Last Updated On : Feb 05, 2022.

Understand and Fix Err_Too_Many_Redirects Error Efficiently

While browsing the internet, the visitors on your website can find themselves on a page that showcases err_too_many_redirects. At such a moment, you might wonder what it means. It is one of the numerous errors that website owners need to deal with frequently. The error is quite bewildering, and many people will struggle to resolve it. But you don’t have to feel worried when you see this error message on your WordPress website. There are multiple methods to fix it. In this guide, you’ll find what this error means in greater detail, the different causes for it, and how you can eliminate it from your WordPress website.

 

What Err_Too_Many_Redirects Mean?

The name of this error is self-explanatory. When you view this error, it implies that something is leading to too many redirects. It has sent your website into an endless loop of redirection. This error means that your website server isn’t pointing in the correct direction. The browser is not able to determine your website’s location. The server is directing the web browser to a specific location. But when the browser gets to that location, it’s getting a command to search for the site in its original location.

This, in turn, causes the development of an unending redirect loop. Due to it, your website gets stalked at the error page. Err too many redirects can arise because of various things. Its causes can be anything from cookies to plugins. But the good news is that irrespective of the cause, there are effective methods you can employ to resolve it.

 

How Err_Too_Many_Redirects Error Appears in Different Browsers?

Different variations of this error get displayed according to the browser you are using. These different variations are as follows.

• On Google Chrome, you’ll see the error getting displayed as ‘ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS. Another way in which this error gets shown on Google Chrome is by the message, ‘This webpage has a redirect loop problem.’
• On Mozilla Firefox, you’ll see the message, ‘The page isn’t redirecting properly.’
• In Microsoft Edge, a message will appear that displays, ‘This page isn’t working right now.’
• In Safari, you will see the message, ‘Safari Can’t Open the Page.’

 

What Causes the Err_Too_Many_Redirects Error to Occur?

Redirects are a powerful SEO strategy that allows your users to access a new page that has a different URL. When you employ redirects, visitors can access the new page while attempting to land at the old one. They can access the correct page even after typing the incorrect address. It, in turn, boosts their user experience.

But at times, there occurs a misconfiguration, which results in the browser getting confused and redirecting the website visitor to an unknown destination. In some instances, your browser goes into an eternal redirection loop. The old URL will redirect the visitor to a new one, but because of the misconfiguration, the fresh URL will redirect the visitor to the old one. It is when the error too many redirects appears on the screen. Your system quits trying to understand the URL and thus displays this error message.

For WordPress websites, some of the primary reasons for this error message to occur are as follows:

• Incorrectly configured WordPress settings.
• Faulty server settings.
• Conflicting plugin settings.
• Problems with third-party services like CDN.
• Hosting of multiple websites on one web server.
• Misconfigured HTTPS settings.
• Improper migration of the website.

 

How to find the Nature of the Redirect Loop?

A redirect loop is a result of various factors. So, determining the real cause can enable you to fix it much more quickly. There are numerous methods to assess the redirect loop’s nature.

One of the fastest and easiest ones is to employ a redirect checker. A great redirect checker is the SerpWorx. It’s one of the most extensively used free redirect checkers and is easy to use. All that the user requires is to input the URL of their site into the tool’s search bar. After that, tap on the tab of ‘Check Redirects.’ You’ll see a result of the active redirects on your site.

Another option is to use the Redirect checker tool. It’s also a free tool and will give you a good analysis of your WP site. Yet another option is the Redirect Path, which is an extension in Google Chrome. Use it to check redirections on your site.

 

How to Fix Err_Too_Many_Redirects Error?

After knowing the meaning and causes behind this error, you can start to troubleshoot it. Follow the instructions for various techniques below.

 

1. Delete cookies

Clearing cookies is recommended by Mozilla and Google browsers to fix this error. At times, cookies can have inaccurate data, which can result in this error message. So, if you are noticing this error on a website that you don’t own, you can try to delete cookies. It’s best to just delete the cookie or cookies on the particular site that’s encountering the err_too_many_redirects. It’s because cookies retain the user’s logged-in status on other settings and sites. Follow the guidelines below to delete cookies.

• In Google Chrome, tap on the three small dots present on the upper right-hand corner.
• Next, tap ‘Settings.’
• Go down and tap ‘Advanced‘ and click on ‘Content settings.’
• Now, tap ‘Cookies.’
• Tap on ‘See all cookies and site data.’
• Locate the site where you are facing this err_too_many_redirects. Then, you can delete the cookies presently stored on your system for that site.
• Revisit the website.

 

2. Delete WordPress cache

In case you use a caching plugin, you can try clearing the WordPress cache. But you should inspect the specifications of the plugin installed on your particular block because every plugin works in a different manner. An easy way is to type your plugin’s name on Google. You’ll receive the necessary information on how to clear the cache in that plugin settings. After doing that, refresh your website and check if everything’s working fine.

 

3. Disable and reactivate your WordPress website’s plugins

At times, the WordPress plugins can interrupt the functioning of the redirection rules of your website and server err_too_many_redirects. Too many redirects error is more likely to occur when you install redirection plugins on your WP platform.

So, disabling plugins is an effective way to troubleshoot numerous WordPress issues, including this specific one. Disable the plugins to determine the one that’s causing the problem. If you find the problem resolved after doing so, you know that one or the other plugins were behind this error. So, figure out the plugin causing this problem. You should disable and enable plugins one at a time from your WP admin interface.

 

Steps to take when err too many redirects hinder you from accessing the Control Panel

You may find this error keeping you away from getting access to the Control Panel at many points in time. In such a scenario, you’ll have to disable all plugins manually. Carry out the process of disabling plugins in the File Manager or FTP client. Follow the steps below for it.

• Locate the plugins folder. This folder is generally in the wp-content folder.
• After that, rename all folders.
• You can also remove the folders at a single time. But do not forget to backup before it.

 

4. Check the WordPress URL settings

With WordPress, you can power the root domain from a subdirectory. For example, your WordPress can be installed in a subdirectory example.com/wordpress. You can use the WordPress installed in it to power the root domain example.com. It prevents the root directory of your server from getting crowded.

Navigate to the ‘General panel‘ in the admin dashboard to check the URL settings. Then input the URL or WordPress address and site address values. The site address is that which is typed by users on their browser to arrive at your website. The WordPress address URL is the place you install WordPress on your server. The values should be identical for a majority of WordPress sites. But sometimes, an error can happen.

To fix this problem, navigate to your admin dashboard. Then modify the URL field, so they become identical. At times, it becomes difficult to access the WordPress dashboard due to the too many redirects error. In this case, modify the settings by editing the wp-config-php file.

 

 How to change settings by editing the wp-config-php file

If you cannot access the Control Panel to modify error_too_many_redirects in the URL, you can edit the wp-config-php file. Follow the steps below for it.

• Navigate to the File Manager.
• Launch the folder that has your WordPress files.
• Search for the wp-config.php.
• After you find it, right-tap on the option ‘Edit URL.’
• Insert these lines into the code and make sure to modify the URL.
• Redefine the address and ensure that both Home and WordPress’s URL match.
• Save this file.
• On the command prompt, tap ‘Yes‘ for uploading the changed file.
• Refresh your website and then see if the error is fixed.

You can also modify the address through the database. All that you require to do is to sign in to the web server via MySQL. The phpMyAdmin is a component of various hosting panels, and you can use it for that.

• Locate the table of ‘wp_options‘ (or any other prefix defined at the time of installation).
• Double-tap the fields you want to edit.
• Change the address in ‘option_value.’

 

5. Modify the security protocol.

In case you utilize a security protocol like an SSL certificate, you can change it to a default protocol. After that, refresh the page and see if the redirect loop is there or not. If you still see the message, it implies that you need to setup your SSL certificate properly before using it again.

You can also seek professional help to go back to a setting that provides access security to users.

 

6. Redefine the .htaccess file

.htaccess file controls page redirect. So, if there’s an issue in the file, it can cause you to experience error too many redirects. To see if there’s a problem in this file, you can implement the steps below to redefine it.

• Use the FTP client to find the site files.
• Locate the folder which contains the WP files.
• Find the .htaccess and download it as a backup.
• Right-click on the file and open it for editing.
• Clear the .htaccess file content and reset its settings to default. Use the internet to find the default settings.
• Save and upload the file to the web server.
• After that, refresh your site.

If your site is fine, you need to re-evaluate the .htaccess file. But if not, you’ll need to restore the backup since there’s no issue with the .htaccess file.

 

7. Inspect third-party services

The error too many redirects is also a result of reverse-proxy services. Third-party services like CDNs (Cloudflare) and WAFs (Sucuri) are reverse proxies that are present between the client’s and your servers. This error arises when their flexible SSL option is enabled, and you also have an SSL certificate that you have installed with your WordPress host. It is because when you select flexible, all the requests to the hosting server are transmitted over HTTP. Your host server likely has a redirect from HTTP to HTTPS. As a result, the redirection loop happens. You will have to modify the Cloudflare Crypto settings to resolve this problem.

Change it from ‘Flexible‘ to ‘Full.’ You can also change it to ‘Full (Strict).’ To not create a loop and redirect users to HTTPS, you can utilize their ‘Always use HTTPS page rule.’ With Cloudflare, you also need to know their forwarding URL redirection rules. Do not create a redirect where the domain is itself a destination. It can easily result in too many redirects error, and the URLs that are affected won’t be able to fix.

 

 Use Cloudflare DNS only.

Do you desire to use Cloudflare’s DNS rather than their proxy/WAF service? If so, then ensure that your DNS records are configured to ‘DNS Only.’ When you do it, you will see the clouds appearing grey and not orange. Configure it below the ‘DNS Errors‘ tab in the ‘Control Panel‘ of Cloudflare.

 

Final Words

After reading this entire guide, you won’t find it difficult to resolve this website error. Follow the different troubleshooting techniques above to find the cause and eliminate it. If you still aren’t able to resolve it, seek the assistance of expert WordPress support services. The professionals will diagnose the root cause of the error and implement effective techniques to fix it quickly.

Tagged with: err too many redirects err_too_many_redirects error too many redirects how to fix too many redirects too many redirects error