The WordPress too many redirects error is one of the more disorienting problems a site owner can face because it produces the browser’s ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS message with no useful explanation of what is looping or why. Chrome calls it “This page isn’t working — yoursite.com redirected you too many times.” Firefox says “The page isn’t redirecting properly.” Either way, the browser has detected a circular redirect — a situation where page A redirects to page B which redirects back to page A, or a longer chain that loops back on itself — and stopped the request before it became infinite. The WordPress too many redirects error is almost always caused by a mismatch between where WordPress thinks the site lives and where the server is actually serving it from, an SSL configuration problem, a conflict between WordPress redirect rules and server redirect rules, or a plugin that is creating a redirect chain it cannot escape from. Every fix in this guide targets one of those root causes, and working through them in order resolves the WordPress too many redirects error in most cases within minutes. You’ll find the complete rundown in our WordPress Errors Complete Guide.
Why the WordPress Too Many Redirects Error Happens
To understand why the WordPress too many redirects error occurs, it helps to understand how WordPress handles page requests. When a visitor requests a URL, WordPress checks the requested URL against its configured site address. If the URL does not match — different protocol, different www prefix, different domain — WordPress issues a redirect to the canonical URL. In normal operation, this redirect happens once and the browser follows it to the correct page. The WordPress too many redirects error occurs when the redirect never resolves because the destination of the redirect is itself subject to another redirect, creating a loop.
The most common scenario producing the WordPress too many redirects error is a mismatch between the WordPress Site URL (configured in Settings → General) and the actual URL the server serves the site on. If WordPress believes the site should be at https://yoursite.com but the server is serving it at http://yoursite.com, WordPress redirects HTTP to HTTPS. But if there is simultaneously an SSL configuration problem causing the server to redirect HTTPS back to HTTP, the two redirect rules fight each other and produce the WordPress too many redirects error loop. Neither redirect wins; the browser gives up after a defined number of attempts and shows the error.
Adding an SSL certificate to an existing WordPress site is the most common trigger for the WordPress too many redirects error because it introduces HTTPS handling at both the server level and the WordPress level simultaneously. When both are configured to redirect — the server forcing HTTPS, WordPress also configured to force HTTPS but not recognising the server’s SSL termination — the result is the WordPress too many redirects error. Plugin redirect rules, .htaccess entries, and CDN or load balancer configurations can each introduce additional redirect layers that compound this problem.
Fix WordPress URL Settings to Clear the Too Many Redirects Error
The most reliably effective first fix for the WordPress too many redirects error is correcting the WordPress Address and Site Address settings. Because the dashboard is often inaccessible when the WordPress too many redirects error is active — the redirect loop affects every URL including /wp-admin/ — this fix is best applied through wp-config.php, which overrides whatever is stored in the database.
- Connect to your server via FTP and open
wp-config.phpfrom the WordPress root directory - Add these two lines directly before the line that reads “That’s all, stop editing! Happy publishing.”:
define( 'WP_HOME', 'https://yoursite.com' ); define( 'WP_SITEURL', 'https://yoursite.com' );
Use the exact URL the site should be served on — with or without www, and with the correct protocol. Do not include a trailing slash.
- Save
wp-config.phpand reload the site in a fresh browser window (use Ctrl+Shift+R to bypass the browser’s cached redirect) - If the WordPress too many redirects error clears, the URL mismatch was the cause. Log in to the WordPress admin, go to Settings → General, verify the displayed URLs match the constants you just added, then remove the constants from
wp-config.php— the database values are now correct - If the error persists, leave the constants in place and proceed to the SSL configuration fix below
A common variant of the WordPress too many redirects error caused by URL settings is a www versus non-www mismatch. If WordPress is configured for https://www.yoursite.com but the server serves https://yoursite.com and also issues a redirect from non-www to www, the chain can loop. Always verify that the WordPress URL settings and the .htaccess redirect rules both agree on whether www should or should not be included in the canonical URL.
SSL and HTTPS Configuration Behind the WordPress Too Many Redirects Error
SSL-related configuration problems are the second most common source of the WordPress too many redirects error, and they are the most common cause on sites that just added an SSL certificate for the first time. The core problem is usually that multiple components are each trying to handle the HTTP-to-HTTPS redirect independently, creating a loop rather than a single clean redirect.
The typical SSL-caused WordPress too many redirects error scenario on shared hosting: the hosting panel has SSL enabled and is redirecting HTTP to HTTPS at the server level. The WordPress site URL is set to HTTPS, so WordPress also tries to issue its own HTTPS redirect. A security plugin or the Really Simple SSL plugin is simultaneously adding a third HTTPS enforcement rule in .htaccess. These three layers of redirect do not always stack cleanly — on some server configurations, particularly those where SSL is terminated at a load balancer rather than at the WordPress server, the redundant redirects produce the WordPress too many redirects error.
The diagnostic approach for SSL-caused WordPress too many redirects errors is systematic removal. Start by checking .htaccess for multiple redirect rules:
| Source | What to Look For | Action |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress defaults | # BEGIN WordPress block with RewriteRules | Keep — these are required for WordPress permalinks |
| HTTPS forced redirect | RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off + RewriteRule | Keep only one — remove duplicates from plugins or manual additions |
| www/non-www redirect | RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} with www | Ensure this matches your canonical domain choice |
| Plugin redirect rules | Comments naming a plugin (e.g. # Really Simple SSL) | Remove if duplicating the server-level redirect |
On servers where SSL is terminated upstream of the WordPress server — by a CDN, a load balancer, or a reverse proxy — WordPress does not see the request as HTTPS even when the visitor accessed the site via HTTPS. This causes WordPress to continuously redirect to HTTPS that it perceives as already being HTTP, producing the WordPress too many redirects error loop. The fix is adding $_SERVER['HTTPS'] = 'on'; to wp-config.php, which tells WordPress that the connection is already HTTPS regardless of what the incoming request headers show.
Deactivate Plugins That Create the WordPress Too Many Redirects Loop
Plugins that manage redirects, enforce HTTPS, handle login redirects, or manage maintenance mode are frequent contributors to the WordPress too many redirects error. The reason is that these plugins operate by hooking into WordPress’s redirect system, and when multiple plugins each add their own redirect rules without awareness of each other’s rules, circular chains can result. Redirect manager plugins are particularly prone to accidentally creating the WordPress too many redirects error when a user creates a redirect rule that loops — redirecting a URL to itself, or creating a chain where URL A redirects to URL B and URL B redirects to URL A.
Because the WordPress too many redirects error typically blocks the admin panel, plugin deactivation must go through FTP. Navigate to wp-content/plugins/ and rename the entire plugins folder to plugins_disabled. Reload the site. If the WordPress too many redirects error clears, rename the folder back and identify the specific plugin by reactivating them one at a time. Priority candidates to test first: redirect manager plugins, HTTPS enforcement plugins (Really Simple SSL, WP Force SSL), security plugins with login redirect features, and maintenance mode plugins.
Once the specific plugin causing the WordPress too many redirects error is identified, check its settings before simply deleting it. Many redirect plugins create the loop through a user-configured rule rather than a plugin bug — deleting a circular redirect rule in the plugin’s redirect list resolves the WordPress too many redirects error while keeping the plugin functional for all legitimate redirects you actually need.
Clear Browser Cache and Check for Cached Redirects
Not every WordPress too many redirects error is a server-side problem. Browsers cache redirects aggressively — a 301 permanent redirect that pointed to a now-broken destination can keep looping in the browser’s redirect cache even after the server-side problem is resolved. This is particularly common when the WordPress too many redirects error appears in one browser but not another, or when it appears for one user but not others. The browser carrying the cached redirect keeps looping; browsers without the cached redirect connect without issue.
Clearing the browser cache and cookies is the simplest test and often the complete fix when the WordPress too many redirects error is isolated to a single device or browser. In Chrome: Settings → Privacy and security → Delete browsing data → check Cached images and files and Cookies and other site data → Delete data. After clearing, attempt to load the site again in a new browser window. If the WordPress too many redirects error is gone, the loop existed in the browser cache and the server configuration is actually fine.
Our guide on fixing the WordPress login redirect loop covers the specific case where the WordPress too many redirects error appears only at the login page, which has its own distinct causes and solutions separate from the sitewide redirect loop covered here. Our guide on fixing the WordPress mixed content error covers the SSL and HTTPS configuration issues that often appear alongside the WordPress too many redirects error after an HTTP-to-HTTPS migration. The Chrome DevTools documentation covers the Network tab redirect chain view that shows every redirect in the loop the browser is following, which is the most useful diagnostic tool when the cause of the WordPress too many redirects error is not immediately obvious from the URL and configuration inspection alone. You might also run into How to Fix WordPress 429 Too Many Requests Error.
