How to redirect a URL in IIS

These steps follow Microsoft's reference for the httpRedirect element. They apply to IIS 7 and later, including IIS 10 on current Windows Server.

Install HTTP Redirection

Microsoft notes that HTTP Redirection isn't part of a default IIS install. On Windows Server:

1. Open Server Manager, then Manage → Add Roles and Features.
2. Click through to Server Roles.
3. Expand Web Server (IIS) → Web Server → Common HTTP Features and tick HTTP Redirection.
4. Click Next, then Install.

On a Windows desktop, open Control Panel → Programs and Features → Turn Windows features on or off, expand Internet Information Services → World Wide Web Services → Common HTTP Features, and tick HTTP Redirection.

Redirect a site or folder in IIS Manager

1. Open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
2. In Connections, expand the server, then Sites, and select the site, folder or application you're moving.
3. In the Home pane, double-click HTTP Redirect.
4. Tick the box to redirect requests and enter the new address, for example https://www.example.com/new/.
5. Choose the options you need (below), then click Apply in the Actions pane.

The options:

• Exact destination: send every request to the address as typed, instead of adding the rest of the path to it.
• This folder only: redirect requests for the folder itself but not its subfolders.
• Status code: 301 Permanent, 302 Found, 307 Temporary or 308 Permanent Redirect. Microsoft lists Found (302) as the default.

The same redirect in web.config

IIS Manager writes the setting to the site's web.config. You can add it yourself:

<system.webServer>
  <httpRedirect enabled="true" destination="https://www.example.com/" httpResponseStatus="Permanent" />
</system.webServer>

httpResponseStatus takes Found (302), Permanent (301), Temporary (307) or PermRedirect (308). exactDestination="true" and childOnly="true" match the two tick boxes above.

To redirect particular files, add wildcard rules inside the element. Microsoft's example sends every request for a PHP file to the home page:

<httpRedirect enabled="true" exactDestination="true" httpResponseStatus="Found">
  <add wildcard="*.php" destination="/default.htm" />
</httpRedirect>

Microsoft notes there's no user interface for wildcard redirects, so these go in web.config by hand.

Redirect or URL Rewrite?

HTTP Redirect is the simple option: one destination per site or folder. For rules based on patterns, such as sending every old product URL to a new path, Microsoft's URL Rewrite module lets you write rules with regular expressions and pick the action. A rule with the Redirect action sends the browser to a new address. A Rewrite action changes the address only inside the server, so the visitor still sees the old one. Search engines only learn about a move from a redirect.

Check the redirect

Paste the old address into the checker. It follows each hop from the outside, as a browser would, and flags any that isn't a permanent 301 or 308. That catches the default 302 if you forgot to change it.

Pick the right status code

The HTTP standard, RFC 9110, defines 301 as a new permanent address that links ought to use from now on, and 302 as a temporary one where the old address stays in use. 307 and 308 are the temporary and permanent versions that keep the request method, which matters when a form posts data. For a page or site that has moved, choose 301 or 308.

When it doesn't work

• No HTTP Redirect icon. The role service isn't installed. Go back to the first section.
• A redirect loop. Redirecting a site to a folder inside itself sends the request round again. Limit the redirect to this folder only, or use the exact destination option.
• Several hops. An old rule points at an address that redirects again. See redirect chains for how to flatten them.

Running Apache instead? See how to redirect a URL with .htaccess.