404 vs. 410

TL;DR — A 404 means “not foundA 302 (\"Found\") is a temporary redirect: it forwards users to a new URL while telling search engines the original URL should stay in the index. It's a weak canonicalization signal, not the zero-equity dead end of SEO folklore.” — the page isn’t here, but the server isn’t saying whether that’s permanent. A 410 means “gone” — this page was here and it’s been removed on purpose, for good. For SEO they behave almost identically: both eventually drop the page from Google. 410 signals permanence a little more clearly and gets recrawled slightly less, but the difference is small. If the old page has links or traffic, redirectA redirect sends browsers and crawlers from a requested URL to a different one. An HTTP redirect specifically is a 3xx status code paired with a Location header; meta refresh and JavaScript redirects achieve a similar navigation without being a 3xx response themselves. Permanent redirects (301/308) are Google's signal the target should be canonical; temporary ones (302/303/307) aren't. it instead.

What each one means

Both are error codes in the 4xx family — the group that means “the client asked for something the server couldn’t give it.”

• 404 Not Found404 Not Found is the HTTP client-error status code a server returns when it can't find the requested URL — RFC 9110 defines it as no current representation, or unwillingness to disclose one. A \"hard 404\" actually returns the 404 status; a \"soft 404\" returns a success code (like 200) for a page that's really gone. 404s are normal and expected: the fact that some URLs 404 doesn't affect your site's other, successful pages, and Google de-indexes 404'd URLs over time (probably retrying for some period, less and less often). — the server can’t find the page. It doesn’t promise anything about the future. Maybe the URL is a typo, maybe the page moved, maybe it’s gone forever. 404 stays deliberately vague.
• 410 GoneA 410 Gone status code tells search engines a page was intentionally and permanently removed, prompting slightly faster de-indexing than a standard 404. — the page was here, and it’s been intentionally, permanently removed. You’re telling everyone “don’t expect this to come back.”

Think of 404 as “I can’t find that” and 410 as “that’s been taken down for good.”

Does the difference matter for SEO?

Barely. For a page you’ve deleted, both codes lead to the same outcome: Google eventually removes it from the indexStoring a crawled page in the search index so it can appear in results. Crawled is not the same as indexed — Google selects what to keep, and indexing isn't guaranteed. and crawls it less and less over time. Google’s own documentation lumps 404 and 410 together and says all the 4xx codes (except one) are “treated the same.” Evidence for this claim Google treats 404 and 410 the same for Search and removes a previously indexed URL over time when it returns a 4xx response. Scope: Google Search handling; the documentation does not promise that 410 is removed faster. Confidence: high · Verified: 2026-07-14 Google: HTTP status codes and Search

Google’s published documentation does not promise that 410 is removed faster. The reason to choose it is semantic accuracy, not a guaranteed processing shortcut.

What to actually do

1. Page gone for good, no traffic or links? A plain 404 is fine. You don’t have to do anything special — that’s usually what your CMSA content management system (CMS) is software that lets users create, manage, and publish digital content — like blog posts and pages — without writing raw code. WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla are the most common open-source CMS platforms. already returns.
2. Absolutely certain it’s gone and easy to set up? Use a 410 to state the intent clearly (bulk-deleted products, spam cleanup, content you’ll never bring back).
3. Old page has backlinks or used to get traffic? Don’t use either — set up a 301 redirectA 301 redirect is the HTTP status code for a permanent move: it tells browsers and search engines a URL has moved for good, and it's the strongest signal for consolidating a page's ranking signals onto the new URL. Google says permanent redirects don't cause a loss in PageRank. to the most relevant live page so you keep the value.

One myth to bury: 404s do not hurt your rankings. They’re a normal, expected part of every website. The only real downsides are user experience (a confused visitor) and, at very large scale, wasted crawlingCrawling is how search engines use automated bots (like Googlebot and Bingbot) to discover URLs and download pages. A page has to be crawlable to be indexed, but crawling on its own isn't a ranking factor..

Want the primary sources, the data behind “410 is faster,” and a decision tree? Switch to the Advanced tab.

TL;DR — 404 and 410 are both 4xx codes that eventually de-indexStoring a crawled page in the search index so it can appear in results. Crawled is not the same as indexed — Google selects what to keep, and indexing isn't guaranteed. a deleted page, and Google’s docs explicitly group them: “All 4xx errorsThe 4xx (client error) and 5xx (server error) HTTP status codes a server returns instead of a successful 2xx — and how Google treats each class very differently., except 429429 Too Many Requests is an HTTP client-error status code that means a client sent too many requests in a given time window — a mechanism called rate limiting. Unlike other 4xx codes, Google treats 429 as a server-overload signal and slows crawling instead of removing content., are treated the same.” The difference is intent (410 = permanent) plus a small, measured margin — Reboot Online’s controlled test foundA 302 (\"Found\") is a temporary redirect: it forwards users to a new URL while telling search engines the original URL should stay in the index. It's a weak canonicalization signal, not the zero-equity dead end of SEO folklore. 404s recrawled ~49.6% more often than 410s, consistent with Mueller’s “a 410 will sometimes fall out a little bit faster.” Mueller has also said the processing difference is “so minimal” he can’t think of a reason to prefer one for SEO. The old “404 = 24-hour grace period, 410 = instant” framing is a 2014 Matt Cutts line and is outdated. If a URL has links or ranking history, 301-redirectA redirect sends browsers and crawlers from a requested URL to a different one. An HTTP redirect specifically is a 3xx status code paired with a Location header; meta refresh and JavaScript redirects achieve a similar navigation without being a 3xx response themselves. Permanent redirects (301/308) are Google's signal the target should be canonical; temporary ones (302/303/307) aren't. it instead of serving either.

What is a 404 (Not Found)?

A 404 says the server couldn’t find a resource at that URL — and, crucially, it says nothing about why or whether it’s temporary. The page might return, might have moved without a redirect, or might be gone for good. Google’s handling: “the indexingStoring a crawled page in the search index so it can appear in results. Crawled is not the same as indexed — Google selects what to keep, and indexing isn't guaranteed. pipeline removes the URL from the index if it was previously indexed. Newly encountered 404 pages404 Not Found is the HTTP client-error status code a server returns when it can't find the requested URL — RFC 9110 defines it as no current representation, or unwillingness to disclose one. A \"hard 404\" actually returns the 404 status; a \"soft 404\" returns a success code (like 200) for a page that's really gone. 404s are normal and expected: the fact that some URLs 404 doesn't affect your site's other, successful pages, and Google de-indexes 404'd URLs over time (probably retrying for some period, less and less often). aren’t processed. The crawlingCrawling is how search engines use automated bots (like Googlebot and Bingbot) to discover URLs and download pages. A page has to be crawlable to be indexed, but crawling on its own isn't a ranking factor. frequency gradually decreases.”

RFC 9110 — the current HTTP semantics spec — frames it the same way: 404 doesn’t disclose whether the absence is temporary or permanent. It’s the code you reach for when you don’t know, or don’t want to say.

In practice, 404 is the default a CMSA content management system (CMS) is software that lets users create, manage, and publish digital content — like blog posts and pages — without writing raw code. WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla are the most common open-source CMS platforms. returns for a deleted or mistyped URL, and it’s the code you’ll spend the most time looking at in Search ConsoleA free Google service that reports how a site performs in Google Search and surfaces problems with how Google crawls, indexes, and serves it. It's first-party data straight from Google — but you don't need it to appear in results.’s Not found (404) report.

What is a 410 (Gone)?

A 410 is a more specific 4xx code that explicitly means the resource was intentionally, permanently removed and isn’t coming back. It’s the honest signal for content you’ve decided to kill: discontinued productsA discontinued product is an item you'll never sell again — the manufacturer stopped making it, or you dropped the line. The SEO decision is end-of-life: 301-redirect the URL to a genuinely similar replacement or the closest relevant category if it earned links or traffic, 404/410 it if it didn't, or keep it live as a Discontinued tombstone page only when it still helps users. This is distinct from a temporary out-of-stock product, which you keep live at 200., retired promotions, deleted spam, GDPR/legal takedowns.

RFC 9110 frames 410 as likely permanent, not an unbreakable promise — the spec itself leaves how long you keep serving it, and whether you bother marking every permanent removal that way, up to you. And neither code is an SEO guarantee: serving the semantically correct one doesn’t by itself change rankings, traffic, or how fast a URL leaves the index — it’s a signal, not a lever.

Mechanically, Google treats it inside the same indexing pipeline as a 404 — the page drops from the index and gets crawled less over time — but the meaning you’re communicating is stronger: “don’t come back looking for this.”

What Google actually says about 404 vs. 410

The official docs: “treated the same”

The single most important fact, and the one most articles bury: Google’s own HTTP and network errors documentation groups 400, 401, 403, 404, 410, and 411 under one explanation. Verbatim:

“All 4xx errors, except 429, are treated the same: Google crawlersGooglebot is Google's web crawler — the software that fetches pages so Google can index and rank them. It comes in two variants, Googlebot Smartphone (primary, under mobile-first indexing) and Googlebot Desktop, and runs an evergreen Chromium renderer. inform the next processing system that the content doesn’t exist. In the case of Google Search, the indexing pipeline removes the URL from the index if it was previously indexed. Newly encountered 404 pages aren’t processed. The crawlingCrawling is how search engines use automated bots (like Googlebot and Bingbot) to discover URLs and download pages. A page has to be crawlable to be indexed, but crawling on its own isn't a ranking factor. frequency gradually decreases.”

So at the level of official, current guidance, 404 and 410 are documented as equivalent. That’s the headline. The nuance below doesn’t overturn it — it refines it.

One wrinkle worth flagging: the removal handling (“crawlersA crawler — also called a spider or bot — is an automated program that fetches web pages, extracts their links, and queues new URLs to visit. Search engines use crawlers to discover and download content for their index. inform the next processing system that the content doesn’t exist”) is grouped across every non-429 4xx code. The specific line about newly encountered pages not being processed and crawl frequencyCrawl frequency is how often a search engine comes back to re-fetch a page it already knows about. Popular pages that change often get refreshed many times a day; stable pages can go weeks or months between crawls — and you influence it indirectly, not by setting a dial. gradually decreasing is worded for 404 pages in Google’s current doc — there’s no separately-worded 410 version of that sentence. Treat “treated the same” as directionally true rather than a line-by-line guarantee, and note that current docs don’t publish a 404-vs-410 speed SLA either way.

Mueller’s clarifications (2018 → 2024)

John Mueller has been asked this repeatedly and his answer has stayed consistent and gotten blunter over time — though these are statements relayed by SEJ and SEL, not primary recordings I re-verified in this pass (see the source-layer table below). In a Webmaster Central hangout he framed the difference as real but tiny: “a 410 will sometimes fall out a little bit faster than a 404. But usually, we’re talking on the order of a couple days or so… in the mid term / long term, a 404 is the same as a 410 for us.” And: “If you’re just removing content naturally, then that’s perfectly fine to use either one.”

By 2024, on Reddit, he was even more direct: “The difference in processing of 404 vs 410 is so minimal that I can’t think of any time I’d prefer one over the other for SEO purposes.”

Read those together and you get the honest picture: 410 is marginally faster to process, and the difference is small enough that Google’s own spokesperson says it doesn’t matter for practical SEO decisions. Both are true at once.

The Matt Cutts 2014 “24-hour” line — and why it’s outdated

If you’ve read that “404s get a 24-hour grace period and 410s are instant,” that’s a 2014 Matt Cutts explanation: Google would “protect that page for 24 hours in the crawling system” on a 404, whereas a 410 was taken as the webmaster knowing what they were doing. That framing is the origin of the “410 is instant” myth — and it’s outdated. Google no longer describes a hard 24-hour rule, and Mueller’s later “couple of days, not instant” comments plus the current docs’ “treated the same” grouping supersede it. Don’t cite the 24-hour rule as current guidance.

Source layers, at a glance

Not all of the evidence above carries the same weight. Here’s how it stacks up:

Weight it accordingly: the official grouping and RFC semantics are the load-bearing evidence; the Reboot margin and the relayed Mueller quotes are corroborating, not independently audited by me in this pass.

What Bing says

Bing lists returning a 404 or 410, deleting the page, or adding a noindex directive as reliable ways to get a URL out of its index, and recommends submitting the change via IndexNowIndexNow is an open push protocol that lets you instantly tell participating search engines (Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam, and Yep) which URLs you've added, changed, or removed via a simple HTTP request — and one submission is shared across all of them. Google does not use it. to speed detection. Bing doesn’t publicly differentiate 404 vs. 410 removal speed the way Google’s commentary does — it treats both as valid removal signals, with IndexNow (a push notification instead of waiting for an organic recrawl) being the actual lever for speed. That’s per secondary reporting on Bing’s help page, which is JavaScript-rendered and wasn’t independently re-verified against Microsoft’s current primary docs in this pass — treat the specifics as directionally right, not word-for-word confirmed. That’s still the pattern worth internalizing: how you notify the engine matters more for removal speed than which 4xx code you pick.

Is there really a speed difference? What the data shows

Yes — small, and measured. The best independent evidence is Reboot Online’s controlled experiment. They took 119 test URLs, set half to return 404 and half to return 410, controlled for internal linksAn internal link is a hyperlink from one page on a website to another page on the same website. Internal links help search engines discover your pages and pass ranking signals (PageRank and anchor-text context) between them. and stripped external links, then checked crawl behavior hourly via the GSC API and server logs for 3+ months (350,000+ rows of data). Their headline finding — their own self-reported result, not independently re-audited in this pass (see the source-layer table above):

“404’s are, on average, crawled 49.6% more often than 410’s.”

They report a t-test confirming statistical significance to 95% confidence, and conclude that “if you want Google to recrawl a removed URL as infrequently as possible, you should go with a 410 response code over a 404 one.”

What the data does prove: 410s get recrawled less often than 404s — which lines up neatly with Mueller’s “a 410 will sometimes fall out a little bit faster.” Google appears to keep coming back to 404s because a 404 might turn into a 200 (or a 410) later, whereas a 410 is taken as final.

What it doesn’t prove: it doesn’t cleanly answer the de-indexing speed question — the GSC-API method could track crawl frequency but not reliably confirm the exact moment a URL left the index. The study is also several years old. So treat it as solid evidence for a modest crawl-frequency difference, not proof of a dramatic de-indexing advantage. This matches my own take on the Ahrefs blog: 404s and 410s have similar treatment, both drop pages from the index, 410s are slightly faster, and in practical application they’re roughly the same — that’s my practitioner read, though, not an official processing-speed guarantee; current Google docs don’t publish a 404-vs-410 speed SLA either way.

When to use 410 vs. 404 — the framework

Every source converges on roughly the same rule, so here’s the opinionated version:

Use 410 when: you’re certain the content is gone forever and it’s cheap to implement — bulk deletions, discontinued products you won’t restock, deleted spam or hacked pages, legal/GDPR takedowns. You want to state permanence clearly and squeeze the marginal crawl-efficiency benefit.

Use 404 when: there’s any chance the page could come back, your CMS/server makes 410 a pain to return, or it’s simply not worth the engineering effort — because the SEO payoff of 410 over 404 is marginal. A plain 404 is a perfectly good, Google-blessed answer for a deleted page.

Use neither — 301 redirectA 301 redirect is the HTTP status code for a permanent move: it tells browsers and search engines a URL has moved for good, and it's the strongest signal for consolidating a page's ranking signals onto the new URL. Google says permanent redirects don't cause a loss in PageRank. instead — when: the URL has backlinks or historical ranking authority. A “404 vs 410” question is very often really a “should this even be a 4xx, or a redirect?” question. If the page had value, send that value to a relevant live page with a 301 rather than deliberately discarding it. (More than likely, you just need to 301-redirect each of those pages to a relevant page.)

Weight this framework by evidence tier: RFC semantics and Google’s official grouping carry the most weight; the Reboot Online crawl-frequency margin and the relayed Mueller quotes are useful tiebreakers, not the deciding factor on their own.

Common myths

• “410 removes pages instantly.” No. Google still has to crawl the URL to see the 410 first — nothing is instant. Mueller: a 410 falls out “on the order of a couple days or so.”
• “404 gets a mandatory 24-hour grace period, 410 doesn’t.” That’s the 2014 Cutts framing; current docs and Mueller’s later comments don’t describe a hard 24-hour rule. Both drop out over a similar, non-instant window.
• “410 is always better than 404 for SEO.” Mueller: the difference “is so minimal that I can’t think of any time I’d prefer one over the other.” The ~49.6% recrawl-frequency edge is real but small, and rarely worth extra engineering.
• “A 404 hurts your rankings.” No. 404s are a normal, expected part of the web and don’t cause penalties. The costs are UX and, at scale, wasted crawl budgetThe number of URLs an engine will crawl in a timeframe. — not a ranking hit.
• “You should 410 every deleted page to be safe.” Not if it has links or ranking history — a 301 to a relevant live page preserves equity you’d otherwise throw away.

Related distinctions

Two neighbors worth keeping straight: a soft 404A soft 404 is a URL that returns a success status code (usually 200 OK) even though the page is empty, missing, or shows a 'not found' message. It isn't a status code a server sends — it's a label search engines apply after comparing the response code against the rendered content, and they treat the page like a 404 for indexing. is when a page returns a 200 OK but looks empty or missing to Google (a “not found” message served with a success code) — that’s a bug to fix, not a deliberate 4xx. And the plain not-found (404) report in Search ConsoleGoogle's free tool for monitoring crawling, indexing, and search performance. is where most of these decisions actually surface. Both get their own treatment elsewhere in this cluster.

AI summary

A condensed take on the Advanced version:

• Both de-indexStoring a crawled page in the search index so it can appear in results. Crawled is not the same as indexed — Google selects what to keep, and indexing isn't guaranteed. a deleted page. 404 (Not FoundA 302 (\"Found\") is a temporary redirect: it forwards users to a new URL while telling search engines the original URL should stay in the index. It's a weak canonicalization signal, not the zero-equity dead end of SEO folklore.) and 410 (Gone) are 4xx codes; Google’s docs explicitly group them: “All 4xx errorsThe 4xx (client error) and 5xx (server error) HTTP status codes a server returns instead of a successful 2xx — and how Google treats each class very differently., except 429429 Too Many Requests is an HTTP client-error status code that means a client sent too many requests in a given time window — a mechanism called rate limiting. Unlike other 4xx codes, Google treats 429 as a server-overload signal and slows crawling instead of removing content., are treated the same.” Both drop the URL from the index and reduce crawl frequencyCrawl frequency is how often a search engine comes back to re-fetch a page it already knows about. Popular pages that change often get refreshed many times a day; stable pages can go weeks or months between crawls — and you influence it indirectly, not by setting a dial. over time.
• The difference is intent + a small margin. RFC 9110 frames 404 as neutral about duration and 410 as likely permanent (not an unbreakable promise) — 410 means “permanently gone on purpose”; 404 stays vague. 410 is processed slightly faster. Neither code is an SEO guarantee on its own.
• The data: Reboot Online’s controlled test (119 URLs, 3+ months) found 404s recrawled ~49.6% more often than 410s — a modest crawl-frequency difference, self-reported by the study’s authors, not independently re-audited and not proof of dramatically faster de-indexingStoring a crawled page in the search index so it can appear in results. Crawled is not the same as indexed — Google selects what to keep, and indexing isn't guaranteed..
• Google’s own line: Mueller says a 410 can fall out “a little bit faster… a couple days,” but that the processing difference is “so minimal” he can’t think of a reason to prefer one for SEO — these are quotes relayed via SEJ/SEL, not primary recordings independently re-verified in this pass.
• The “24-hour grace period” idea is outdated — a 2014 Matt Cutts framing, superseded by current docs and Mueller’s later comments.
• Bing: treats 404 and 410 as equally valid removal signals; IndexNowIndexNow is an open push protocol that lets you instantly tell participating search engines (Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam, and Yep) which URLs you've added, changed, or removed via a simple HTTP request — and one submission is shared across all of them. Google does not use it. is the real speed lever (push beats waiting for a recrawl).
• Decision rule: 410 when certain it’s gone and cheap to implement; 404 when it might return or 410 is a hassle; 301 redirectA 301 redirect is the HTTP status code for a permanent move: it tells browsers and search engines a URL has moved for good, and it's the strongest signal for consolidating a page's ranking signals onto the new URL. Google says permanent redirects don't cause a loss in PageRank. when the URL has links or ranking history.
• 404s don’t hurt rankings — they’re normal; the only costs are UX and, at scale, crawl waste.

Official documentation

Primary-source documentation from the search engines.

Google

• HTTP and network errors — groups 404, 410, and the rest of the 4xx codes and states they’re “treated the same.”
• Crawling and Indexing — the hub for how Google handles URLs, status codes, and removals.
• Remove a page hosted on your site from Google — the official removal options (including serving 404/410).

Bing / Microsoft

• How To Permanently Remove a URL or Page from Bing or Copilot — Bing’s removal guidance (delete the page, return 404/410, or noindexNoindex is a directive that tells search engines to keep a page out of their index, so it won't appear in search results. It works only on pages a crawler can actually fetch — a page blocked in robots.txt can never be noindexed.; submit via IndexNowIndexNow is an open push protocol that lets you instantly tell participating search engines (Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam, and Yep) which URLs you've added, changed, or removed via a simple HTTP request — and one submission is shared across all of them. Google does not use it. to speed detection).
• IndexNow / indexnow.org — the push protocol for signaling changed and removed URLs faster than an organic recrawlCrawl frequency is how often a search engine comes back to re-fetch a page it already knows about. Popular pages that change often get refreshed many times a day; stable pages can go weeks or months between crawls — and you influence it indirectly, not by setting a dial..

Quotes from the source

On-the-record statements from Google, plus the strongest independent data. Each link jumps to (or documents) the quoted passage on the source page.

Google — the official docs

• “All 4xx errorsThe 4xx (client error) and 5xx (server error) HTTP status codes a server returns instead of a successful 2xx — and how Google treats each class very differently., except 429429 Too Many Requests is an HTTP client-error status code that means a client sent too many requests in a given time window — a mechanism called rate limiting. Unlike other 4xx codes, Google treats 429 as a server-overload signal and slows crawling instead of removing content., are treated the same: Google crawlersGooglebot is Google's web crawler — the software that fetches pages so Google can index and rank them. It comes in two variants, Googlebot Smartphone (primary, under mobile-first indexing) and Googlebot Desktop, and runs an evergreen Chromium renderer. inform the next processing system that the content doesn’t exist. In the case of Google Search, the indexingStoring a crawled page in the search index so it can appear in results. Crawled is not the same as indexed — Google selects what to keep, and indexing isn't guaranteed. pipeline removes the URL from the index if it was previously indexed. Newly encountered 404 pages404 Not Found is the HTTP client-error status code a server returns when it can't find the requested URL — RFC 9110 defines it as no current representation, or unwillingness to disclose one. A \"hard 404\" actually returns the 404 status; a \"soft 404\" returns a success code (like 200) for a page that's really gone. 404s are normal and expected: the fact that some URLs 404 doesn't affect your site's other, successful pages, and Google de-indexes 404'd URLs over time (probably retrying for some period, less and less often). aren’t processed. The crawlingCrawling is how search engines use automated bots (like Googlebot and Bingbot) to discover URLs and download pages. A page has to be crawlable to be indexed, but crawling on its own isn't a ranking factor. frequency gradually decreases.” — Google Search Central, HTTP and network errors. Jump to quote

John Mueller, Google Relayed via Search Engine Journal’s coverage; the underlying Webmaster Central hangout and Reddit thread aren’t cleanly re-fetchable, so treat these as SEJ-reported quotes.

• On the size of the difference: “a 410 will sometimes fall out a little bit faster than a 404. But usually, we’re talking on the order of a couple days or so… in the mid term/long term, a 404 is the same as a 410 for us.” And: “If you’re just removing content naturally, then that’s perfectly fine to use either one.” Read the coverage
• 2024 clarification: “The difference in processing of 404 vs 410 is so minimal that I can’t think of any time I’d prefer one over the other for SEO purposes.” Read the coverage

Matt Cutts, Google (2014 — historical, now outdated) Relayed via Search Engine Land; included to show where the “24-hour / instant” myth came from, not as current guidance.

• “If a page is gone it’s fine to serve a 404. If you know it’s gone for real, it’s fine to serve a 410.” (Paired with the since-superseded “protect that page for 24 hours” framing.) Read the coverage

Reboot Online — the independent experiment Third-party empirical study (119 URLs, 3+ months, GSCA free Google service that reports how a site performs in Google Search and surfaces problems with how Google crawls, indexes, and serves it. It's first-party data straight from Google — but you don't need it to appear in results. API + server logsLog file analysis is reading a web server's raw access logs to see exactly which URLs search engine crawlers actually requested, when, how often, and what status code they got. Unlike crawl tools or Search Console, logs are the unsampled, ground-truth record of what really happened.); their own reported figures and caveats.

• “404’s are, on average, crawled 49.6% more often than 410’s.” Conclusion: “if you want Google to recrawl a removed URL as infrequently as possible, you should go with a 410 response code over a 404 one.” Read the study

404 or 410 — which should I use?

Start from the value of the old URL, not from the code. Most “404 vs 410” decisions are really “is this even a 4xx?”

Q1. Does the old URL have backlinks or a history of ranking/traffic?

• Yes → don’t serve a 4xx at all. 301-redirectA redirect sends browsers and crawlers from a requested URL to a different one. An HTTP redirect specifically is a 3xx status code paired with a Location header; meta refresh and JavaScript redirects achieve a similar navigation without being a 3xx response themselves. Permanent redirects (301/308) are Google's signal the target should be canonical; temporary ones (302/303/307) aren't. it to the most relevant live page and preserve the equity. Stop here.
• No / negligible → continue. It’s genuinely a removal, so 404 vs 410 is the real question.

Q2. Are you certain the content is gone permanently and won’t return at this URL?

• Not certain / it might come back → serve a 404. It stays honestly vague, and if the page returns, Google just picks it back up. Stop here.
• Certain it’s gone for good (discontinued product, deleted spam, legal/GDPR takedown, retired promo) → continue.

Q3. Is returning a 410 cheap and reliable on your stack?

• Yes (a rule, redirect map, or CMSA content management system (CMS) is software that lets users create, manage, and publish digital content — like blog posts and pages — without writing raw code. WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla are the most common open-source CMS platforms. setting handles it easily) → serve a 410 to state permanence clearly and get the marginal crawl-efficiency benefit.
• No (your CMS/server makes 410 awkward, or it’s a one-off) → a 404 is perfectly fine. The SEO payoff of 410 over 404 is small enough that it’s not worth fighting your platform for.

Q4. Need it gone from search faster than the next organic recrawlCrawl frequency is how often a search engine comes back to re-fetch a page it already knows about. Popular pages that change often get refreshed many times a day; stable pages can go weeks or months between crawls — and you influence it indirectly, not by setting a dial.?

• On Google → the 4xx code isn’t the lever. Use the Removals toolA Google Search Console feature for verified owners to manage how their URLs appear in Search. A Temporary Removal hides a URL for about six months — it does not delete the page from the index. for urgent cases; otherwise Google will crawl and drop it over a few days regardless.
• On Bing → submit the removed URL via IndexNowIndexNow is an open push protocol that lets you instantly tell participating search engines (Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam, and Yep) which URLs you've added, changed, or removed via a simple HTTP request — and one submission is shared across all of them. Google does not use it. to speed detection — that matters more for speed than 404-vs-410 does.

The one-line version: links/traffic → 301; certain + easy → 410; everything else → 404; and don’t expect either 4xx to be instant.

404 vs. 410 — side-by-side

When to use which

Fast facts

• Google’s docs: “All 4xx errorsThe 4xx (client error) and 5xx (server error) HTTP status codes a server returns instead of a successful 2xx — and how Google treats each class very differently., except 429, are treated the same.”
• “410 is instant” / “404 gets 24 hours” = outdated 2014 framing.
• 404s don’t hurt rankings — normal part of the web.
• Speed lever = how you notify (IndexNowIndexNow is an open push protocol that lets you instantly tell participating search engines (Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam, and Yep) which URLs you've added, changed, or removed via a simple HTTP request — and one submission is shared across all of them. Google does not use it. / Removals toolA Google Search Console feature for verified owners to manage how their URLs appear in Search. A Temporary Removal hides a URL for about six months — it does not delete the page from the index.) > which 4xx code.

404-versus-410 mistakes to avoid

Redirecting every deleted URL to the homepage

An irrelevant destination does not preserve the old page’s value and may be treated as a soft 404A soft 404 is a URL that returns a success status code (usually 200 OK) even though the page is empty, missing, or shows a 'not found' message. It isn't a status code a server sends — it's a label search engines apply after comparing the response code against the rendered content, and they treat the page like a 404 for indexing.. RedirectA redirect sends browsers and crawlers from a requested URL to a different one. An HTTP redirect specifically is a 3xx status code paired with a Location header; meta refresh and JavaScript redirects achieve a similar navigation without being a 3xx response themselves. Permanent redirects (301/308) are Google's signal the target should be canonical; temporary ones (302/303/307) aren't. only when a genuinely equivalent replacement exists; otherwise return an honest 404 or 410.

Using 410 when the page may return

410 explicitly says the resource is permanently gone. Use the ordinary 404 when the absence is uncertain or temporary rather than making a stronger claim than you can support.

Turning the choice into a ranking tactic

Neither status is a ranking boost. Google groups ordinary 4xx outcomes together, and the practical processing difference is small. Choose based on permanence and operational simplicity.

Serving a friendly error page with 200 OK

A designed error template does not replace the HTTP signal. Keep the helpful page, but make the response itself 404 or 410 so crawlersA crawler — also called a spider or bot — is an automated program that fetches web pages, extracts their links, and queues new URLs to visit. Search engines use crawlers to discover and download content for their index. do not treat it as indexable success content.

Deleting valuable URLs without checking replacements

A URL with backlinks, traffic, or a close successor deserves a redirect review before removal. The 404-versus-410 question only starts after you establish that no relevant destination exists.

Tools for auditing deleted URLs

• Bulk HTTP Status Code Checker: verify a deletion list at scale and separate 404, 410, redirectA redirect sends browsers and crawlers from a requested URL to a different one. An HTTP redirect specifically is a 3xx status code paired with a Location header; meta refresh and JavaScript redirects achieve a similar navigation without being a 3xx response themselves. Permanent redirects (301/308) are Google's signal the target should be canonical; temporary ones (302/303/307) aren't., and accidental 200 responses.
• Redirect Checker: inspect any URL that should point to an equivalent replacement and confirm its final destination.
• Google Index Checker: check observable status, redirect, noindexNoindex is a directive that tells search engines to keep a page out of their index, so it won't appear in search results. It works only on pages a crawler can actually fetch — a page blocked in robots.txt can never be noindexed., and canonical blockers, then use Search ConsoleA free Google service that reports how a site performs in Google Search and surfaces problems with how Google crawls, indexes, and serves it. It's first-party data straight from Google — but you don't need it to appear in results. for Google’s actual URL state.
• Search ConsoleGoogle's free tool for monitoring crawling, indexing, and search performance. Links and URL InspectionA Google Search Console feature that reports how Google sees one specific URL on a property you own. By default it shows the last-indexed snapshot; a separate \"Test live URL\" mode fetches the current version.: review whether an old URL has value or a replacement before deletion, and monitor Google’s state afterward.
• Bing Webmaster ToolsMicrosoft's free portal for monitoring and improving how a site appears in Bing search — the peer to Google Search Console, plus IndexNow instant indexing, richer backlink data, and keyword volumes. Because Bing's index also feeds Microsoft Copilot, it doubles as a window into AI-search visibility. / IndexNowIndexNow is an open push protocol that lets you instantly tell participating search engines (Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam, and Yep) which URLs you've added, changed, or removed via a simple HTTP request — and one submission is shared across all of them. Google does not use it.: use Bing’s supported submission workflow when notifying Bing about changed or removed URLs matters more than the code choice.

Test yourself: 404 vs. 410

Five quick questions on how the two status codes differ for SEO. Pick an answer for each, then check.

Resources worth your time

My related writing

• HTTP Status Codes & Their SEO Impact — my full roundup of the status codes that matter for SEO, including the 404/410 comparison this article expands on.
• The Beginner’s Guide to Technical SEO — where handling removed pages and status codes fits in the bigger picture.

My speaking

• How Search Works (SlideShare) — my walkthrough of crawlingCrawling is how search engines use automated bots (like Googlebot and Bingbot) to discover URLs and download pages. A page has to be crawlable to be indexed, but crawling on its own isn't a ranking factor., renderingTurning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript into the final visual page and DOM., indexingStoring a crawled page in the search index so it can appear in results. Crawled is not the same as indexed — Google selects what to keep, and indexing isn't guaranteed., and ranking, which is the pipeline every de-indexingStoring a crawled page in the search index so it can appear in results. Crawled is not the same as indexed — Google selects what to keep, and indexing isn't guaranteed. decision flows through. (Standing disclaimer: “This is my understanding of systems… not going to be 100% complete or accurate.”)

From around the industry

• 404 vs 410 — The Technical SEO Experiment (Reboot Online) — the strongest independent data in this space: 119 URLs, 3+ months, statistically significant crawl-frequency findings.
• Google’s John Mueller Clarifies 404 & 410 Confusion For SEO (Search Engine Journal) — the 2024 “so minimal” clarification.
• Google Offers Advice on 404 and 410 Status Codes (Search Engine Journal) — Mueller’s “a little bit faster… a couple days” hangout comments.
• Google’s Matt Cutts Explains How Google Search Handles 404 & 410 Status Codes (Search Engine Land) — the 2014 explainer and the origin of the “24-hour” myth.
• 404 vs 410 Response Codes — When to Use Which (Seer Interactive) — a clean definitions-plus-recommendations reference.
• 410 vs 404: Which Status Code Deindexes Faster? (John Puno) — reframes the debate around backlink/authority risk, a useful angle even without its own data.

Changelog