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Meta Refresh Tag Generator

Build a meta refresh tag and a full HTML redirect page from a URL and delay. Adds optional JS, link fallback, canonical, and noindex.

The full URL the page should redirect to. Absolute URLs (https://example.com/...) and root-relative paths (/articles/...) are accepted.

Use 0 for an instant redirect. Larger values create a soft 302 that search engines may treat differently.

Used in the meta charset declaration of the full HTML page. Leave as utf-8 unless the source content requires another encoding.

Shown in the browser tab and any cached preview if the redirect does not fire.

The body text that appears on the bridge page. Keep it short and offer a way forward.

Bridge page options

Pick which extra tags and fallbacks to include in the generated HTML page. The meta refresh tag itself is always present.

Load a sample:

Notices

  • Delay 0 is treated by Google as roughly equivalent to a 301 server redirect. This is the recommended setting for URL changes.

Meta refresh tag

Drop this tag inside the <head> of any HTML page to make it redirect.

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;url=https://example.com/new-page" />

Complete HTML redirect page

Save the output below as an index.html file (or any .html file) and place it where the old URL used to live. Visitors and crawlers will be sent on to the destination.

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
    <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;url=https://example.com/new-page" />
    <meta name="robots" content="noindex" />
    <title>Redirecting</title>
    <script>
      window.location.replace('https://example.com/new-page');
    </script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <p>If you are not redirected automatically, follow the link below.</p>
    <p><a href="https://example.com/new-page">https://example.com/new-page</a></p>
  </body>
</html>

When to use a meta refresh

  • Static HTML hosts: you publish on GitHub Pages, Netlify drop deploys, or another host where you cannot configure a server-side 301.
  • Vanity URLs: a short URL needs to bounce visitors to a longer tracked URL.
  • Splash screens: a welcome page should pause for a few seconds before sending the visitor onward. Use a small delay and keep the link fallback visible.
  • Archived URLs: an old article URL should now point to its replacement. Use delay 0 and add canonical plus noindex to consolidate ranking on the destination.

SEO and accessibility notes

  • Server 301 is still best. If you control the server, a 301 redirect transfers ranking signals more reliably than a meta refresh.
  • Delay 0 is treated as a 301. Google documents an instant meta refresh as roughly equivalent to a permanent redirect for indexing.
  • Delays above 0 are a soft 302. Longer delays can leave the original URL in the index and create duplicate-content issues.
  • Keep a visible link. WCAG 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable expects users to be able to act before any timed redirect fires.

How to use

  1. Paste the destination URL into the Destination URL field. Absolute URLs and root-relative paths are both accepted.
  2. Set the delay in seconds. Use 0 for an instant redirect (Google treats this as a 301-equivalent). Larger values create a soft 302 and should be paired with a visible fallback link.
  3. Edit the page title and visible message that show up if the redirect does not fire automatically.
  4. Toggle the JavaScript fallback, visible link, canonical, robots noindex, and mobile viewport options to match the page you are building.
  5. Click Copy tag to copy just the meta refresh tag for an existing page, or Copy HTML to copy the full bridge page and save it as an .html file on your host.

About this tool

Meta Refresh Tag Generator builds an HTML meta refresh tag and a complete static HTML redirect page from a destination URL, a delay value, and a few optional extras. The destination accepts absolute URLs (https://example.com/path) and root-relative paths (/articles/2026/launch); javascript:, data:, and vbscript: schemes are refused as unsafe. The delay field accepts any non-negative integer up to one day, with quick presets for 0 seconds (treated by Google as roughly equivalent to a 301), 3, 5, and 10 seconds. The Output panels show two artifacts at once: the bare <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="N;url=X" /> tag for dropping into an existing <head>, and a full HTML5 document (doctype, charset, viewport, the meta refresh tag, an optional canonical pointing at the destination, an optional robots noindex on the bridge page itself, the page title, the visible body message, an optional JavaScript fallback that calls window.location.replace, and an optional visible link to the destination) that you can save as index.html and drop into a static host. A Notices panel flags the most common mistakes inline: an http:// destination on a modern site, a non-http scheme that browsers refuse to follow, a delay above zero that Google treats as a soft 302, a long delay that fails WCAG 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable, a missing visible link, and an oversized URL. Four samples cover the situations that show up most often (permanent move with canonical and noindex; splash screen with a short delay; campaign tracking URL; root-relative path inside the same site). Everything runs locally on your device, so the URL, page title, and body message you type here are never uploaded to a server.

Free to use. Works in your browser. No signup, no login.

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