How to Force HTTPS Using .htaccess (2023)

Forcing HTTPS on All Traffic

One of the many functions you can perform via .htaccess is the 301 redirect, which permanently redirects an old URL to a new one. You can activate the feature to force HTTPS on all incoming traffic by following these steps:

1. Go to File Manager in your hosting panel and open .htaccess inside the public_html folder. If you can’t locate it, make sure to create or unhide it.
2. Scroll down to find RewriteEngine On and insert the following lines of code below it:

   RewriteEngine On
   RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
   RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

3. Save the changes.

Forcing HTTPS on a Specific Domain

Let’s say that you have two domains: http://yourdomain1.com and http://yourdomain2.com. Both domains access the same website, but you only want the first one to be redirected to the HTTPS version. In this case, you need to use the following code:

RewriteEngine On 
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^yourdomain1.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off 
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L]

Make sure to replace yourdomain1 with the actual domain you’re trying to force HTTPS on.