302 Redirect
Tells browsers a page has temporarily moved — every click checks back with the original URL.
A 302 redirect is the web's version of temporary mail forwarding — "send my mail to this hotel for the conference week, then back to my home address." When someone clicks a link with a 302 in place, the browser is sent to a different address — but unlike a 301 redirect, the browser doesn't remember the new address. The next click checks back with the original server, which can decide where to send the visitor this time.
For example, a bookstore running a one-week pop-up could 302 their /events page to a custom landing page just for that week, then drop the redirect afterward. Visitors during the week land on the pop-up; visitors before or after get the regular events page.
302 vs 301 — what actually differs
The labels "permanent" and "temporary" are slightly misleading. The real distinction is whether browsers and search engines remember the redirect.
301 vs 302 — what actually happens
- First request
- Server returns 301 + Location
- Browser cache
- Cached, possibly indefinitely
- Second request
- Skipped — browser uses cached destination
- Search engines
- Drop original from index, transfer ranking to destination
- Hard to undo?
- Yes — caches must expire first
Use for
- · Renamed page or slug
- · Domain migration
- · HTTPS upgrade
- First request
- Server returns 302 + Location
- Browser cache
- Not cached — every request hits the server
- Second request
- Goes back to original URL, server decides again
- Search engines
- Keep original URL in index
- Hard to undo?
- No — change destination anytime
Use for
- · Conditional routing (country, device, time)
- · Short links you may edit later
- · Temporary maintenance pages
The single biggest practical difference: 301s are cached by browsers and search engines, 302s aren't. If the destination might change, you want a 302.
A 301 is a commitment: "this is the new home, forget the old URL." A 302 is a soft handoff: "go here for now, but check back next time."
Try it
Three questions and we'll point you at 301 or 302.
Try it — 301 or 302?
Do all visitors get sent to the same destination?
If different visitors go to different URLs (by country, device, time, randomly, etc.), answer No.
Where 302 fits
Three patterns where 302 is the natural choice:
- The destination might change later. A bio-link page you point at a different campaign each season. A short link you want to be able to update.
- Different visitors land in different places. A Redirect by Country, Redirect by Device, or Redirect by Time link sends each click to the right destination based on context. The redirect's behaviour is dynamic — exactly what 302 is designed for.
- You're routing for a specific window. Holiday hours, seasonal campaigns, A/B tests, planned maintenance redirects — anything that ends.
If the move is permanent, use a 301 instead — it transfers SEO ranking signals to the new URL and lets browsers stop hitting the old one.
Why most short links use 302
Every short link is a redirect, and most short-link services use 302 by default. The reason is editability: the appeal of a short link is that you can update where it points without changing the URL itself. A 302 makes that change effective immediately for every visitor. A 301 would leave many browsers stuck going to the old destination because they'd already remembered it.
Common mistakes
- Using 302 for a permanent move. If a page has moved for good — domain migration, page rename — a 302 keeps search engines crawling the old URL and may not transfer ranking signals to the new one. Use a 301 instead.
- Using 301 when you might change your mind. A 301 is hard to undo because browsers remember it. If there's any chance the destination might change, prefer 302.
- Stacking long chains. Every redirect adds latency and a failure point. Three hops is starting to be too many.
References
The formal behavior of 302 is defined in RFC 9110 §15.4.3.