# Redirect old links to the right page _Category: Domain, access and SEO_ When a page on your help center moves or goes away, send its old address somewhere useful instead of a not-found page. A custom redirect takes readers, and search engines, from an old path on your help center to any URL you choose. **Who can do this:** Owners and Admins · **Plans:** All plans ## Add a redirect 1. In the left menu, click the gear icon, then **Settings**. 2. Under **Custom redirects**, click **Add redirect**. 3. In **From path**, type the old path **without a leading slash**. For `https://help.example.com/docs/pricing-2024`, type `docs/pricing-2024`. 4. In **To URL**, enter the full address of the page it should open, starting with `https://`. For example: `https://help.example.com/content/plans-and-prices`. 5. Click **Save redirect**. ![Screen recording. Under Custom redirects, click Add redirect. Enter the old path and the page it should open. Click Save redirect.](https://helpcenter-io.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/self/gSYpTgHCngEtNHhkLWeECm19fKAKCCjuT8hFqS8w.gif) The old path goes in without a leading slash. You'll see "Redirect added", and the new redirect appears in the list as old path → new URL. **Type the path without a leading slash.** The **From path** field's example shows one (`/api-docs`), but a path saved with a leading slash never matches. Type `docs/api`, not `/docs/api`. Also leave out your domain, any slash at the end, and anything from a question mark on. If you've already saved a redirect with a leading slash, delete it and add it again without the slash. ## How redirects work - **They only run on not-found pages.** A redirect kicks in when nothing else lives at the old path. If a published article or category still uses that address, readers see it instead. - **They're permanent.** HelpCenter.io answers with a 301 redirect, which tells search engines the page has moved for good. - **They can point anywhere:** another article in your help center, a page on your website, or another site. - **A path needs at least two parts.** A one-part path like `pricing-2024` opens your home page instead of the not-found page, so a redirect saved for it never fires. Paths with a slash in the middle, like `docs/pricing-2024` or `content/old-article`, work. - **One redirect per path.** Adding a redirect for a path that already has one replaces its destination. - **Copy the path exactly as it appears after your domain.** On help centers with more than one language, every article and category path starts with a language code, your default language's included, for example `en/content/pricing` or `de/content/preise`. An address without the code, like `content/pricing`, is sent on to its language version first, so a redirect saved without the code never fires. To delete a redirect, click the trash icon next to it. When your list grows long, a search box appears so you can find a redirect by its path or destination. ## Redirects HelpCenter.io handles for you - **Changed article URLs.** When you change an article's URL, its old address keeps working and sends readers to the new one. See [Set an article's search title, description and URL](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/article-seo). - **Deleted articles.** In **Trash**, open a deleted article's menu and choose **Create redirect** to send its old address to a full URL of your choice. See [Delete and restore articles](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/delete-and-restore-articles). - **Unpublished articles** show a not-found page. To send their readers elsewhere, add a custom redirect for the article's path, like `content/old-article`. See [Unpublish an article](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/unpublish-an-article). Custom redirects only work on your help center's current address. If you rename your subdomain, the old helpcenter.io address can't be redirected. See [Change your help center's address](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/change-your-subdomain). ## What readers see on a missing page When an address matches nothing and has no redirect, readers get your help center's not-found page: "We couldn't find that page", with **Go to homepage** and **Search** buttons. This works on every plan. If the address looks like an article link, the page also lists up to three articles with similar URLs under "Were you looking for one of these?". Readers choose where to go: nobody is forwarded to a guess. There are no suggestions when the link names one of your own articles that readers can't open, for example an unpublished or private one, so add a redirect for it if it should lead somewhere. To add your own content to this page, edit the **Not found** page in the template editor. See [Pages, regions and shared headers explained](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/pages-and-regions). ## Troubleshooting **The redirect doesn't fire.** Check the path in the list. If it starts with a slash, delete it and add it again without one. If it has only one part, like `pricing-2024`, it can't fire: readers land on your home page. Make sure a published page doesn't still live at that path, and that the path doesn't include your domain or a question mark. **"The to field must be a valid URL."** Enter a full address, starting with `https://`. **You see "Fill in both fields first".** Both **From path** and **To URL** need a value. ## Related articles - [Unpublish an article](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/unpublish-an-article) - [Change your help center's address](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/change-your-subdomain) - [Delete and restore articles](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/delete-and-restore-articles)