Htaccess Redirect Generator

What this tool does

Htaccess Redirect Generator turns a simple list of old and new URLs into Apache rules. Choose mod_rewrite, RedirectMatch or Redirect, add HTTPS and www canonicalisation, trailing-slash handling and whole-domain moves, and get correctly escaped patterns with explanatory comments.

Whenever URLs change (after a redesign, a CMS migration, a new domain or merged content) the old addresses keep receiving visits from bookmarks, backlinks and search results. Permanent redirects send those visitors and search engines to the new page and pass on its accumulated signals. On Apache servers the redirects usually live in an .htaccess file, whose syntax is unforgiving: an unescaped dot or a missing flag creates rules that match the wrong URLs or loop forever.

This generator reads one “old new” pair per line and writes the rules for you. It escapes regular-expression characters in paths, anchors patterns so they match exactly, handles old URLs with query strings through RewriteCond, writes [G] rules for pages that are gone for good, and can add site-wide HTTPS, www and trailing-slash rules. The rule list is processed locally in your browser.

How to use Htaccess Redirect Generator

1. Paste your redirects into “Redirects (old new, one per line)”; old URLs can be paths or full URLs, and 410 marks removed pages.
2. Choose the Redirect type; 301 is right for permanent moves.
3. Pick a Rule style: RewriteRule for exact matches and query strings, or RedirectMatch/Redirect if mod_rewrite is unavailable.
4. Set Force HTTPS, Host name and Trailing slash, and fill in the domain move fields if you are changing domains.
5. Download the .htaccess output, back up your existing file, and paste the rules near its top.
6. Test several old URLs with a redirect checker or curl -I to confirm one clean hop to the destination.

Tips for better results

• Redirect to the most relevant equivalent page, not to the home page; mass home-page redirects are treated like soft 404s.
• Point redirects straight to the final URL to avoid chains such as old → interim → new.
• Use 410 for content that is deliberately removed with no replacement; it signals permanence more clearly than 404.
• Keep redirects in place for at least a year, ideally indefinitely, because old links stay around for a long time.

Common use cases

• Mapping hundreds of old blog URLs to a new structure after a migration.
• Moving a site from an old domain to a new one while preserving every path.
• Forcing HTTPS and a single host name to remove duplicate versions of the site.
• Retiring discontinued product pages with 410 or redirects to their successors.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Using a prefix-matching Redirect rule that unintentionally catches other URLs starting with the same path.
• Placing rules after WordPress’s rewrite block, so they never run.
• Creating loops, for example redirecting /page to /page/ while another rule strips the slash again.
• Uploading .htaccess to an nginx server, which ignores the file; nginx needs return or rewrite directives in its config.