Pattern

Regex for URL / web address

HTTP or HTTPS URL with optional path, query, and fragment.

The URL / web address regex is ^https?://[^\s/$.?#].[^\s]*$ — copy it below, or open it in the explainer for a token-by-token breakdown.

The pattern

^https?://[^\s/$.?#].[^\s]*$

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What it matches

https://example.com
http://sub.domain.com/path?q=1
https://example.com:8080/page#anchor

What it doesn't match

example.com
ftp://example.com
http://
http:// example.com

Notes & gotchas

Simplified from the Diego Perini URL regex. For URL parsing security (SSRF, redirect validation), use a real parser like JavaScript's URL or Python's urllib.parse.

Code in your language

Use the explainer's Code tab to generate ready-to-paste snippets in JavaScript, Python, Java, .NET, Go, Ruby, and PHP for this pattern.

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Token-by-token breakdown

Every part of the pattern, left to right:

Token	Meaning
`^`	start of string (or line in multiline mode)
`http`	literal text “http”
`s?`	optional (zero or one): the literal “s”
`://`	literal text “://”
`[^\s/$.?#]`	any character except whitespace, “/”, “$”, “.”, “?”, “#”
`.`	any character (except newline)
`[^\s]*`	zero or more: any character except whitespace
`$`	end of string (or line in multiline mode)

About this pattern

Identifying and validating user identity (names, contact info, IDs) is one of the most common reasons developers reach for regex. The pattern below handles the format check; for full validation always confirm against a source of truth (database, API, or document).

Quick usage in different languages

This exact pattern — with the correct escaping and idioms for each language:

JavaScript: /^https?:\/\/[^\s\/$.?#].[^\s]*$/.test(value)
Python: re.match(r"^https?://[^\s/$.?#].[^\s]*$", value)
Java: Pattern.compile("^https?://[^\\s/$.?#].[^\\s]*$").matcher(value).matches()
C# / .NET: Regex.IsMatch(value, @"^https?://[^\s/$.?#].[^\s]*$")
Go: regexp.MustCompile(`^https?://[^\s/$.?#].[^\s]*$`).MatchString(value)
Ruby: /^https?:\/\/[^\s\/$.?#].[^\s]*$/.match?(value)
PHP: preg_match('~^https?://[^\s/$.?#].[^\s]*$~', $value)

The explainer’s Code tab regenerates these for any pattern you paste, and the downloadable cheat sheet bundles the breakdown, all seven snippets, and the pitfalls below onto one printable page.

Common pitfalls

Anchored to the whole string. This pattern uses ^ and $, so it requires the entire input to match. To find it inside a longer text, drop the anchors and use the global (g) flag.
Escape it correctly per language. In Java and JavaScript strings each backslash must be doubled (\\d); in Python, Go, and C# use raw/verbatim strings so the backslashes survive.
Validate beyond format. Matching the format doesn't guarantee the value is real. Confirm the url / web address against a source of truth (database, API, or checksum) where it matters.

Standards & sources

This pattern is based on the following authoritative specification(s) and issuing authorities. Formats can change — always confirm against the primary source.

RFC 3986 — URI: Generic Syntax

Related patterns

More patterns in the Identity & contact category: