HTTP Status Codes
HTTP 302 Found
Found — the resource temporarily resides under a different URL
A 302 Found response tells the client to request a different Location for now while keeping the original URL as the expected long-term address. It signals temporary routing rather than permanent replacement, so clients and crawlers interpret it differently from 301 and 308.
Visual summary
A quick reference view of how HTTP 302 temporarily routes a request elsewhere while the original URL still remains the main address.
What 302 Means
The shortest useful reading of this status code.
Found means the resource temporarily resides under a different URL.
For temporary redirects, the key distinction is that clients are sent elsewhere for now while the original URL still remains the primary address.
Quick read
Temporary URL change
A 302 sends the client to another Location for now while preserving the original URL as the main reference point.
Technical Context
How this status behaves without turning the page into a repair guide.
Temporary target
A 302 is a temporary redirect response. The server includes a Location header, and the client follows that alternative URL without treating the original address as permanently replaced.
Original URL retained
Its main distinction from 301 is permanence. A 301 says the old URL should be replaced by the new one, while a 302 says the detour is temporary and the original URL still matters. Its main distinction from 307 is precision: 307 explicitly preserves the original method and request body, while 302 is older and more loosely interpreted across clients.
Caching contrast
That makes 302 common in login flows, campaign routing, short-term experiments, and other situations where traffic needs to move without declaring a lasting canonical change.
Compare Redirect Codes
Redirect status codes look similar in search results, so this page highlights the distinctions that make 302 different.
302
Found
the resource temporarily resides under a different URL
301
Moved Permanently
the requested resource has been assigned a new permanent URL
303
See Other
the response is available at a different URL via GET
307
Temporary Redirect
the resource temporarily resides at a different location
Common Causes
A/B test or campaign traffic sent to a temporary target
The redirect exists for a limited period, so the original URL remains the durable address while traffic is routed elsewhere.
Login or session handoff to another page
The application moves the user to a context-specific page without declaring that the original URL has permanently changed.
Locale or geo-specific routing
The server chooses a nearby or language-specific destination for now rather than replacing the requested URL globally.
Maintenance or short-term content relocation
Traffic is diverted while the original endpoint is expected to return later.
Typical Scenarios
A campaign or short URL sends visitors to a landing page for a limited period
An application redirects a signed-in user from a generic entry page to a session-specific destination
A site temporarily routes one audience segment to a different regional or language path
What To Know
A 302 usually points to a temporary routing rule rather than a broken destination. If the same URL keeps returning 302 for a long period, the broader pattern may reflect a standing redirect policy, an application handoff flow, or a temporary rule that never got retired.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common interpretation questions about HTTP 302.
A 301 signals a permanent move, while a 302 signals a temporary one. The original URL is still treated as the primary address with 302.
Yes. The client follows the Location header and loads another URL, but the redirect itself does not say the original address has been retired permanently.
It can be cached when the response includes caching instructions, but it is not treated like the strongly persistent redirect signal associated with 301 or 308.