Introduction
You’re not alone if you attempted to access your WordPress site and received an error message like, “This page isn’t working – redirected too many times.” The “Too Many Redirects” error is one of the most common problems WordPress users face, particularly if you have a website hosted on shared hosting, VPS hosting, or managed WordPress hosting plans. While it is not immediately obvious, the version of the “Too Many Redirects” error can be solved, more or less, through some small modifications and especially if you can access your hosting account through cPanel.
What Does “Too Many Redirects” Mean in WordPress?
This issue essentially means your website has hit an infinite loop of redirection. For example, you could be rerouting from the non-secure (HTTP) to the secure (HTTPS) version of the site; and then it goes back to the original version due to conflicting preferences. The browser then recognizes the loop, and successfully stops loading the site, as that protects the user. Ultimately, the issue you are experiencing is caused by a misconfiguration of your WordPress settings, hosting panel, or SSL setup preferences. If you’re using any of the popular web hosting platforms that utilize cPanel, then this makes the fix much easier.
Why This Error Happens on Hosting Servers
There are many reasons a cPanel-hosted WordPress site might get into a redirection loop. A leading cause of this is how your WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL) are configured, especially when switching between www and non-www or HTTP and HTTPS. The other major cause is typically a plugin, usually a redirection or caching type plugin, that controls what happens when a URL is accessed. If you are using cloud hosting or CDN services like Cloudflare, there may be an incorrect SSL setting. For shared or VPS hosting sites, misconfigured .htaccess files or end-user automatic redirects created by your hosting provider contribute to the redirection loop.
Start with Browser Cache and Cookies
Before diving into changes on your server, it’s a good idea to rule out problems on the browser side. Sometimes, your browser stores old redirect paths that no longer apply. Clearing your browser’s cache and cookies can often resolve the issue immediately. This is especially true after moving your site to a new domain or switching to a different hosting provider. If your site works in incognito or private mode but not in a regular browser window, the problem may not even be with your hosting setup.
Fixing WordPress URLs from cPanel
If you find yourself unable to access your WordPress dashboard due to the redirect error, don’t worry! You can still update the site URL straight from cPanel! Simply log into your hosting account and go to File Manager. Go into your WordPress root directory, which is typically public_html, and edit the wp-config.php file. Adding two lines of code, you can force WordPress to use the desired URLs and terminate the redirect loop. You would add the following for example:
define(‘WP_HOME’, ‘https://yourdomain.com’);
define(‘WP_SITEURL’, ‘https://yourdomain.com’);
Make sure you use the identical protocol your site is using—HTTP or HTTPS. This is a particularly effective method on VPS hosting with cPanel where you have full control over your configuration.
Dealing with Plugin or Theme Conflicts
If the redirect problem begins after you have installed, or updated, a plugin, especially anything SEO related or caching tools, the problem could very well be caused by the plugin. Since you do have access to the dashboard, the best way to troubleshoot would be using cPanel. Navigate to File Manager, then locate wp-content/plugins. Rename the folder of the plugin you believe is triggering the redirect. You may also want to disable your theme by switching it to one of the default WordPress themes, ie: Twenty Twenty-One. With these methods we can narrow down whether it is a plugin, or the theme causing the issue. Troubleshooting in this manner is common with websites hosted in a shared WordPress hosting environment as it is in these environments that compatibility issues while updating a plugin often occur.
Handling .htaccess and SSL Redirect Issues
The .htaccess file controls the way URLs are handled and redirected on Apache servers. Since shared hosting providers love to use Apache servers, people could easily create redirect loops by bad .htaccess files. If you suspect the file could be the issue, you’ll want to access it through cPanel’s File Manager. After backing up the file, you can then select all the contents in it and replace it with default WordPress rules. If you just set up an SSL certificate through cPanel via your shared hosting provider and enabled HTTPS redirection from your cPanel (and you did that through your SSL plug-in) then the two redirections could be working against each other. Always ensure you are only using one method of redirecting. If you can help it, use the hosting panel or plug-in and don’t use both of them. Sometimes hosting providers with built-in SSL and auto redirect (most notably Let’s Encrypt or AutoSSL) internally make their own new rules for your site, and they get in the way of your redirect, so always check back to the hosting provider or read their documentation if you are uncertain.
How to Prevent Redirect Errors in Future
Once your site is back up, you must do what you can to avoid having to deal with this error again. Make sure that your hosting provider offers full SSL integration and allows clear control over the redirection settings. It is also prudent not to have multiple redirection or caching plugins, and instead use one plugin for redirection and one for caching, to reduce confusion or overlap, if that’s possible. Always test changes from your live site on a staging site if your hosting provider offers one. It is common on cloud hosting and managed WordPress hosting services. If switching domains and URL’s make sure every front-end, back-end, .htaccess, database, CDN settings are consistent. Always keep your hosting plan up to date. In some circumstances, it may make sense to transition from shared hosting to a VPS or cloud hosting configuration for additional control and resilience, especially if your site is in a growth phase.
Conclusion
The “Too Many Redirects” issue in WordPress can be frustrating, but most of the time, it is just a result of a small misconfiguration that can be quickly corrected and resolved through the cPanel process.
Regardless of whether you are using Managed vps, VPS, or cloud WordPress hosting, the important thing here is to keep track of the problems you have made and put a solution in place. Primarily starting with clearing browser cookies, rechecking your WordPress URL settings, disable potentially conflicting plugin(s), etc. , is done as an organized process. Each of the solutions can be implemented in cPanel fairly simply without too much technical expertise required.
Moving forward, choosing a good host offering good support and SSL service can significantly reduce the risk of being in situations that run into repeated problems caused by redirects or back-end errors./
If your host does not have solid redirect support, and if you repeatedly run into back-end errors, it is time to get a better WordPress hosting service that gives you the control you deserve to manage your WordPress site confidently.
