The short version
- 01Check the exact URL for missing characters or a copied punctuation mark.
- 02Find the content through the site's navigation or search and update an outdated bookmark.
- 03Report the broken link and the page that supplied it when visiting someone else's site.
- 04Restore an unintentionally missing resource when you maintain the site.
- 05Redirect a permanently moved page to its relevant replacement and update internal links.
- 06Return an actual 404 or 410 for absent content instead of a successful empty page.
Raw message
404 Not Found
Likely causes
- A mistyped URL or a stale bookmark.
- A page moved or was deleted without updating its links.
- An expected route or resource is absent from the deployed site.
- The server deliberately hides a protected resource's existence.
What 404 does and does not mean
The requested resource has no available representation, or the server will not disclose one. The status does not establish whether absence is temporary or permanent. When permanent removal is known, 410 Gone is the more specific status.
A working homepage and a missing article are compatible results. HTTP identifies resources by URL, so one address can fail while the rest of the site remains healthy. Repeatedly reloading an unchanged broken address is unlikely to locate the replacement.
If you followed a broken link
Check spelling and the full address, then use the site's own navigation or search. If you find the intended content at a new address, save that address. If a link on the site itself led to the error, report both the broken URL and the page containing the link.
For a private resource, use the account and link supplied by its owner. Some services use 404 to avoid revealing protected content. Do not treat the code as proof that an item was deleted or that access was granted.
If you maintain the site
First decide whether the URL should exist, moved to an equivalent page, or was intentionally removed. Restore missing content for the first case. For a permanent move, use a permanent redirect to the actual replacement and update links that still point to the old address.
If no replacement exists, serve a helpful error page with a real 404 or 410 response. Returning 200 with an error message can become a soft 404 in Google Search. Verify the HTTP response status as well as the text displayed in the browser.
Do not use a missing-page response for planned downtime. Google's crawlers treat ordinary 4xx responses as absent content, while temporary server errors signal a different condition. A deliberate 404 for a genuinely removed URL is correct behaviour, not a fault that requires inventing a new page.
Sources and review notes
Checked on . Based on HTTP semantics, MDN and Google's crawler documentation. The URL checks are editorial guidance; the server may intentionally conceal access-controlled content.