Short answer
The noindex tag tells search engines not to show a page in their results. You add it as a robots meta tag in the page's head or as an X-Robots-Tag HTTP header. Use it for pages that should stay out of search, such as thank-you pages, internal search results and staging copies. It only works if Google can crawl the page, so never pair it with a robots.txt block.
What does the noindex tag do?
noindex is an instruction to search engines: you may fetch this page, but do not list it in results. When Google next crawls the page and reads the instruction, it removes the page from its index. The page still works for anyone who has the link. Removal is not instant, because it waits for the next crawl, which can take days or weeks. There are three common ways to set it:
| Method | Where it goes | Best for |
|---|---|---|
Robots meta tag: meta name="robots" content="noindex" | In the head of an HTML page | Ordinary web pages |
HTTP header: X-Robots-Tag: noindex | In the server's response | PDFs, images and other files with no HTML head |
| A checkbox in your CMS or SEO plugin | A page setting that writes one of the two above | WordPress and other site builders |
What is the difference between noindex and robots.txt?
They solve different problems. robots.txt controls crawling: it asks bots not to fetch an address. noindex controls indexing: it asks search engines not to list a page they have fetched. A page blocked in robots.txt can still appear in results, without a description, if other sites link to it, because Google never reads the page. To keep a page out of results, let Google crawl it and use noindex. Use robots.txt to steer crawlers away from areas that waste their time, not to hide pages.
When should I use noindex?
- Thank-you and confirmation pages that people see after a form or a purchase.
- Internal search results and filtered or sorted listings that create endless thin pages.
- Staging and test copies of your site. Also protect them with a password, because noindex is a request, not a lock.
- Login, account and cart pages that nobody searches for.
- Duplicates you still need for visitors, such as printer versions (see duplicate content).
Do not use noindex on a page you want found, and do not rely on it to hide private information: anyone with the address can still open the page. Put private pages behind a login.
What are the classic noindex mistakes?
- noindex plus a robots.txt block. Google cannot read a tag on a page it is not allowed to fetch, so the page may stay listed. Remove the block so Google can see the noindex.
- Leaving noindex on after launch. A staging setting, WordPress's “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” box or a host's preview default can carry over to the live site, and the whole site can drop out of search.
- noindex on a page in your sitemap. The sitemap says “index this” and the page says “don't”. Keep them consistent (see XML sitemaps).
- A plugin rule that covers too much, such as noindex on all categories or all tags, which catches pages you wanted to keep.
- Mixed signals, such as a noindex page whose canonical points to another page.
How do I check whether a page has noindex?
- Look at the page source
View the source and search for
noindex. A robots meta tag sits in the head. - Look at the headers
Open your browser's developer tools, choose the Network tab, reload and read the response headers for
X-Robots-Tag. Or runcurl -Ifollowed by the page address. - Ask Google
Paste the address into the URL Inspection tool in Search Console. The Page indexing report also lists pages under “Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag”.
- Remove it and ask for a recrawl
Delete the tag or header, then press Request Indexing in URL Inspection so Google looks again. To hide a page urgently, the Removals tool hides it temporarily, for about six months, while noindex does the lasting work.
How do I add or remove noindex in WordPress or plain HTML?
In plain HTML, put meta name="robots" content="noindex" in the page's head. In WordPress, use the page-level indexing setting in your SEO plugin, usually under an Advanced heading. Also check Settings, then Reading: the “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” box adds noindex to the whole site and should be off on a live site. For a file such as a PDF, set the X-Robots-Tag header in your server settings.
Arcline reads both the meta tag and the header on every page it scans. It flags pages that carry noindex, and treats it as urgent when the page is your home page or is listed in your sitemap, because that is usually a mistake. On Premium, change alerts also notice when a page becomes hidden from Google. Any change that hides or shows a page counts as sensitive, so it needs “Full care” access (Premium) and an “I understand” tick every time. See the features page.