The 303 See Other response status code is a common error that appears when you try to access a page on the Internet. But how do you fix it? Read on and find out.

If you get the 303 See Other Error, you're not alone. 

 

The 303 See Other Error is a pretty common error that appears when you try to access a page on the Internet.

 

It's a "classic" status code that can be time-consuming to fix.

 

This article will show you what the 303 See Other Error is exactly and how to solve it.

 

Let's get started!

 

What Is a 303 See Other Error?

A 303 See Other is an HTTP status code that indicates that the resource you requested is located at another URI (address) by using the GET HTTP method. In other words, it's a status response code informing you that the URL you're trying to access is redirecting you to another URL.

 

Is It a Server Side Error?

Let's first try to understand what HTTP status codes mean.

 

In a nutshell, the Internet has two major players: servers and clients. Let's say that you're using your browser, Google Chrome, to access a web page. You're actually accessing the Internet through a web client.

 

The server is the thing on the other side of the communication that receives your request to access a page. 

 

An HTTP status code is exchanged between the server and the browser every time you make a request to your server to access a resource. 

 

There are five different classes of HTTP response status codes. Although somewhat different. they all inform a user whether a specific HTTP request has been successfully completed. 

 

The five core status codes include:

• 1xx status codes: Informational requests
• 2xx status codes: Successful requests
• 3xx status codes: Redirects
• 4xx status codes: Client errors
• 5xx status codes: Server errors  

The 303 See Other error belongs to the 3xx status codes group that are redirects. When a user or search engines come across a 3xx status code, they will be redirected to a different URL from the initial. Some status codes – like the 301 Moved Permanently, 307 Temporary Redirect, and 308 permanent redirects – affect your user experience and SEO performance. 

 

They're different from status codes in the 4xx group – like the 404 Not Found error– indicating something on the client-side of things is the issue. They're also different from codes in the 5xx group – like the 503 status code– that indicate something on the server-side of the things is the cause of the problem. 

 

While status codes in the 4xx and 5xx groups mean that a problem occurred on the server or with the client, 3xx status codes don't indicate an issue. Instead, they appear due to the server's behavior or configuration. 

 

As we've mentioned earlier, the 303 See Other indicates that something has gone wrong within your application server. With that said, we can say that nothing on the client-side of things is causing the issue.

 

As some of the status codes in the 3xx group can negatively affect your SEO and user experience, fixing them is critical.

 

Why Do I See a 303 See Other Error?

The web uses URL redirection to redirect web pages to other pages. The 303 See Other error is a common problem in most websites. The problem could be because the redirecting link was improperly set up to start up properly. You may see a 302 Moved Temporarily error if you're using the HTTP 1.0 protocol. There's nothing you can do about it if you see a glitch on your computer or not on your own device.

 

How Do I Fix a 303 See Other Error?

The good news is that most modern browsers automatically detect a 303 See Other response code and process the redirection action to the new URI automatically. This means that there's not much you can do to fix it. 

 

However, if the redirection doesn't happen automatically, here are some troubleshooting tips that may help you fix the server-side issue:

 

Perform a Thorough Application Backup

The first thing you should do is create a copy of the application onto a secondary server that isn't live or otherwise active. Backup should be placed on a secondary staging server that is not "live" or active – that is, if you want to prevent doing further damage to your website. Do a full backup of your application and database before you try to fix the issue and change the system. This gives you a clean test ground to test all potential fixes without damaging the security of your live application.

Confirm Your Server Configuration

If you're certain that the issue isn't on your side of things, the first thing to do is check if there are any unintentional redirect instructions in your web server's configuration files. 

 

Your application is either running on Apache or Nginx web servers. If it turns out that it's an Apache server, then both apache_server and .htaccess need to be checked.

 

On the other hand, if you're using Nginx, only one file needs checking: namely, nginx_conf_. After you locate the files, search for 303 status codes and see if anything appears. If it does, you need to modify it. You either want to remove it entirely if you don't need the status code or apply it to a specific page.

 

Debug Your Application Code

Nearly every web application keeps some form of server-side logs. Application logs are usually the history of what the application did while running a website. If the troubleshooting tip above didn't help fix the issue, the root of the problem may be in some custom code within your application. To see if this is the case, you have to debug your application code manually. Perform a step-by-step debug process to recreate the exact scenario in which the 303 See Other occurred and view the application code when something goes wrong.

 

 

A 303 See Other is an HTTP status code indicating that the resource you requested is located at another URI (address) using the GET HTTP method.

 

The best way to fix the 303 See Other status code is to:

• Confirm your server configuration 
• Debug your application code

The cause for the 303 response code may be an improperly set redirecting link or a glitch. In either case, this indicates that you need a good website maintenance tool to help you automatically detect such errors in the future. A tool like Exai can detect an issue the moment it occurs. You can be sure that your website is up-to-date and fully functional so that you can maintain your top web presence.