Check website HTTP headers and redirections

Enter the website URL and wait a few seconds for its HTTP Headers to be displayed.
You can also check your browser HTTP headers.

HTTP Response Headers

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is designed for governing the exchange of information between web browsers and web servers across the Internet. When a user wishes to visit a website, they type a URL in a web browser which internally sends a request to the web server on which that website is hosted. The response to this request is then sent by the respective web server in the form of the information that’s been requested by the web browser. This kind of exchange is typical of client-server architecture, the browser being the client and the web server being the server.

What are HTTP Response Headers?

An HTTP response is the information that’s sent by the server in response to the request a client makes. In addition to the actual data that’s requested, an HTTP response contains additional information such as the destination (client) IP address, data type, the host (server) address and more.

HTTP headers are typically case-insensitive. They start with the protocol name (http) followed by a colon (:) and then the value of the header. If a website uses secure HTTP, the headers begin with https instead of http, where the ‘s’ signifies that the website is using additional security.

What are some common HTTP Response Headers?

Age

Conveys how much time has elapsed since the response was generated at the origin server. The value is expressed in a non-negative numerical that represents time in seconds (for example, “Age : 12”).

Location

This is used to redirect the destination to a different location instead of the requesting URI (for example, “Location : http://wwww.m3.org/songs.html”).

Server

This contains details about the software being used by the origin server to respond to the request (for example, “Server : Apache/2.4.3 (Unix)”).

Set-Cookie

This contains a name-value combination to retain for this specific URL. It typically comprises of the “Set-Cookie” token followed by a list (comma-separated) of the different cookies to be set (for example, “Set-Cookie: UserID=Mary30; Version=3; Max-Age=3600;).

Retry-After

This can be used with a 503 response (Service Unavailable) to indicate the time for which the service is expected to not be available for the requesting browser (for example, “Retry-After: Mon, 15 Feb 2021 23:59:59 GMT”).

How to check what HTTP headers are sent by a specific website?

There are many ways by which response headers can be viewed. The most common ones are through browser development tools or with the help of web-based services dedicated for the purpose.

1. Through browser development tools:
   1. Go to the webpage and right click to see a drop down menu
   2. Select “inspect” option which will open the troubleshooting console
   3. In this console, go to the network tab in which all the requests are visible
   4. By clicking on a specific request, the response headers can be viewed.
2. Through web-based services – you can use a reliable web-based service like webconfs.com, dnschecker.org, or a similar such service.

Easiest way to check HTTP headers

The most hassle-free method to check what HTTP headers are sent by a website is by using a browser plug-in or the free tool above.