Understand local 404 counts

Enable only when useful

Open RedirectNest → Redirects → 404 monitor. The basic 404 counter is optional and off by default. It records local path totals, not visitor IP addresses, user agents, query strings, referrers or profiles. Paths themselves can still contain personal information.

Understand the counts and retention

Free includes optional basic hit and 404 counts. Both are off by default. Retention, daily path limits, noise filtering and ignored prefixes are included in Free. Seven days and 1,000 distinct missing paths per day are the defaults; retention can be set to 7, 30 or 90 days. Existing settings are preserved until changed. Pro adds aggregate trend charts.

Hit totals are tied to a saved-rule fingerprint, day and last-hit time. Neither counter stores IP addresses, user agents, queries or referrers. Counts can include bots, be affected by concurrent traffic or omit paths after the limit. They do not establish unique visitors, revenue or the importance of a page. Disabling the 404 counter clears its totals.

Review before redirecting

A frequently requested missing path is a starting point, not a reason to redirect everything. Choose a relevant destination, create an exact rule, and test it. Export anything you need to retain before privacy erasure or cleanup.

Pro Smart repair accepts a manually entered missing path even with logging disabled. Free can create the same intended exact redirect through its ordinary editor.

Work through the missing paths

Search the recorded path text, sort by hit count or last seen, and move through pages of 25 records. The default Open view hides paths you marked reviewed or ignored. Use Reviewed, Ignored or All to find them again.

Mark reviewed after investigating, ignore for 30 days to keep noise out of Open, or choose Reopen. These are local review choices, not logging exclusions: ignoring a row does not stop its counter and later requests do not automatically reopen it. Up to 1,000 decisions are retained for 30 days. Decisions can expire sooner after auxiliary erasure.

Create an exact redirect in Free or follow the optional Pro repair link, which carries the missing path into the relevant review. No redirect is published by opening either link. Hits and last-seen dates do not identify people or estimate lost sales.