How to Redirect an Old Joomla URL to a New URL
Record both URLs before changing content
Copy the exact public old URL and the intended new URL. Test both. The old URL should become unavailable as a normal page before Joomla's Redirect component is used for it, while the destination must already work. Keeping the exact pair prevents mistakes after aliases or menu structures change.
Make the Joomla URL change
Change the article alias, menu alias, category route, or other structure that creates the new URL, then save and verify the new page. Do not assume Joomla will automatically preserve every historical URL after a routing change; plan a redirect for externally used addresses that no longer resolve.
Ensure Redirect prerequisites are enabled
Confirm System - Redirect is enabled and that Use URL Rewriting is active in Global Configuration. Joomla's Redirect documentation requires URL rewriting for component redirects. On Apache, ensure the rewrite configuration is correctly enabled on the server as well.
Create the old-to-new mapping
Go to System → Redirects → New. Put the complete former address in Expired/Source URL and the complete current address in New/Destination URL. Keep the entry enabled. The source should no longer be a working Joomla page, otherwise the normal route can take precedence before the Redirect component handles it.
Test the exact historical address
Request the old URL without relying on browser autocomplete or a cached page. Confirm it redirects to the new URL and that the destination loads correctly. Check the response with developer tools or an HTTP client if you need to verify the redirect itself rather than only the final page.
Update internal links too
Search menus, articles, modules, template content, and other site-controlled links for the old address and change them to the new URL. The redirect is a compatibility bridge for old bookmarks, backlinks, and external references; internal navigation should not intentionally create redirect hops.
Watch for routing and redirect conflicts
Joomla 5.2 introduced stricter routing options in System - SEF, and Joomla 6 continues stricter URL normalization behavior. If a manual redirect conflicts with SEF normalization, trailing-slash rules, suffix handling, CDN redirects, or web-server rules, map the entire redirect chain and keep one clear canonical destination.
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