HTTP headers checker tool

HTTP headers can be obtained using our header checker tool. With this tool, you will be able to analyze the HTTP response header for any URL you specify. You can verify server configurations through the tool, such as whether or not hotlink protection and file compression have been correctly configured on the server.

The tool scans a URL in real time and displays all response headers organized in a table. If you've implemented a custom header and would like to ensure that it exists as expected, this will be helpful.

What are HTTP headers?

HTTP stands for hypertext transfer protocol, which facilitates communication between clients and web servers at the application level. In the 1990s, Tim Berners-Lee created that protocol, identified by the World Wide Web. It is essential to understand that an HTTP header is a field of the HTTP request or response that sends additional context and metadata related to the request or response.

As part of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), HTTP headers appear in request and response messages as name and value pairs. In most cases, a colon separates the header name from the value. Whenever an HTTP request or response is sent, HTTP headers are included.

Depending on the status of the request, you may be able to use headers to indicate what type of media format the message prefers. In contrast, you may be able to use headers to tell what kind of media format the response supports.

What are HTTP headers used for?

It is used by the clients and the server as a means to exchange additional information between them through the request and response headers. A colon separates the header fields, which are arranged in a clear-text string format containing case-insensitive key-value pairs.

A field header with an empty value indicates the end of the header section. The field can include several different kinds of comments depending on the format. A few headers use an equal sign to separate quality(q) key-value pairs.

Most Common HTTP Headers

Let us take a closer look at the four most common HTTP headers that you may encounter:

Response Headers

Web servers send response headers as part of network packets in response to HTTP requests from Web browsers or client machines. It is a type of communication protocol used to deliver webpages and other Web-based data to a user's browser after they have requested it from the server.

Request header

As the name implies, request headers are HTTP headers used in HTTP requests to indicate the context of the request so that the server can tailor its response according to the request. For example, the Accept-* headers indicate what types of responses will be accepted and what formats will be preferred.  Information in the HTTP request header is formatted as a text record and includes details such as:

  • A client's particular operating system.
  • The requested page.
  • A number of output formats are supported by the browser.

Representation Headers

HTTP representation headers denote resources sent within HTTP message bodies. There can be a variety of representations of a source based on the type of resource. Different representations may be formatted in XML or JSON. Here are a few representation headers.

  • Content-type
  • Content-Encoding
  • Content-Language
  •  Content-Location

Payload Headers

HTTP Payload Headers contain the data required to construct the resource representation. Payload headers can contain information about the length, the encoding, and the integrity of a resource. The following is a list of some of the Payload HTTP Headers. 

  • Content-length
  • Content-Range
  • Trailer
  • Transfer-Encoding

How to use our HTTP headers checker tool

The tool offered by Freenerdtools is easy to understand and use, and this tool will help you thoroughly check website HTTP headers in a matter of minutes. To check HTTP response headers, follow these steps:

  1. Head over to our lookup tool
  2. All you have to do now is type in the URL you wish to verify and click the submit button or press Enter.
  3. You will receive the results a few seconds after our server scans the URL in the background. 

Here is some of the information provided by our tool:

  • Date: Time and date from the response
  • Content-Type: Indicates the type of media
  • Content-Length: Number of bytes in the resource
  • Connection: Connection control for the network
  • Expires: Determines when a response has become irrelevant
  • X-Frame-Options: A X-Frame-Option indicates whether or not a browser should be allowed to render a page in a ,