Short answer: A soft 404 is a page that tells visitors it doesn’t exist, or shows almost nothing, while the server answers 200, the code for success. Google leaves these pages out of Search and lists them in Search Console. The fix depends on the page: return a 404 or 410 if it’s gone, a 301 if it moved, and check how Google renders it if it still exists.
Three fixes, depending on the page
| The page | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Removed, with no replacement | Return a 404 (not found) or 410 (gone) code | It tells search engines the page doesn’t exist and you don’t want it indexed |
| Moved, or has a clear replacement | Add a 301 redirect to the new page | Visitors reach the new page, and search engines learn where it is |
| Still there and working | Check it with the URL Inspection tool | Googlebot may have missed critical resources or seen an error message while rendering it |
From Google Search Central, “Troubleshoot Google Search crawling errors”, read November 3, 2026.
What counts as a soft 404
Google gives four examples of how a site can produce one: a missing server-side include file, a broken connection to the database, an empty internal search result page, or a JavaScript file that didn’t load.
Google calls it a bad experience: visitors think the page works and then find an error. When its algorithms detect from the content that a page is an error page, Search Console shows a soft 404 in the Page Indexing report.
Redirects can cause them too. Google warns that sending many old URLs to one irrelevant page, such as the home page, can confuse users and might be treated as a soft 404. Our guide to the 301 redirect covers when to use one.
How to fix a soft 404
- In Search Console, open the Page Indexing report and find the pages marked as soft 404.
- Open each address and decide whether the page is gone, has moved or is still there.
- If it’s gone and nothing replaces it, make the server return a 404 or 410 code.
- If it moved or has a clear replacement, redirect it with a 301 to that page.
- Send each old address to a page with similar content, not all of them to the home page.
- If the page is still there, run the URL Inspection tool and look at the rendered page and the HTTP code.
- After the change, check with URL Inspection that the address returns the right code.
If the rendered page is blank, nearly blank or shows an error, the page may use many resources that can’t load, such as images and scripts. Google names resources blocked by robots.txt, too many resources on a page, server errors, and slow or very large resources. Our guide to robots.txt explains how the file works.
What our own site returns
At 1:54 AM on November 3 we asked our site for a guide that doesn’t exist, in English and in Spanish. Both answered with a 404 code and our own error page.
The page says “This page is not here.”, gives two likely reasons and links to the home page and to eight of the pages people look for most. It keeps the site’s header, menu and footer. It has no way to report a broken link, the last of Google’s tips.
A search on our site for a made-up word shows “Nothing found.” and answers 200. That’s one of Google’s examples. Our search pages also carry a noindex tag, and our robots.txt doesn’t block them, so Google can read it and drop them from its results. Our guide to noindex explains how the tag works.
What a useful 404 page has
- A clear message that the page can’t be found.
- Friendly, inviting language.
- The same look and navigation as the rest of the site.
- Links to your most popular pages and to your home page.
- A way to report a broken link.
- A 404 status code from the server, so the page isn’t indexed.
RememberA page that’s gone should answer 404 or 410, and a page that moved should redirect with a 301 to a relevant page. A good page flagged by mistake needs a look in URL Inspection.
If you want us to find and fix these errors on your site, see our technical SEO service.
Quick answers about soft 404 errors
What’s the difference between a 404 and a soft 404?
A 404 is the status code a server sends when a page doesn’t exist. A soft 404 is a page that says it doesn’t exist, or is empty, but sends 200, the success code. Google excludes soft 404 pages from Search.
Do 404 errors hurt my site?
A 404 is the right answer for a page that no longer exists. Google removes those URLs from its index, and 4xx codes other than 429 don’t change how fast it crawls your site.
Should I redirect deleted pages to my home page?
Not as a rule. Sending many old URLs to one unrelated page, such as the home page, may be treated as a soft 404. Redirect to a clear replacement, or return a 404 or 410.
Should I use a 404 or a 410 for a removed page?
Either works for Google Search. Google treats all 4xx codes except 429 the same way, and both tell search engines that the page doesn’t exist and that you don’t want it indexed.
How long does Google take to drop a removed page?
Google gives no fixed time. URLs that start returning a 4xx code are removed from the index if they were indexed, and Google stops using them over time and crawls them less and less often.
Sources
Read on November 3, 2026. Google Search Central: Troubleshoot Google Search crawling errors, How HTTP status codes affect Google’s crawlers, How to move a site and Block Search indexing with noindex. Our own case: our answers to a missing page and to a search that finds nothing, on November 3, 2026.