HTTP header and status code checker.
Enter a URL to see exactly what the server sends back before the page itself: the status code, every response header, any redirects on the way, and how long it took. Useful for debugging caching, redirects, indexing problems and server setup.
- Free, no sign-up
- We check public information only. How your data is handled
How to use the HTTP Header & Status Code Checker
- Enter the full URL you want to check, including http:// or https:// if it matters.
- We request it from our server and follow any redirects.
- Read the status code and the redirect hops first.
- Then check the headers table for caching, compression and indexing instructions.
HTTP status codes in plain English
- 200 OK: the page loaded normally.
- 301 and 308: moved permanently. Search engines move rankings to the new address.
- 302 and 307: moved temporarily. Search engines keep the old address.
- 304 Not Modified: the browser's cached copy is still current.
- 403 Forbidden: the server refused. Some sites block automated tools.
- 404 Not Found and 410 Gone: the page doesn't exist. 410 says it was removed on purpose.
- 500, 502, 503: the server or something behind it failed. 503 should be used for planned maintenance.
Headers worth knowing
- Content-Type: what the response is (HTML, PDF, image) and its character set.
- Cache-Control: how long browsers and CDNs may keep a copy.
- Content-Encoding: whether the response is compressed (gzip or br).
- Location: where a redirect points.
- X-Robots-Tag: indexing instructions sent as a header. A noindex here hides the page from Google just like the meta tag.
- Strict-Transport-Security and other security headers: see our website security checker for those.
Debugging with headers
If a page has vanished from Google, check for an X-Robots-Tag noindex and a non-200 status first. If changes don't show up for visitors, look at Cache-Control and any CDN headers (such as cf-cache-status on Cloudflare). If a redirect behaves oddly, the hops show which rule fires first. For a broader look at a page, try our website SEO checker; for site-wide issues, our technical SEO service covers it.
About the HTTP Header & Status Code Checker.
Why does the checker show a different status from my browser?
Some sites treat automated requests differently, block them (403), or serve a cached copy to you. Our check shows what a server or crawler sees.
What is time to first byte?
How long the server took to start sending the response. Under about 800 ms is good; slower usually means hosting, database or missing caching.
Can a header stop my page being indexed?
Yes. X-Robots-Tag: noindex in the response headers works exactly like a noindex meta tag, and it's easy to miss because it isn't in the page source.
What does HTTP/2 change?
HTTP/2 lets a browser download many files over one connection at once, so pages with lots of images and scripts load faster. Most modern hosts support it.
Are cookies shown?
Set-Cookie headers are shown so you can see what a page sets. We never send cookies of our own with the request.
You might also need these.
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Use the toolWebsite Security Checker
Grade a site's security headers, HTTPS, SSL, cookies and mixed content, with fixes for each.
Use the toolPage Size & GZIP Compression Checker
Measure a page's download weight (HTML, CSS, JS, images), its largest files and whether compression is on.
Use the toolWant this done for you?
Free tools show you what to fix. We fix it, measure it, and keep it working while you run the business.