Meta refresh redirects: what Google does with them, and what to use instead

1Run the snippet 30 seconds

An instant meta refresh moves you on before you can look, so this reads the page's HTML without following it. Open DevTools (F12), go to the Console and paste:

Copy// Finds meta refresh tags (and a Refresh header) and says what each one does. Running it never follows them.
// For a page that redirects instantly, put its address here and run this from another page on the same origin.
const url = location.href;
const parse = content => {
  // Same rules as browsers: digits first, then an optional "url=", with or without quotes.
  const m = content.match(/^\s*(\d*)(\.[\d.]*)?\s*(?:[;,]\s*|\s+|$)(?:url\s*=\s*)?(['"]?)(.*)$/i);
  if (!m || (!m[1] && !m[2])) return null;
  let target = m[4].trim();
  if (m[3] && target.includes(m[3])) target = target.slice(0, target.indexOf(m[3]));
  return { delay: Number(m[1] || 0), target };
};
const describe = (where, content) => {
  const p = parse(content);
  if (!p) return { where, content, does: 'nothing: browsers ignore this value', google: '' };
  if (!p.target) return { where, content, does: 'reloads the page every ' + p.delay + 's', google: '' };
  let href;
  try { href = new URL(p.target, url).href; } catch { return { where, content, does: 'nothing: the address is invalid', google: '' }; }
  return {
    where, content,
    does: (p.delay === 0 ? 'redirects instantly to ' : 'redirects after ' + p.delay + 's to ') + href,
    google: p.delay === 0 ? 'treats it as a permanent redirect' : 'treats it as a temporary redirect',
  };
};
const tags = doc => [...doc.querySelectorAll('meta[http-equiv="refresh" i]')]
  .map(m => ({ content: m.getAttribute('content') || '', noscript: Boolean(m.closest('noscript')) }));
let res;
try {
  res = await fetch(url, { cache: 'no-store' });
} catch {
  throw new Error('Could not fetch ' + url + '. Run this from a page on the same origin (same protocol, domain and port).');
}
if (res.redirected) console.log('Note: ' + url + ' redirected on the server to ' + res.url + '. Results are for that page.');
const serverTags = tags(new DOMParser().parseFromString(await res.text(), 'text/html'));
const rows = serverTags.map(t => describe(t.noscript ? 'server HTML, inside <noscript> (only without JavaScript)' : 'server HTML', t.content));
if (url === location.href) {
  const fromServer = serverTags.filter(t => !t.noscript).map(t => t.content);
  tags(document).filter(t => !fromServer.includes(t.content)).forEach(t => rows.push(describe('added by JavaScript', t.content)));
}
if (res.headers.get('refresh')) rows.push(describe('Refresh header', res.headers.get('refresh')));
console.table(rows.length ? rows : [{ result: 'No meta refresh or Refresh header' }]);

It lists each meta refresh in the server HTML, any added by JavaScript, and a Refresh header if the server sends one, with what each does and how Google treats it. It never follows them. For a page that redirects instantly, open any other page on the same origin, change the address near the top to that page's, and run it there.

It can only fetch pages on the same origin (the same protocol, domain and port) as the page you run it on. For another site, or another subdomain, use method 2.

2View the source without following it 30 seconds

Type view-source: in front of the address in Chrome's address bar, for example view-source:https://example.com/old-page. The source opens without the redirect firing. Search it for refresh.

3Watch the Network tab 1 minute

Open DevTools, tick Preserve log on the Network tab, and load the page. A server redirect shows as a 301 or 302 on the first request. A meta refresh shows as a 200, followed a moment later by a second page loading. A Refresh header also shows as a 200: click the request and look for Refresh under Response Headers.