Fix "ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS" on a WordPress site

This page isn't working. example.com redirected you too many times. ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS

Common causes

• WordPress Address (siteurl) and Site Address (home) do not match the URL the server redirects to
• Cloudflare SSL mode set to Flexible while the origin forces HTTPS
• WordPress behind a proxy or load balancer that does not tell it the request was HTTPS
• Conflicting www and non-www rules in .htaccess, Nginx and a plugin
• An SSL or redirect plugin fighting with server rules
• Stale cookies or cached redirects in the browser or page cache

How to fix it

1. Clear cookies and test privately. Clear cookies for the site or open a private window. Then run curl -sIL https://example.com | grep -iE '^(HTTP|location)' to see the exact redirect hops without browser caching.
2. Fix the WordPress URLs. Make sure both URLs use the same scheme and host you want, for example https://www.example.com. Without dashboard access, add define('WP_HOME', 'https://www.example.com'); and define('WP_SITEURL', 'https://www.example.com'); to wp-config.php, or run wp option update home and wp option update siteurl.
3. Set Cloudflare SSL to Full (strict). In Cloudflare go to SSL/TLS > Overview and change Flexible to Full (strict), which requires a valid certificate on the origin. Flexible sends HTTP to the origin, which then redirects to HTTPS again, creating the loop.
4. Tell WordPress about HTTPS behind a proxy. If a load balancer or proxy terminates SSL, add a check in wp-config.php that sets $_SERVER['HTTPS'] = 'on' when HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO is https. Only trust that header if requests can only reach the server through your proxy.
5. Remove duplicate redirect rules. Keep one place responsible for HTTPS and www redirects: either the server config or one plugin. Temporarily rename .htaccess or disable SSL/redirect plugins by renaming their folders to find the conflict.
6. Purge caches. Clear the WordPress page cache plugin, server cache and CDN cache. A cached 301 can keep the loop going after the cause is fixed.

wp-config.php behind a reverse proxy

define( 'WP_HOME', 'https://www.example.com' );
define( 'WP_SITEURL', 'https://www.example.com' );

if ( isset( $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO'] )
     && $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO'] === 'https' ) {
    $_SERVER['HTTPS'] = 'on';
}

How to stop it happening again

• Handle HTTPS and www redirects in one layer only
• Use Cloudflare Full (strict) with a valid origin certificate
• Check redirects with a chain checker after DNS, SSL or CDN changes
• Update siteurl and home immediately after migrations or domain changes