URL Regex: Validate Website URLs

Use these URL regex patterns to validate website URLs with or without http or https. Below you will find the exact regexes, copy-ready examples for JavaScript, Python, and HTML forms, plus common URL validation mistakes.

URL regex

Use one regex for URLs that must start with http:// or https://, and a different one if protocol is optional.

Primary pattern for HTTP/HTTPS URLs:

^https?:\/\/(?:www\.)?[-a-zA-Z0-9@:%._\+~#=]{1,256}\.[a-zA-Z0-9()]{1,63}\b(?:[-a-zA-Z0-9()@:%_\+.~#?&\/=]*)$

Pattern for URLs without protocol:

^[-a-zA-Z0-9@:%._\+~#=]{1,256}\.[a-zA-Z0-9()]{1,63}\b(?:[-a-zA-Z0-9()@:%_\+.~#?&\/=]*)$

What the HTTP/HTTPS pattern matches:

• https://uibakery.io
• http://example.com/docs
• https://www.example.org/pricing?plan=pro

What it does not match:

• ftp://example.com
• https:/example.com
• /docs/page
• just-text

Quick note: If you need to match local URLs, IP addresses, or every RFC-compliant edge case, use a more specialized validator instead of one generic regex.

URL regex that starts with HTTP or HTTPS

HTTP and HTTPS URLs that start with protocol can be validated using the following regular expression

/^https?:\/\/(?:www\.)?[-a-zA-Z0-9@:%._\+~#=]{1,256}\.[a-zA-Z0-9()]{1,6}\b(?:[-a-zA-Z0-9()@:%_\+.~#?&\/=]*)$/

Example code in Javascript:

var httpRegex = /^https?:\/\/(?:www\.)?[-a-zA-Z0-9@:%._\+~#=]{1,256}\.[a-zA-Z0-9()]{1,6}\b(?:[-a-zA-Z0-9()@:%_\+.~#?&\/=]*)$/;
// Validate URL
httpRegex.test('https://uibakery.io'); // Returns true
httpRegex.test('https:/uibakery.io'); // Returns false

// Extract URL from a string
var httpRegexG = /https?:\/\/(?:www\.)?[-a-zA-Z0-9@:%._\+~#=]{1,256}\.[a-zA-Z0-9()]{1,6}\b(?:[-a-zA-Z0-9()@:%_\+.~#?&\/=]*)/g;
'You can view more details at https://uibakery.io or just ping via email.'.match(httpRegexG); // returns ['https://uibakery.io']

URL regex that doesn’t start with HTTP or HTTPS

The regular expression to validate URL without protocol is very similar:

/^[-a-zA-Z0-9@:%._\+~#=]{1,256}\.[a-zA-Z0-9()]{1,6}\b(?:[-a-zA-Z0-9()@:%_\+.~#?&//=]*)$/

Example code in Javascript:

var httpRegex = /^[-a-zA-Z0-9@:%._\+~#=]{1,256}\.[a-zA-Z0-9()]{1,6}\b(?:[-a-zA-Z0-9()@:%_\+.~#?&//=]*)$/;
// Validate URL
httpRegex.test('uibakery.io/contact'); // Returns true
httpRegex.test('/uibakery.io'); // Returns false

// Extract URL from a string
var httpRegexG = /[-a-zA-Z0-9@:%._\+~#=]{1,256}\.[a-zA-Z0-9()]{1,6}\b(?:[-a-zA-Z0-9()@:%_\+.~#?&//=]*)/g;
'You can view more details at uibakery.io or just ping via email.'.match(httpRegexG); // returns ['uibakery.io']

Common mistakes

1. Using one regex for every possible URL

There is no single short regex that perfectly validates all valid URLs. For example, you may need separate logic for:

• http and https URLs
• domains without protocol
• localhost
• IP addresses
• internal relative paths

This page covers common website URLs, not every edge case.

2. Forgetting to define whether protocol is required

These two cases should not use the same validation rule:

• https://uibakery.io
• uibakery.io

If protocol is required, use the HTTP/HTTPS regex. If protocol is optional, use the domain-based regex.

3. Using URL regex for relative paths

Values like these are not full URLs:

• /pricing
• /docs/getting-started
• ../assets/file.pdf

If your form accepts internal paths, use a separate path validation pattern.

4. Expecting regex alone to verify the page exists

Regex only checks format. It does not confirm that:

• the domain exists
• the page is live
• SSL is valid
• the target returns 200 OK

If you need that, you need an additional request or backend validation step.

Notes on URL validation

The above-mentioned regular expressions only cover the most commonly used types of URLs with domain names. If you have some more complex cases you might need a different solution.