How to Remove a Page from Google Search Results

There are many practical reasons for wanting to remove a page from Google Search Results. Some pages may become outdated, or certain personal information, like addresses and CVs, might not need to be public anymore.

The key idea is simple. You either tell Google not to index the page, or you remove access to it entirely.

Use the Noindex Tag

One of the most reliable methods is adding a noindex tag to the page.

noindex, unlike robots.txt, lets Google crawl the page but then excludes it from search results. This is the safest way to quietly remove something from the results without deleting it.

When Google crawls the page and sees this tag, it will remove the page from its index over time.

This method works well when the page should still exist for users, but you just do not want it in search results

If you have a WordPress site, you might want to consider using a plugin for this task. Just be cautious to apply it only to the specific pages you wish to exclude from Google.

Example of using the AIOSEO plugin for noindexing a post. — You can easily noindex a post using the AIOSEO plugin’s settings. No need to write any code.

Delete the Page from Your Website

If the page is no longer needed, you can remove it completely. This is the most obvious method. If you delete the page, Google will eventually notice it’s gone and drop it from results.

Options include:

just deleting the page
returning 410 status code

A 410 Gone response tells search engines and browsers that a page has been permanently removed. Here’s how to implement it depending on your setup:

Apache (.htaccess)

Example of .htaccess 410 gone redirect rules.

If using WordPress you can easily achieve this with a plugin.

With the Redirection plugin:

The free Redirection plugin supports 410 responses directly:

Install & activate Redirection (by John Godley) from the WordPress plugin directory
Go to Tools → Redirection
Click Add New
Enter the source URL in the URL field
Change the Action dropdown from “Redirect to URL” to “Error (410 Gone)”
Save

Easy done with no code needed.

Without a Plugin:

Add this to your theme’s functions.php or an MU plugin:

The exact function to use in the functions.php page in order to trigger a 410 gone response when deleting specific pages/posts.

Unlike a 301 redirect, a 410 has no destination — you’re telling browsers the resource is gone for good.

Google will eventually drop the page from its index after detecting these responses. It typically de-indexes 410 pages faster than 404s.

Use Google Search Console Removal Tool

You may find this tool useful if you have a URL associated with a Search Console property that you own and need to quickly remove it from Google Search. This could be necessary, for instance, if you’ve updated a page to eliminate sensitive information.

Steps to follow:

Go to the Removals section
Enter the page URL
Submit a removal request

Depicting the Removals section on Google Search Console.

This hides the page quickly, but it is temporary. You still need a long term solution like noindex or deletion.

Wrapping Up

The process of removing a page involves more than just a single action; it requires a combination of signals. You need to determine if the page will stay active, be hidden, or be entirely deleted.

In practice, a good approach is:

use noindex for pages you keep
return 410 for pages you remove
use Search Console for quick action

You decide what belongs in search results and what does not. With the right method, you keep your site focused and your content aligned with your goals.

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