn’t work, try clearing your whole browser cache. The process is similar for any web browser. The steps for each are outlined below.

Chrome

• At the top right, click the Customize icon then click Settings.

• Click Privacy and security from the left toolbar.
• Click Clear browsing data.
• Set your time range, then click Clear Data.

Safari

• Click Safari > Preferences.

• Click Privacy.
• Click Manage Website Data.

• Click Remove All.
• Click Remove Now.

• Click Done.

Firefox

• Click Firefox > Preferences.
• Click Privacy & Security from the left toolbar.
• Scroll to the Cookies and Site Data section.

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• Click Clear Data…
• Cookies and Site Data and Cached Web Content should both be check marked by default. Click Clear.

3. Ensure your SSL Certificate is installed correctly.

If you’ve cleared your cookies and cache and are still getting the too many redirects error, then the issue could be your HTTPS settings. HTTPS means that your website uses a security protocol called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to encrypt data transfers between a browser requesting a website and the web server delivering that website.

This protocol can cause the redirect loop in special circumstances. For example, if you’ve forced SSL on your site without actually installing an SSL certificate, then you’ll likely see the error. That’s because all requests to your hosting server are sent over HTTP, which your server has to redirect to HTTPS again and again.

So it’s important to ensure your SSL certificate is installed correctly and renewed when needed. You can use an online tool like SSL Shopper, SSL Server Test, or Digicert, to test that your SSL configuration is installed, valid, and trusted in just a few minutes.

4. Evaluate your third-party services and plugins.

If you’ve ruled out your cookies, cache, and HTTPS settings as causing the too many redirects error on your site, then check any third-party services you use.

If you use a proxy server — an  intermediary server that directs requests from multiple clients to different servers —then it could be causing the error message. For example, Cloudflare has a Flexible SSL option, which forces requests between clients and Cloudflare to be sent over HTTPS but allows requests between Cloudflare and your origin server to be sent over HTTP.

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If that option is enabled but you already have an SSL certificate installed on your server, then your server will redirect these requests to HTTPS and likely cause the too many redirects error. You can resolve this issue by switching to another encryption mode, like Full or Full (strict).

If your site is on WordPress, then third-party plugins could also be causing the error. Redirect plugins allow you to easily and quickly set up redirects when the permalink of a post or page is changed or when other conditions are met. But sometimes changing the settings of these plugins or updating them can cause the too many redirects error.

To see if this is the issue on your site, try disabling your plugins. A good way to test this is by deactivating all your plugins in bulk, then reactivating them one by one to isolate the culprit. Here are the steps:

• Log into your WordPress admin dashboard.
• Select Plugins > Installed Plugins.
• Check the box next to Plugin to select all your plugins.

• Choose Deactivate from the Bulk Actions drop-down menu, then click Apply.

• Refresh your site.

If you no longer see the too many redirects error, start activating each plugin one by one and reloading your website after each activation to identify the faulty plugin.

You may need to reach out to the plugin developer to resolve the issue, or find an alternative to use on your site.

5. Reset your htaccess file.

If none of the steps above have resolved the too many redirects error, then the problem is likely how redirects are set up on your server. To double check that, you’ll need to access your hypertext access file, or the .htaccess file, rename it, and create a new one. To do so, you can use a file manager like cPanel or via FTP client. The following steps are for cPanel specifically.

• Go to File Manager and select your .htaccess file.
• Right-click to rename it .htaccess_old. This is now your backup file.
• Go to public_html
• Create a new text file and name it .htaccess.
• Copy and paste the following code into the file.

 
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

• You can now save and exit File Manager.

This will reset the .htaccess file to its default settings so you can now save and refresh your site. If this hasn’t solved the too many redirects error, you can restore the backup .htaccess file.

6. Contact your hosting provider.

If none of the steps above resolve your issue, then try contacting your hosting provider. If you let them know you’re experiencing a too many redirects error that's affecting your website performance, they might let you know what the exact cause is — or even fix it for you.

Resolving the Too Many Redirects Error

There’s no foolproof method for preventing a too many redirects error, but there are steps you can take to resolve it. By fixing this errors as quickly as possible, you’ll ensure visitors can continue browsing, navigating, and converting on your site with ease.