What is a 302 redirect?
HTTP/1.1 302 Found Location: https://example.com/maintenance
A detour, not a move.
A 302 response, named "Found", carries a Location header like a 301, but it tells clients not to replace the original URL. Browsers follow the redirect each time rather than remembering it, and search engines keep the original address in their index.
A temporary redirect that stays in place for a long time may eventually be treated as permanent by search engines, so if a move really is permanent use a 301 instead.
Typical reasons for a 302.
Short links
A short link is an address you want to keep, while its destination can change. That is exactly what a temporary redirect expresses. shorturl.la redirects with a 302.
Maintenance and outages
Send visitors to a notice page for a while, then remove the redirect.
A/B tests
Split traffic between variants without changing the address people see.
Seasonal pages
Point a stable URL at this year's campaign page.
Location or device routing
Send visitors to a regional or mobile version based on who they are.
Login flows
Bounce people to a sign-in page and back.
302, 303 and 307.
Three codes describe a temporary redirect. 302 is the original and most common, but it is ambiguous about the request method: some clients turn a POST into a GET. 303 states that explicitly, so the follow-up request is always a GET. 307 repeats the request with the same method and body.
For a plain page request all three behave the same way for a visitor. The difference matters for forms and APIs.
Common questions
Why do short links use a 302? +
The short address is meant to stay stable while the destination may change, and the owner may edit it at any time. A temporary redirect keeps clients asking the short link each time.
Is a 302 bad for SEO? +
No, it is the right tool for a temporary move. It is the wrong tool for a permanent one, where a 301 tells search engines to switch to the new URL.
What happens to the request method on a 302? +
Browsers usually change a POST to a GET. If you need the method preserved, use 307. If you need to force a GET, use 303.
How can I see which kind of redirect a link uses? +
Run it through the redirect checker, which shows the status code of every hop.