Cheat Sheet de redirecciones .htaccess: Ejemplos para copiar

Redirecciones básicas

Las redirecciones son el uso más común de los archivos .htaccess. Ya sea moviendo una sola página, reestructurando un directorio completo o migrando a un nuevo dominio, las directivas Redirect y RewriteRule de Apache lo hacen sencillo. Usa siempre redirecciones 301 (permanentes) para SEO y transferir el valor de los enlaces a la nueva URL.

Redirigir una URL única

# Redirect a single URL (301 permanent)
Redirect 301 /old-page.html https://example.com/new-page.html

# Using RewriteRule for more control
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^old-page\.html$ /new-page.html [R=301,L]

# Redirect with pattern matching (e.g., old product URLs)
RewriteRule ^products/([0-9]+)\.html$ /shop/item/$1 [R=301,L]

Redirigir un directorio completo

# Redirect entire directory to new location
RedirectMatch 301 ^/blog/(.*)$ https://example.com/articles/$1

# Using RewriteRule (preserves subdirectory structure)
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^blog/(.*)$ /articles/$1 [R=301,L]

# Redirect directory but keep filenames
RewriteRule ^old-folder/(.+)$ /new-folder/$1 [R=301,L]

Redirección de dominio a dominio

# Redirect entire old domain to new domain
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^(www\.)?olddomain\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://newdomain.com/$1 [R=301,L]

# Redirect specific domain alias to primary domain
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^olddomain\.net$ [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^olddomain\.org$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://newdomain.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Forzar HTTPS

Forzar HTTPS es esencial para la seguridad y el SEO. Google usa HTTPS como señal de ranking, y los navegadores modernos advierten sobre conexiones HTTP inseguras. Estas reglas usan mod_rewrite para redirigir todo el tráfico HTTP a HTTPS.

HTTP a HTTPS (sin www)

# Force HTTPS (redirect HTTP to HTTPS, non-www)
RewriteEngine On

# Redirect www to non-www
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.example\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://example.com/$1 [R=301,L]

# Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://example.com/$1 [R=301,L]

HTTP a HTTPS (con www)

# Force HTTPS with www prefix
RewriteEngine On

# Redirect non-www to www
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.example.com/$1 [R=301,L]

# Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.example.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Forzar sin www con HTTPS

# Force non-www + HTTPS in a single pass
# Works on shared hosting and most Apache setups
RewriteEngine On

# Handle both www removal and HTTPS enforcement together
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.(.+)$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%1/$1 [R=301,L]

RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]

# Alternative: Using environment variables (some hosts)
# RewriteCond %{ENV:HTTPS} !on
# RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]

Manejo de barra final

Las barras finales inconsistentes crean problemas de contenido duplicado que perjudican el SEO. Los motores de búsqueda tratan /about y /about/ como URLs diferentes. Elige un estilo y aplícalo consistentemente en todo tu sitio.

Agregar barra final

# Add trailing slash to all URLs (except files with extensions)
RewriteEngine On

# Only apply to URLs without a file extension
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !\.[a-zA-Z0-9]{1,5}$
RewriteRule ^(.+[^/])$ %{REQUEST_URI}/ [R=301,L]

# Simpler version (may cause issues with some file types)
# RewriteRule ^(.*[^/])$ $1/ [R=301,L]

Eliminar barra final

# Remove trailing slash from all URLs (except directories)
RewriteEngine On

# Do not remove trailing slash from actual directories
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)/$ /$1 [R=301,L]

# Remove trailing slash except for root URL
# RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/$
# RewriteRule ^(.*)/$ /$1 [R=301,L]

Manejo de cadenas de consulta

Redirigir URLs con cadenas de consulta requiere atención especial. Por defecto, Apache añade la cadena de consulta original al destino. Usa los flags QSA y ? para conservar, descartar o modificar parámetros.

Redirigir conservando la cadena de consulta

# Redirect preserving the original query string (default behavior)
# /search?q=test -> /find?q=test
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^search$ /find [R=301,L]

# Redirect and APPEND additional query parameters (QSA flag)
# /page?id=5 -> /new-page?id=5&ref=old
RewriteRule ^page$ /new-page?ref=old [R=301,L,QSA]

# Match specific query string and redirect
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^id=([0-9]+)$
RewriteRule ^product\.php$ /products/%1? [R=301,L]

Redirigir descartando la cadena de consulta

# Redirect and DISCARD all query parameters
# /old-page?any=params -> /new-page (clean URL)
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^old-page$ /new-page? [R=301,L]
# The trailing ? strips the query string

# Discard specific query parameters only
# /page?utm_source=x&id=5 -> /page?id=5 (strip tracking params)
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|&)utm_[^&]*
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /$1? [R=301,L]

Redirigir modificando los parámetros

# Rewrite query parameter to path segment
# /index.php?page=about -> /about
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^page=(.+)$
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ /%1? [R=301,L]

# Rewrite path segment to query parameter
# /category/electronics -> /shop.php?cat=electronics
RewriteRule ^category/([a-zA-Z0-9-]+)$ /shop.php?cat=$1 [L]

# Rename a query parameter
# /search?q=test -> /search?query=test
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^q=(.+)$
RewriteRule ^search$ /search?query=%1 [R=301,L]

Páginas de error personalizadas

Las páginas de error personalizadas mejoran la experiencia del usuario proporcionando información útil. La directiva ErrorDocument permite definir páginas personalizadas para cualquier código de estado HTTP.

# Custom error pages
# Place error page files in your document root

# 404 Not Found - page does not exist
ErrorDocument 404 /errors/404.html

# 403 Forbidden - access denied
ErrorDocument 403 /errors/403.html

# 500 Internal Server Error
ErrorDocument 500 /errors/500.html

# 401 Unauthorized - authentication required
ErrorDocument 401 /errors/401.html

# 503 Service Unavailable - maintenance mode
ErrorDocument 503 /errors/maintenance.html

# You can also use inline messages (not recommended for production)
# ErrorDocument 404 "Page not found. Please check the URL."

# Or redirect to an external URL
# ErrorDocument 404 https://example.com/not-found

# ── Maintenance mode (redirect all traffic to maintenance page) ──
# Uncomment during maintenance, recomment when done
# RewriteEngine On
# RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^123\.456\.789\.000$  # Allow your IP
# RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !/errors/maintenance.html$ [NC]
# RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !\.(css|js|png|jpg|gif|ico)$ [NC]
# RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /errors/maintenance.html [R=503,L]

Encabezados de seguridad vía .htaccess

Los encabezados de seguridad HTTP protegen tu sitio contra ataques comunes como clickjacking, XSS e inyección de contenido. Añadirlos vía .htaccess requiere mod_headers habilitado.

# Security headers via .htaccess
# Requires mod_headers to be enabled: a2enmod headers

<IfModule mod_headers.c>

  # X-Frame-Options: Prevent clickjacking by blocking iframes
  # Options: DENY | SAMEORIGIN | ALLOW-FROM uri
  Header always set X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN"

  # X-Content-Type-Options: Prevent MIME-type sniffing
  Header always set X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff"

  # X-XSS-Protection: Enable browser XSS filter (legacy)
  Header always set X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block"

  # Referrer-Policy: Control referrer information
  Header always set Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin"

  # Content-Security-Policy: Control resource loading
  # Customize the sources based on your site's needs
  Header always set Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; \
    script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline' https://cdn.example.com; \
    style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline' https://fonts.googleapis.com; \
    img-src 'self' data: https:; \
    font-src 'self' https://fonts.gstatic.com; \
    connect-src 'self' https://api.example.com; \
    frame-ancestors 'self';"

  # Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS): Force HTTPS for 2 years
  # Only add this if your site fully supports HTTPS
  Header always set Strict-Transport-Security \
    "max-age=63072000; includeSubDomains; preload"

  # Permissions-Policy: Disable unused browser features
  Header always set Permissions-Policy \
    "camera=(), microphone=(), geolocation=(), interest-cohort=()"

  # Remove X-Powered-By header (hides PHP/server version)
  Header unset X-Powered-By
  Header always unset X-Powered-By

</IfModule>

# Hide Apache version in server headers
ServerSignature Off

Reglas de caché del navegador

El caché del navegador mejora dramáticamente los tiempos de carga para visitantes recurrentes. El módulo mod_expires establece automáticamente los encabezados Cache-Control y Expires.

# Browser caching with mod_expires
# Enable the module: a2enmod expires

<IfModule mod_expires.c>
  ExpiresActive On

  # Default expiration: 1 month
  ExpiresDefault "access plus 1 month"

  # HTML files: short cache (content changes frequently)
  ExpiresByType text/html "access plus 1 hour"

  # CSS and JavaScript: long cache (use fingerprinted filenames)
  ExpiresByType text/css "access plus 1 year"
  ExpiresByType application/javascript "access plus 1 year"
  ExpiresByType text/javascript "access plus 1 year"

  # Images: cache for 1 month
  ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access plus 1 month"
  ExpiresByType image/png "access plus 1 month"
  ExpiresByType image/gif "access plus 1 month"
  ExpiresByType image/webp "access plus 1 month"
  ExpiresByType image/avif "access plus 1 month"
  ExpiresByType image/svg+xml "access plus 1 month"
  ExpiresByType image/x-icon "access plus 1 year"

  # Fonts: cache for 1 year
  ExpiresByType font/woff2 "access plus 1 year"
  ExpiresByType font/woff "access plus 1 year"
  ExpiresByType font/ttf "access plus 1 year"
  ExpiresByType application/font-woff2 "access plus 1 year"
  ExpiresByType application/font-woff "access plus 1 year"

  # JSON/XML data: short cache
  ExpiresByType application/json "access plus 1 hour"
  ExpiresByType application/xml "access plus 1 hour"

  # PDF and documents
  ExpiresByType application/pdf "access plus 1 month"
</IfModule>

# Alternative: Cache-Control headers with mod_headers
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
  # Immutable cache for fingerprinted assets
  <FilesMatch "\.(js|css)$">
    Header set Cache-Control "public, max-age=31536000, immutable"
  </FilesMatch>

  # Short cache for HTML
  <FilesMatch "\.html$">
    Header set Cache-Control "public, max-age=3600, must-revalidate"
  </FilesMatch>

  # No cache for dynamic content
  <FilesMatch "\.(php|cgi)$">
    Header set Cache-Control "no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate"
  </FilesMatch>
</IfModule>

Compresión Gzip / Brotli

La compresión reduce el tamaño de las respuestas entre un 60-90%, mejorando significativamente los tiempos de carga. Apache soporta Gzip (vía mod_deflate) y Brotli (vía mod_brotli, Apache 2.4.26+).

Compresión Gzip (mod_deflate)

# Gzip compression using mod_deflate
# Enable the module: a2enmod deflate

<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
  # Compress text-based content types
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/xml
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/javascript
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xml
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xhtml+xml
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rss+xml
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/atom+xml
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/javascript
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-javascript
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/json
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/ld+json
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/vnd.ms-fontobject
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/opentype
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/ttf
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/woff
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/woff2
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/svg+xml
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/x-icon

  # Do not compress images (already compressed)
  SetEnvIfNoCase Request_URI \.(?:gif|jpe?g|png|webp|avif)$ no-gzip

  # Handle browser quirks
  BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4 gzip-only-text/html
  BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4\.0[678] no-gzip
  BrowserMatch \bMSIE !no-gzip !gzip-only-text/html

  # Add Vary header for proper caching
  Header append Vary Accept-Encoding
</IfModule>

Compresión Brotli (mod_brotli)

# Brotli compression using mod_brotli (Apache 2.4.26+)
# Enable the module: a2enmod brotli

<IfModule mod_brotli.c>
  # Compress text-based content types with Brotli
  AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS text/plain
  AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS text/html
  AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS text/xml
  AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS text/css
  AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS text/javascript
  AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS application/xml
  AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS application/xhtml+xml
  AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS application/javascript
  AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS application/json
  AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS application/ld+json
  AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS font/opentype
  AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS font/ttf
  AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS font/woff
  AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS font/woff2
  AddOutputFilterByType BROTLI_COMPRESS image/svg+xml

  # Brotli compression quality (0-11, default: 11)
  # Lower = faster compression, larger files
  # Higher = slower compression, smaller files
  BrotliCompressionQuality 6

  # Brotli window size (10-24, default: 22)
  BrotliCompressionWindow 22
</IfModule>

# Fallback: Use Gzip if Brotli is not available
# Both modules can coexist; Apache serves Brotli to
# browsers that support it and Gzip to others.

Errores comunes y cómo corregirlos

Depurar problemas de .htaccess puede ser frustrante. Aquí están los errores más comunes y cómo evitarlos.

Bucles de redirección infinitos

El error más común es crear un bucle donde la URL reescrita coincide nuevamente con la misma regla. Usa siempre RewriteCond para verificar el estado actual y el flag [L] para detener el procesamiento.

# BAD: Creates an infinite loop
# (The rewritten URL "/new" matches "^(.*)$" again)
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /new/$1 [R=301]

# GOOD: Use RewriteCond to prevent the loop
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/new/ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /new/$1 [R=301,L]

# GOOD: Another approach - check if already redirected
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{ENV:REDIRECT_STATUS} ^$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /new/$1 [R=301,L]

RewriteBase incorrecto

RewriteBase define la ruta URL base para reescrituras por directorio. Si tu .htaccess está en un subdirectorio, el RewriteBase debe coincidir con esa ruta.

# If .htaccess is in the document root:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /

# If .htaccess is in /blog/ subdirectory:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /blog/

# If .htaccess is in /app/public/ subdirectory:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /app/public/

# Common mistake: Using RewriteBase /blog when file is at root
# This causes all rewritten URLs to be prefixed with /blog

El orden de las reglas importa

Apache procesa las reglas de arriba a abajo. Si una regla general aparece antes que una específica, coincidirá primero. Coloca siempre las reglas específicas antes que las generales y usa el flag [L].

# BAD: General rule before specific rule
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /index.php?page=$1 [L]        # Catches everything!
RewriteRule ^about$ /about-us.html [R=301,L]      # Never reached!

# GOOD: Specific rules first, general rules last
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^about$ /about-us.html [R=301,L]      # Specific: runs first
RewriteRule ^contact$ /contact-us.html [R=301,L]  # Specific: runs second
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f                # Skip existing files
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d                # Skip existing dirs
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /index.php?page=$1 [L]          # General: fallback

Preguntas frecuentes