How to Fix Soft 404 Errors in Google Search Console
Why Google treats some working pages as "not found", and how to fix each cause properly.
A soft 404 is a page that tells visitors "nothing here" but tells search engines "everything is fine" by returning a normal 200 status code. Google spots these pages, treats them as errors and keeps them out of its index. Search Console lists them as "Soft 404".
Common causes
- "Page not found" pages that return 200 instead of a real 404 status.
- Empty category or search pages โ "No products found".
- Very thin pages with almost no content.
- Out-of-stock product pages stripped down to "unavailable".
- Mass redirects to the homepage from deleted pages โ Google often treats these as soft 404s.
- Pages that load content only with JavaScript that failed to render.
How to fix each type
The page really does not exist
Make the server return a proper 404 (or 410) status. A friendly custom 404 page is fine โ it just needs the right status code. Check the status of URLs with the redirect checker, which shows the code each URL returns.
The page moved
Add a 301 redirect to the closest relevant page โ not to the homepage for everything.
Empty category or search pages
Add products or content, merge the category, or noindex empty filter pages. Do not leave large numbers of empty pages crawlable.
Thin pages
Add real, useful content, or merge the page into a stronger one. See content pruning in SEO.
Out-of-stock products
Keep the full product page with its description and show the stock status clearly, with alternatives. If a product is gone forever, redirect to the closest product or category.
JavaScript rendering
Use URL Inspection's live test to see what Google renders. Make sure key content appears in the HTML or renders reliably.
Find broken links to these pages
Internal links that point to missing pages create more soft 404 and 404 reports. Check key pages with the broken link checker, and read do broken links affect SEO.
Validate the fix
After fixing, open the Soft 404 issue in Search Console and click "Validate fix". Google rechecks the URLs over the following days and weeks.
A worked example
An electronics store had 300 soft 404s. Two causes explained almost all of them. Its "no results" search pages returned 200 and were linked from a "popular searches" widget. And discontinued products had been redirected in bulk to the homepage. The store noindexed internal search pages and removed the widget's links. It redirected discontinued products to the closest current model or category, and let the rest return 404. The soft 404 count fell steadily over the next month.
Test your 404 page
Visit a URL that cannot exist on your site, such as /this-page-does-not-exist-123, and check the status code it returns. If it is 200, fix that first โ it is the most common cause of soft 404s.
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Frequently asked questions
Is a soft 404 worse than a 404?
It wastes crawling and sends mixed signals. A real 404 for a missing page is the cleaner answer.
Can a page with content be a soft 404?
Yes, if Google thinks the content is too thin or looks like an error page.
Should out-of-stock products return 404?
Not if they will come back. Keep the page live and show availability.
Why did redirects to my homepage become soft 404s?
Google treats irrelevant redirects as if the page were missing. Redirect to related pages or return 404.