Technical SEOPublished30.04.2026

Soft 404

A false 404 error: the server returns 200 OK for a missing page. How to find and fix it to avoid polluting the index.

On this page
Why Soft 404 is a problemHow to detect Soft 404sHow to fix them
In brief

A Soft 404 is a condition where the requested page does not exist (or has little content) but the server returns a 200 OK instead of 404 or 410. Search engines may flag it as a Soft 404 and exclude it from the index.

Why Soft 404 is a problem

Users see a 'Page not found' message, but for the bot the page exists and can be indexed. This wastes crawl budget, creates index duplicates, and degrades overall site quality in the search engine's view.

How to detect Soft 404s

In Google Search Console, the Index Coverage report shows pages flagged as Soft 404. Crawlers like Screaming Frog can also find pages with a 200 status but containing typical 'nothing found' or 'product missing' messages.

How to fix them

  • Configure the server to return a true 404 or 410 status for truly non-existent pages.
  • For thin-content pages, either enrich them or block indexing (noindex) / remove them.
  • If a page is permanently removed, use 410 Gone — it speeds up de-indexing.
Don't redirect all broken pages to the homepage — that creates new issues. Better show an honest 404 with helpful content.
FAQ

Common questions

A Soft 404 returns 200 OK; a regular 404 returns 404 Not Found. The latter is correct.
Set the proper 404/410 code, then use the Remove Outdated Content tool in Search Console.
Yes, many Soft 404s lower the site quality score in Google's assessment, potentially impacting overall rankings.
Typical reasons: CMS misconfiguration (shows a placeholder with 200), redirect to a custom page without status change, script errors.
Direct contacts

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Soft 404 — What is it?