How to redirect a URL in Shopify

A URL redirect sends traffic from one web page to another. When you change a URL in your Shopify store, for instance by deleting a product, you can create a URL redirect to ensure your customers can still find what they're looking for instead of seeing an error page. (Creating and managing URL redirects)

What is a URL redirect in Shopify?

A URL redirect is a way to send a visitor who requests an old page to a new one automatically. For example, if you rename a product, its URL changes. A redirect ensures that anyone using the old link lands on the new product page instead of a "404 Page not found" error. This maintains a smooth customer experience and helps preserve your search engine rankings. (Creating and managing URL redirects)

When should you use a URL redirect?

Setting up redirects is a good practice whenever you make changes that would otherwise lead to a broken link. By redirecting the old URL, you keep website traffic flowing and avoid frustrating potential customers.

Here are the most common scenarios for creating a URL redirect:

• Deleting a product or page. If you remove a product, you can redirect its old URL to a similar product or the collection it belonged to. (Creating and managing URL redirects)
• Changing a product or collection URL. If you update the name of a product or page, Shopify may automatically create a redirect. It is a good practice to check that a redirect is in place.
• Managing out-of-stock or seasonal items. You can hide a collection, like for a season that has passed, and redirect its URL to a current collection. When you make the old collection visible again, the redirect is automatically removed.
• Rebranding or moving your store. If you are moving to a new domain, redirects are essential to guide traffic from your old URLs to your new ones, preserving your customer base and search engine authority.

How to create a URL redirect in Shopify

You can create a URL redirect directly within your Shopify admin. The new destination can be a page within your store (a relative URL like /collections/shirts) or a page on a completely different website (a full URL like http://www.anothersite.com). (Creating and managing URL redirects) Redirects become active as soon as you save them.

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Content, then Menus. (Creating and managing URL redirects)
2. Click View URL Redirects.
3. Click Create URL redirect.
4. In Redirect from, enter the old URL that you want to redirect visitors from.
5. In Redirect to, enter the new URL that you want to redirect visitors to. To redirect to your store's home page, enter /.
6. Click Save redirect.

How to manage your Shopify URL redirects

Over time, you may accumulate a long list of redirects. Shopify provides tools to help you manage them efficiently, whether you need to find, edit, or remove them. You can filter, edit individually or in bulk, and even export or import redirects using a CSV file. (Creating and managing URL redirects)

Common mistakes with Shopify URL redirects

While creating redirects is straightforward, a few common issues can prevent them from working as expected. If a redirect isn't working, it is often because the original URL isn't broken or it's a path that Shopify reserves for its own functions. (Creating and managing URL redirects)

• Redirecting a live URL: A URL redirect will only work if the "Redirect from" URL leads to a "404 Page not found" error. If the URL still loads a valid webpage, the redirect will not function. To fix this, you must first delete the page, change its status to draft, or hide the product or collection from the online store sales channel. (Creating and managing URL redirects)
• Using reserved URL paths: Shopify prevents you from redirecting certain system-level URLs. These include paths starting with /apps, /cart, /orders, and /services. You also cannot redirect fixed paths like /products or /collections/all.
• Typos in the URLs: A simple spelling mistake in either the "Redirect from" or "Redirect to" field is a frequent cause of failure. Double-check both URLs for accuracy.
• Browser caching: If you create a redirect, test it, and then delete it, your browser might still perform the redirect because it has cached the instruction. Clear your browser's cache or use a different browser or device to confirm that a redirect has been successfully removed.

A worked example: Redirecting a seasonal collection

Imagine you run a clothing store and have a collection for your autumn apparel at the URL /collections/fall. When summer arrives, you want to hide the fall collection and guide any visitors who land on that old link to your new summer collection instead.

First, you would make the fall collection unavailable on your online store. You can do this by changing its visibility to Hidden. This action makes the /collections/fall URL a broken link, which is necessary for a redirect to work. (Creating and managing URL redirects)

Next, you would create a URL redirect:

• Redirect from: /collections/fall
• Redirect to: /collections/summer

Now, any customer who navigates to the old fall collection URL will be automatically sent to the summer collection. When autumn comes around again and you want to feature the fall collection, you can change its visibility back to Visible. When you do this, Shopify automatically deletes the redirect because the /collections/fall URL is no longer a broken link. (Creating and managing URL redirects) If you hide the collection again next year, you will need to recreate the redirect.

Read next

• Can you undo a change in Shopify?

Written by Odera Joseph Echendu Founder of Actorly

Odera Joseph Echendu is the founder of Actorly, a Shopify app from ONDUTYOPS LLC that keeps a searchable history of the changes it can see in a store. He spent seven years leading customer support and technical support inside high-growth SaaS and e-commerce companies.

All posts by Odera Joseph Echendu