Do you ever get the feeling that you’re in the Twilight Zone? Or maybe you’ve experienced that eerie Déjà vu feeling – you know what I mean right? It’s one of those things where the event you’re currently experiencing seems to have already happened in the past – and it feels weird.
Well the “redirect loop” error reminds me of Deja vu because it doesn’t matter how many times you reload the page – the error inexorably remains.
Sometimes it manifests itself as a laconic and somewhat cryptic message:
The webpage has a redirect loop
Other times the redirect error barfs up the following abstruse details:
Error 310 (net::ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS)
So how can we handle this?
There are a few ways to approach this problem. One way is to press F12 to open the Chrome Developer Toolbar and then clicking the Network tab to see if you can locate the redirect initiator. But that’s really just for curious folks – if all you care about is fixing the problem check this out:
Here are my top three tips for fixing the “this webpage has a redirect loop” error in Chrome.
1. Check your System Time and Time Zone
Sounds weird I know but sometimes if you’re traveling across time zones, Windows won’t automatically update the system time and this can cause your browser to behave capriciously.
As an Administrator in Windows 8 or 8.1, you can press the Windows logo key + the letter q and enter this phrase:
date and time
Or you can simply right-click the Taskbar in the bottom right corner of the screen and choose Adjust date/time from the context menu.
If this is your personal computer you’ll see an Internet Time tab. Click this and then choose the Change settings… button which will open the Internet Time Settings.
Verify the server is set to time.windows.com and click Update now.
Incidentally, if you don’t have an Internet Time tab it’s because your computer is joined to a Windows Domain and is receiving time synchronization from a Domain Controller. In that case, if your time is wonky, you’ll need your System Administrator to update it for you.
After confirming the time change, revisit that recalcitrant web page you tried earlier and refresh.
2. Cookies yum yum I love cookies
Clearing your cookies is another prudent action.
In Chrome, it’s just a matter of pressing Ctrl + Shift + Del and clicking Clear browsing data button near the bottom of the window.
Now give that website a whirl and see if it’s nice to you this time.
Just realize this will clear out your saved passwords too so if you don’t want that, uncheck the Passwords box before clicking Clear browsing data.
3. Nuke the browser
If that doesn’t do the trick I suggest you reset your browser settings. This is a last resort solution but it will most likely fix the problem.
Resetting not only clears all your:
- Passwords
- Form data
- Cached media
- Cookies and
- History
but it also:
- Disables all extensions and themes
- Removes pinned tabs
- Clears your homepage and
- Resets your default search engine settings
It won’t delete Chrome itself but rather reverts it to the way it was on the first day it was installed.
To get started just copy and paste this in the search bar and press enter
chrome://settings/resetProfileSettings
Incidentally, entering the above address won’t automatically nuke your settings. You’ll still need to explicitly confirm your action before Chrome clears everything out.
The Bottom Line
Break the cycle. When Chrome starts complaining about redirect loops just do three things:
- Check the clock
- Clear the cache
- Kill the browser settings
This is a mighty trio of options that usually fixes the problem.
On a side note, if you’re seeing these redirect loops on your personal WordPress site you probably need fiddle with the .htaccess file. Try backing it up and then creating a new empty .htaccess file. Or sometimes resetting your Permalinks in the Dashboard fixes it.
I actually encountered this redirect problem on one of my sites and finally figured out there was a bad rule in my .htaccess file. After removing that the problem went away.
Oh and by the way, if this article helped you, please consider joining my team!
You can become a member for free by simply popping your email address into the signup form in the right rail. I’m planning to send exclusive content to my members (original stuff that I don’t give to regular visitors) so – think about it!
Anyway, if you have any thoughts just leave them in the comments below. I’m curious to know which of the three tricks fixed your redirect problems.
As always, thanks for taking the time to read my blog!
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