HTTP Headers Parser

HTTP Headers Parser shows the response headers a web server sends back for any URL, exactly as they arrive: the status line, caching, content type, server, cookies and security headers. If the URL redirects, it follows every hop (up to 20) and shows the headers of each one, so you see the whole chain from the first request to the final page.

How to use the HTTP headers checker

1. Enter a URL. If you leave out https://, it is added for you.
2. Click the button.
3. Read the headers hop by hop. A summary shows how many redirects there were and where they ended. Use the share menu to send someone the result.

The headers worth checking

• Status line: 200 OK, 301 or 302 redirect, 404 not found, 500 server error. See our guide to HTTP status codes.
• Location: where a redirect sends the visitor.
• Cache-Control, Expires, ETag, Age: how long browsers and CDNs may keep the response. Missing caching on images and scripts slows repeat visits.
• Content-Type and Content-Encoding: the format of the response and whether it is compressed (gzip or br).
• Server, X-Powered-By, CF-Ray, X-Cache: the software, platform or CDN in front of the site.
• Set-Cookie: cookies the site sets, with their Secure, HttpOnly and SameSite flags.
• Security headers: Strict-Transport-Security, Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options and Referrer-Policy. Grade them with the Security Headers Checker.
• X-Robots-Tag: a noindex sent in a header hides a page from Google even when the HTML looks fine.

When it comes in handy

• Checking that a redirect returns 301, not 302, and lands on the right URL.
• Making sure a CDN caches your pages and assets.
• Finding why a page is not indexed: a stray X-Robots-Tag or a redirect loop.
• Confirming that compression and HTTPS headers are on after a server change.

Frequently asked questions