URL Redirect Checking

A spreadsheet of image links looks simple until half of them bounce through CDNs, shorteners, or tracking wrappers. URL redirect checking answers where each link actually lands before you spend bandwidth on the wrong file.

Bulk Image Downloader From URL List includes a Redirect Checker tab that runs entirely in your browser.

Step 1: paste and run the redirect checker

Open the Redirect Checker on the options page. Paste HTTP or HTTPS URLs, one per line, and start the check. The tool:

• sends HEAD requests first, falling back to GET when HEAD is blocked (405/403)
• follows redirect chains manually up to 20 hops
• records each hop with status code and final destination
• outputs copyable lists—original URLs, final URLs, chains, and status codes

All processing stays client-side; your list is not uploaded to a remote checker service.

Step 2: read the results

Healthy chains end at the image-serving URL you expect. Watch for:

• redirect loops or “maximum redirect limit reached” errors
• final URLs that land on login pages, HTML error pages, or non-image content
• multiple source URLs resolving to the same final file (duplicate risk)
• short links or affiliate wrappers you may want to replace with the final URL

Step 3: pair with the 404 checker

Redirects tell you where a URL goes. The 404 checker tests whether the destination is reachable (HEAD with GET fallback). Run both on scraped lists, then remove dead entries before building a task. Neither checker auto-updates your task—copy cleaned URLs in manually.

Step 4: clean the list for download

1. replace wrapper URLs with final destinations where appropriate
2. drop chains that error or exceed the hop limit
3. run URL deduplication so redirected duplicates collapse
4. apply dimension, file-type, or domain filters on the real destinations

Step 5: what redirect checking cannot fix

• hotlink protection that blocks bulk downloads even when the final URL loads in a browser tab
• URLs that require cookies or headers the checker cannot attach
• sites that return different responses to automated requests
• broken permissions or expired signed URLs—you still need a fresh source link

Checking gives evidence to edit the list; it does not guarantee every host allows bulk saving.

For chain mechanics, see URL redirect chains explained. Install the extension and run redirect checks on old exports before large batches.

Read the chain, not just the destination

The checker follows each URL and reports the chain it took. A single hop is normal and harmless. A chain of several hops is a performance cost on every request, and a short link that hides a chain is worth knowing about before it is published or sent to a client.

Look for the failure shapes

Three results deserve a second look: a final URL that lands on a login page or an HTML error page instead of an image, multiple source URLs resolving to the same final file, and a redirect loop. The first means the asset is not really there, the second is a duplicate in waiting, and the third will fail for visitors.

The right place to run a redirect check

A redirect check belongs outside the download, and the extension arranges it that way. Check redirects and Find broken links open in their own window, unlike Filter images and Find duplicates, which open on top of Home. Running the check separately means the list you paste into a download is already reduced to final destinations. Because the same link is not kept twice within one download, any duplicate you leave in the cleaned list is silently merged at save time, so the download stays tidy without another pass.

Continue reading: Organize Bulk Image Downloads From CSV.