How to Resolve the ‘Error Too Many Redirects’ Issue in WordPress
Dealing with the ‘Error too many redirects’ issue on your WordPress website can be frustrating, but it’s a common problem that can be caused by various factors such as plugins or incorrect settings. This error can leave users locked out of their WordPress sites, making it a critical issue to address.
In this article, we’ll guide you on how to efficiently fix the ‘Error too many redirects’ problem in WordPress. We’ll also cover steps to regain access to your website and troubleshoot the error.
What Triggers the ‘Error Too Many Redirects’ Problem in WordPress?
The ‘Error too many redirects’ occurs due to a misconfigured redirection issue in WordPress.
WordPress uses an SEO-friendly URL structure, and various plugins leverage the redirect function to establish temporary or permanent redirects, manage SSL insecure content, or handle caching. However, conflicts in the setup or configuration of these redirects can lead to the ‘too many redirects’ error.
When encountering this issue, browsers display messages such as ‘ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS’ in Google Chrome or ‘The page isn’t redirecting properly’ in Firefox, without specifying the exact cause of the conflict.
Now, let’s delve into a step-by-step guide on troubleshooting, regaining access to your WordPress site, and implementing preventive measures to avoid the ‘Error too many redirects’ problem.
1. Clear Browser Cookies and Cache
The ‘Error too many redirects’ issue can be related to browser cookies. Attempt to access your website using an alternative browser like Firefox, Safari, Opera, or Microsoft Edge.
If your site functions correctly in a different browser, the problem may be due to cookies and cache in your regular browser. Clearing these could help resolve the issue. You can follow our comprehensive guide on clearing browser cache in major browsers.
If switching browsers doesn’t resolve the problem, proceed to the next step.
2. Deactivate All WordPress Plugins
A common cause of redirect loops or ‘ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS’ in WordPress is a plugin conflict. When a plugin attempts to set up a redirect that clashes with default WordPress redirects, it can trigger this error.
To address this, deactivate all WordPress plugins on your website. Typically, you would navigate to the Plugins » All Plugins page in the WordPress admin area to deactivate plugins. However, if the redirect error prevents access to the admin area, use an FTP client like FileZilla or the File Manager app in your hosting control panel.
Connect to your website via FTP and locate the /wp-content/ folder.
Within /wp-content/, find the ‘plugins’ folder and rename it to ‘plugins.deactivate’.
Renaming the plugins folder using FTP
WordPress searches for a folder named ‘plugins’ to load plugin files. When this folder is not found, WordPress automatically deactivates active plugins in the database.
Now, attempt to visit your WordPress site. If you can log in to the admin area, it indicates that one of the plugins caused the error.
To identify the problematic plugin, revert to the FTP client or File Manager app, and rename the ‘plugins.deactivate’ folder back to ‘plugins’.
Then, go to the WordPress admin area and navigate to Plugins » All Plugins. Activate your plugins one by one and check your website after each activation to identify the plugin causing the error.
Once you pinpoint the troublesome plugin, consider finding an alternative or report the issue on the plugin’s WordPress support forum.
3. Fix WordPress URLs
Misconfigurations in WordPress URL settings can also lead to the ‘Error too many redirects.’ Typically, these settings can be found on the Settings » General page.
WordPress URL settings
Ensure that the URLs in the WordPress Address and Site Address fields are the same. In most cases, both should either include ‘www’ or exclude it. Mismatched URL formats may cause the error.
If you don’t have access to the WordPress admin area, you can correct the WordPress URLs using an FTP client or the File Manager app.
Connect to your WordPress site via an FTP client and navigate to /wp-content/themes/your-theme-folder/.
Edit functions.php file
Locate the functions.php file and edit it using a plain text editor like Notepad or TextEdit.
Add the following code at the bottom:
update_option( 'siteurl', 'https://example.com' );
update_option( 'home', 'https://example.com' );
Don’t forget to replace ‘https://example.com’ with your actual site URLs. Save your changes and upload the file back to your website. Afterward, check if this resolves the error by visiting your website.
4. Reset WordPress .htaccess File
The .htaccess file is a crucial component used by the website server to manage redirects and other server settings. WordPress also relies on this file for SEO-friendly URLs and various redirects.
At times, WordPress plugins may modify your website’s .htaccess file, triggering errors. Deactivating a plugin might not undo those changes in the .htaccess file.
To manually reset your WordPress .htaccess file, access your website through an FTP client or the File Manager app in your hosting dashboard. Once connected, locate the .htaccess file in the root folder of your website.
If you can’t find your .htaccess file, refer to our guide on locating the .htaccess file in WordPress.
First, download a copy of your .htaccess file to your computer as a backup. Afterward, you can delete the file from your website.
Now, try accessing your WordPress blog. If everything functions normally, it indicates that your .htaccess file was causing the redirect error.
Since we deleted the .htaccess file, you need to recreate it. Normally, your WordPress website can do this automatically. To ensure it, go to the Settings » Permalinks page and click the ‘Save changes’ button at the bottom.
5. Preventing Error Too Many Redirects in WordPress
With any luck, the aforementioned steps have resolved the redirect issue on your website. If the problem persists, it’s advisable to contact your WordPress hosting company to rule out any server-related issues.
Once the hosting company addresses the problem on your site, take the opportunity to identify the root cause.
If a plugin triggered the issue, report it to the plugin’s support forum using our guide on how to seek WordPress support. In case you encounter difficulties getting assistance, consider finding an alternative plugin with similar functionality.
If the error resulted from misconfigurations on your WordPress site, take note of the corrections made and ensure your site settings are properly configured.