No — it simulates the most common patterns accurately, but very complex rules or server-specific variables may differ. Always test on your server after validating here.
Free Server Admin Tool
.htaccess Tester
Paste your .htaccess rewrite rules and test a URL against them —
see exactly which rules match, which are skipped, and what the final rewritten
URL will be, without deploying anything to a live server.
- ✔ RewriteRule simulation
- ✔ Step-by-step trace
- ✔ Redirect detection
- ✔ Ready-to-use snippets
- ✔ Nothing uploaded
- ✔ Free Forever
Test .htaccess Rules Without Touching Your Live Server
Apache rewrite rules are powerful but easy to get wrong — a misplaced flag, a missing backslash, or an incorrect regex can cause redirect loops, 500 errors, or quietly serve the wrong content. Testing rules usually means deploying them and hitting your live site, which can break things for real visitors.
This tool simulates how Apache's mod_rewrite processes your rules step by step — showing you exactly which rules matched, which were skipped, what condition flags did, and what URL the request ends up at — all in your browser before you touch the server.
Simulation note: This tool simulates mod_rewrite behavior for common patterns.
It handles RewriteEngine, RewriteBase, RewriteCond (with %{HTTPS}, %{HTTP_HOST},
%{REQUEST_URI}, %{QUERY_STRING}, %{REQUEST_FILENAME} variables), and RewriteRule with
R, L, QSA, NC flags. Very complex rules or server-specific variables may differ from
actual Apache behavior — always verify on your server after testing here.
Select a common redirect pattern and fill in your domain — get the exact
.htaccess directives ready to copy.
FAQs.htaccess Tester
Is this an exact simulation of Apache mod_rewrite?
Why does my redirect cause a loop?
Usually because a rule applies to its own destination. Add RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off before a force-HTTPS rule so it only fires on non-HTTPS requests.
What does the [L] flag do?
The [L] (Last) flag stops processing further rules after this one matches. Always add [L] to redirect rules to prevent unexpected chaining.