How to Fix the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS Error

Before you start exploring how to fix the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error, you need to first know why the browsers display this message. Usually, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge protect their users by stopping redirect cycles.

They do this after 20 redirects. This also raises the problem that if your site visitors can’t see your content, your website’s SEO ranking may fall. The issue could even stop search engines from crawling your site.

This issue often goes beyond simple server setup errors. It can also be due to bad browser cookies, wrong SSL/TLS settings, or faulty CMS plugins.

This guide will help you learn how to fix the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error. It shows you how to find and resolve redirect conflicts step by step. By the end, you’ll know how to spot the problem, fix the redirect loop, and improve your website’s usability, accessibility, and SEO. Let’s begin.

What does ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS refer to?

ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS means your browser has hit a never-ending loop. This usually means your requests bounce between URLs. They don’t reach their target. Browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge automatically stop these processes for users. This usually happens after 20 redirects.

To fix the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error, first understand that it protects you. ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS occurs when requests keep changing URLs and never reach their destination. Browsers will stop the loop. This helps avoid confusion and keeps your site safe. For Chrome, this limit is set at 20 redirects, while Firefox enforces a similar limit.

You can learn more about the Fetch specification’s redirect limits for developers.

Redirect loops can happen when:

• CMS or plugins create conflicting redirects.
• Page B sends you back to Page A after it redirects you to Page A.
• A reverse rule changes HTTPS back to HTTP, while a general rule redirects HTTP to HTTPS.

How do Browsers Display the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error?

Each browser displays the message in its own way:

• Mozilla Firefox shows the message, “The page isn’t redirecting properly.” This means cookies could be the problem.
• Chrome shows “The page isn’t working,” followed by “domain.com redirected you too many times.”
• Safari displays “Safari Can’t Open the Page” since redirection exceeds the limit.
• Microsoft Edge says, “The page isn’t working right now.” It points out too many redirects for the domain.

No matter what, all browsers face the same issue: a redirection loop. They stop to protect the user. Now, let’s move on to knowing what is causing the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error.

What Causes the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS Error?

ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS happens when server rules, website settings, or browser cache conflict. Below are some potential causes of the website’s issue. Read this blog to learn how to fix the ERR_INTERNET_DISCONNECTED error.

You can also check our comprehensive guide on how to fix the ERR_INTERNET_DISCONNECTED error for more similar fixes.

• Misconfigured Redirect Rules: Loops often occur in case of conflicts in the server settings. This generally happens in files such as nginx.conf or .htaccess for Apache. For example, rule A redirects to B, and B redirects back to A. This chain of redirects limits the browser.
• CMS or Plugin Conflicts: Some WordPress redirect plugins, such as Yoast Redirect Manager, can also cause these issues. Sometimes, conflicts with the security tools also cause this error. Mixing redirects with the themes, plugins, and server rules is also another cause.
• SSL/HTTPS Misconfiguration: If you are using Cloudflare’s Flexible SSL with an origin server that enforces HTTPS, it might also cause a loop. Cloudflare sends HTTP requests, but your server redirects them to HTTPS. This cycle keeps going on and causes the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error. You can switch to Full or Full (Strict) SSL with minimal effort or remove redundant redirects.
• Corrupted Browser Cookies & Cache: It might also happen sometimes that any outdated cookies or cached data are causing this ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error. There are many guides available on caching, such as SiteChecker, which states that a hard refresh or clearing the browser’s cache and cookies often resolves this issue.
• Third-Party/CDN Settings: CDNs like Cloudflare may add redirect rules, such as “Always Use HTTPS,” that might sometimes clash with your origin server’s settings.

How to fix the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error?

Now let’s dive into how to fix the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error that is causing your browser to stay in an endless loop.

1. Deleting Cookies And Cached Data

Outdated cookies and any corrupted data might cause these loops in redirection. Clearing the cached data and cookies regularly sometimes solves the issue of the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error.

Let’s now discuss how to fix the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error by deleting this data from your browser.

Google Chrome

• Go to the top right corner of your Chrome Window and click on the three-dot menu. Then click on Settings.
• Navigate to Privacy and Security, then Clear browsing data.
• Tap on Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files, and click on Delete Data.

Microsoft Edge

• Open your Microsoft Ege brower and click on the three-dot menu and select Settings.
• Go to the Privacy, search, and services option.
• Under Clear browsing data, select Choose what to clear.
• Please ensure that the checkboxes for Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files, are selected. Then click Clear now.
• After clearing the site data, refresh the site to check if the error is resolved.

2. Verify the Website URL Configurations

Sometimes, the URL settings within the Content Management System (CMS), like WordPress, might also be the reason for the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error. In such cases, you need to ensure that you have correctly configured the URLs for your site.

For WordPress

• First, log in to your WordPress dashboard. 
• Then navigate to Settings, then General.
• Then ensure that both the WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL) are set to either http or https.
• If you are unable to access the dashboard, you can modify these settings using the wp-config.php file.

define( 'WP_HOME','https://yourdomain.com' );
define( 'WP_SITEURL','https://yourdomain.com' );

• Just make sure that you use your actual domain name in place of https://yourdomain.com.

3. Turn Off Conflicting Plugins

In some cases, when the Redirect and security plugins conflict, they also result in this type of redirect loop. In such cases, you need to turn off the conflicting plugins. Before you start with the steps to fix the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error, first ensure that you have access to your website’s files via either FTP or through your hosting control panel. 

• Simply first navigate to the wp-content folder.
• From there, just change the name of the plugins folder to plugins_disabled and see whether the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error continues to occur.
• If the site still displays the same error, it may be due to one or more plugins that are causing the issue. 

To find the plugin that is causing the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error, follow the given steps:

• Change the name of the folder plugins_disabled back to plugins. 
• Then, also change the name of each plugin’s folder and then individually disable them.
• Do not forget to check the site to see whether it is still causing the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error after every rename.
• Once you have found out the particular plugin causing the issue, simply change or update the plugin.

4. For Apache Servers, check the .htaccess file

Redirects and other configurations are managed by the .htaccess file. Incorrect rules might cause redirection loops.

To reset .htaccess

• From FTP or a hosting control panel, access your website’s root folder.
• Search for the .htaccess file, then rename the file as .htaccess_backup.
• Then generate a new .htaccess file using the WordPress default rules as follows:

# BEGIN WordPress

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

# END WordPress

• Lastly, click on Save to save all the changes, and confirm whether the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error persists or not.,

5. Check Redirects in Web Server Configurations

For Nginx and other web servers, it might happen that the wrong redirect rules are causing these looping problems.

How to Fix the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error (For Nginx)

• Open your server’s configuration files.
• Look for the conflicting return or rewrite directives option.
• You also need to make sure that the redirects are not pointing back to themselves or creating any kind of loops. Here is an example for your reference, which shows the configuration of redirecting from HTTP to HTTPS. This also led to the removal of the www prefix without causing any kind of loops:

# Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name www.example.com example.com;
    return 301 https://example.com$request_uri;
}

# Redirect 'www' to non-'www' over HTTPS
server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name www.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /path/to/cert.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /path/to/key.pem;

    return 301 https://example.com$request_uri;
}

# Main HTTPS server block
server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name example.com;

    ssl_certificate /path/to/cert.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /path/to/key.pem;

    # Your site's configuration
    root /var/www/example.com;
    index index.html index.htm;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

• Reload the Nginx configuration after all these changes are made.

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

6. Pause CDN or Cloudflare for some time

If CDNs such as Cloudflare are not configured properly, they might also cause the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS problem.

To troubleshoot:

• Firstly, navigate to your CDN provider dashboard.
• Then, click on Pause Cloudflare under the Overview option, or you can also disable the CDN temporarily.
• Then, click on Configuration, then Purge Everything to clear the CDN cache.
• Now, check if the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error persists while loading.
• If the issue is still not resolved, check your CDN’s SSL settings. Pay special attention to the redirect options, as they need to match up with your server settings.

7. Look for Mixed Content Issues and Force HTTPS Properly.

If you are trying to force HTTPS while your configurations are not properly implemented, this could also lead to redirect loops.

To maintain proper HTTPS protocols, you need to ensure the following:

• Your SSL certificate is not expired and is installed correctly.
• Do not use multiple methods to enforce HTTPS; It is generally not recommended to put together the server config as well as plugins.  
• Test your SSL configuration with SSL Labs.
• For WordPress sites, controlling HTTPS redirection can be done safely by using some plugins such as Really Simple SSL.  

8. Restore WordPress to the Default Theme  

Sometimes, resetting your WordPress site to its default theme helps fix the issue of the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error, which is necessary alongside the reset due to the potential presence of hidden redirection rules within custom themes.  To do this, follow the given steps:  

• First, go to your site’s files using FTP or the hosting control panel.  
• Within wp-content/themes, locate and rename the directory of your active theme. Just ensure that if your active theme is mytheme, then it automatically changes to mytheme_backup.  
• WordPress will automatically switch to one of the default themes.
• Testing if the website is functional is a good way to determine if the problem is due to theme-code-based issues.

9. Get Someone With Experience  

If none of the fixes discussed above resolved the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error, you then need to go for expert help. To understand how to fix the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS errors, you can first connect with your hosting company. They can investigate server-side configurations and examine logs related to redirect patterns.

You can also hire a skilled web developer from DevDiggers. A professional can understand your site’s code, server, and CMS settings and be able to identify complex logic errors or misconfigurations that might be responsible for these kinds of errors.

Conclusion

Resolving the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error will restore your site’s functionality. It also helps improve the user experience and search engine performance for your site. Along with this, it also helps you get rid of the never-ending redirect loop in your browser.

Redirect chains and loops can lower SEO value and slow down performance, confusing both users and search crawlers. Fixing these issues will boost your site’s speed, indexing, and authority.

To stop redirect loops, you can follow these steps:

• Clear your cookies and cache.
• Adjust URL settings.
• Check CMS plugins and SSL/TLS settings.
• Verify server and CDN redirects.

Next, you can also test your fixes by using tools that can audit redirect loops and tell you of any issues in case any still remain. Set up regular redirect audits to spot new issues early.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)