---
title: Wildcard matching in Page Rules
description: How wildcard and pattern matching works in Page Rules URLs.
image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/core-services-preview.png
---

> Documentation Index  
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developers.cloudflare.com/rules/llms.txt  
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

[Skip to content](#%5Ftop) 

# Wildcard matching in Page Rules

You can use the asterisk (`*`) in any URL segment to match certain patterns. For example, `example.com/t*st` would match:

* `example.com/test`
* `example.com/toast`
* `example.com/trust`

`example.com/foo/* `does not match `example.com/foo`, but `example.com/foo*` does match.

Note

Consider alternative [Rules](https://developers.cloudflare.com/rules/) options due to their enhanced configurability. Refer to the [migration guide](https://developers.cloudflare.com/rules/reference/page-rules-migration/) for details.

For more flexibility and customization, consider using [Snippets](https://developers.cloudflare.com/rules/snippets/).

## Helpful tips

* To match both `http` and `https`, write `example.com`. Writing `*example.com` is unnecessary.
* To match every page on a domain, write `example.com/*`. Writing `example.com` will not work.
* To match every page on a domain and its subdomains, write `*example.com/*`. Writing `example.com` will not work.
* A wildcard (`*`) in a page rule URL will match even if no characters are present and may include any part of the URL, including the query string.

## Reference wildcard matches

You can reference a matched wildcard later using the `$<X>` syntax, where `<X>` indicates the index of a glob pattern. For example, `$1` represents the first wildcard match and `$2` represents the second wildcard match.

The `$<X>` syntax is especially useful with the _Forwarding URL_ setting. For example, you could forward `http://*.example.com/*` to `http://example.com/images/$1/$2.jpg`.

This rule would match `http://cloud.example.com/flare.jpg`, which would be forwarded to `http://example.com/images/cloud/flare.jpg`.

To add a `$` character in the forwarding URL, escape it by adding a backslash `\` in front like `\$`.

Warning

Avoid creating a redirect where the domain points to itself as the destination. A domain that points to itself can cause an [infinite redirect error](https://developers.cloudflare.com/ssl/troubleshooting/too-many-redirects/), which makes your site inaccessible to visitors.

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/directory/","name":"Directory"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/rules/","name":"Rules"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"/rules/page-rules/","name":"Page Rules"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@id":"/rules/page-rules/reference/","name":"Reference"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@id":"/rules/page-rules/reference/wildcard-matching/","name":"Wildcard matching in Page Rules"}}]}
```