GSC Guide
Every Search Console issue, in plain English.
Stop guessing what “Crawled — currently not indexed” actually means. Each guide explains the cause, shows the fix, and points to what matters next.
Indexing issues
Indexing issues
Pages that aren't getting into Google's index — discovered, crawled but not indexed, and dropped pages.
- Crawled – Currently Not Indexed: What It Means + How to Fix It“Crawled – currently not indexed” in Google Search Console means Google saw your page but chose not to index it. Here's why it happens and exactly how to fix it.
- Discovered – Currently Not Indexed: What It Means + How to Fix It“Discovered – currently not indexed” in Google Search Console means Google knows your page exists but hasn't crawled it yet. Here's why — and exactly how to fix it.
Canonical issues
Canonical issues
Duplicate content, alternate canonical tags, and 'Google chose a different canonical' problems.
- Alternate Page with Proper Canonical Tag (GSC): What It Means + How to Fix It“Alternate page with proper canonical tag” in Google Search Console means Google chose a different version to index. Here's when it's fine, when it's a problem, and how to fix it.
- Duplicate Without User-Selected Canonical: What It Means + How to Fix It“Duplicate without user-selected canonical” in Google Search Console means Google found duplicate pages and picked one for you. Here's why — and exactly how to fix it.
- Google Chose Different Canonical Than User: What It Means + How to Fix It“Google chose different canonical than user” in Google Search Console means Google overrode your canonical tag and picked a different page to index. Here's why — and how to fix it.
Crawling & indexing controls
Crawling & indexing controls
robots.txt, noindex, nofollow, and crawler-access issues that block (or unblock) Google.
- Blocked by robots.txt: What It Means + How to Fix It“Blocked by robots.txt” in Google Search Console means your robots.txt is telling Google not to crawl this page. Here's when it's intentional, when it's a problem, and exactly how to fix it.
- Excluded by 'noindex' Tag: What It Means + How to Fix It“Excluded by 'noindex' tag” in Google Search Console means a noindex directive is keeping your page out of the index. Here's when that's correct, when it's a mistake, and exactly how to fix it.
- Indexed Though Blocked by robots.txt: What It Means + How to Fix It“Indexed, though blocked by robots.txt” in Google Search Console means Google indexed your page without being able to crawl it. Here's why it happens — and how to fix it.
Errors
Errors
Soft 404s, hard 404s, server errors, and submitted-URL problems.
- Soft 404 Error: What It Means + How to Fix It“Soft 404” in Google Search Console means a page returns a 200 OK status but looks empty or missing to Google. Here's why it happens and exactly how to fix it.
- Submitted URL Not Found (404): What It Means + How to Fix It“Submitted URL not found (404)” in Google Search Console means you submitted a URL that returns a 404. Here's why it happens — and exactly how to fix it.