HTTP headers checker: what your browser sends
Each time your browser asks for a page, it attaches a few lines of extra information called headers. The table below lists every header that came with your visit, exactly as it reached us. Load this page with your proxy switched on to see whether the proxy added anything.
Proxy headers found in your request
We spotted these proxy headers: X-Forwarded-Proto, X-Real-Ip. They tell every site you visit that your request came through a proxy. If privacy matters to you, the proxy should be set up to leave them out.
| Header | Value |
|---|---|
| Accept | */* |
| Accept-Encoding | gzip, br |
| Cdn-Loop | cloudflare; loops=1 |
| Cf-Connecting-Ip | 216.73.216.82 |
| Cf-Ipcountry | US |
| Cf-Ray | a4ea8b6eecf7ee32-CMH |
| Cf-Visitor | {"scheme":"https"} |
| Cookie | cps_lang=ua; cps_sess=br7ogr3arnatcf8jppec01tuj9 |
| Host | budgetproxies.com |
| User-Agent | Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; [email protected]) |
| X-Forwarded-Proto | https |
| X-Real-Ip | 216.73.216.82 |
What headers are, in everyday terms
Think of headers as the notes clipped to the front of every request. Along with the address of the page you want, your browser sends HTTP request headers saying which browser it is, which languages you read, what kinds of content it can show and whether it can handle compressed data. The website reads them to decide what to send back.
If you use a proxy or VPN, headers are also one of the commonest ways a setup gives itself away.
Three headers that reveal a proxy
Keep an eye out for these:
X-Forwarded-For- carries the IP address of whoever sent the request. A badly set-up proxy passes it along, which hands your real IP to the website.Via- names the proxy a request went through, sometimes down to its software.Via: 1.1 squid/3.5, for example, tells the site that a Squid proxy handled it.Forwarded- the official, standardised version of X-Forwarded-For, set out in RFC 7239. It gives away the same information.
If any of these turn up, even simple bot checks will notice the proxy straight away. Paid for a "high anonymity" proxy and still seeing them here? Then something is set up wrong, and it's fair to ask the seller to put it right.
Other headers websites look at
Sites that check for automated visitors also compare the everyday headers. A normal browser fills these in sensibly by itself; they mostly matter if you write scripts:
- User-Agent - the browser's name and version. Does it look like a real, current browser?
- Accept-Language - your preferred languages. A browser sends something like
en-US,en;q=0.9; a missing value or*/*looks automated. - Accept - the types of content the browser can show. Browsers send a long list that starts
text/html,application/xhtml+xml,..., while scripts often send just*/*. - Sec-Fetch-* - extra context that Chrome and Edge add: Sec-Fetch-Site, Sec-Fetch-Mode and Sec-Fetch-Dest. A request that claims to be Chrome but leaves them out stands out.
- Sec-Ch-Ua - Client Hints, a newer way for Chrome to describe itself (sent by Chrome 90+). If they disagree with the User-Agent, that's a warning sign.
- DNT, Upgrade-Insecure-Requests - small details that should simply match what that browser normally sends.
Transparent, anonymous or elite: what the labels mean
Proxy sellers often describe their proxies with one of three words. Each one is about which of these headers the proxy adds:
- Transparent - passes on both X-Forwarded-For and Via, so the site sees your real IP. Not suitable if privacy matters.
- Anonymous - hides your IP but still adds a Via header, so the site knows a proxy is involved without seeing your IP.
- Elite (high anonymity) - adds none of these headers, so nothing in the headers suggests a proxy. A site may still recognise the IP itself as a proxy address.
All of our proxies work at the elite level: X-Forwarded-For, Via, Forwarded and Client-IP are taken out before your request reaches the website.
Try it with your own proxy
Switch your proxy on, reload this page and read down the table. If X-Forwarded-For or Via shows up with proxy details in it, the proxy is giving itself away. If the list looks like an ordinary browser's, with no proxy rows, your proxy is behaving as it should.
