You published a page, waited, and it still does not show up in Google. Or a page that used to rank has quietly dropped out. The URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console is the fastest way to find out why. It tells you whether Google has indexed a specific URL, when Google last crawled it, and what stopped it if it is not indexed.
When something looks wrong with a single page, this is the first tool I open. Below I explain each part of the report, how the live test differs from the indexed result, and the order I follow to fix a missing page.
What the URL Inspection Tool Does
The URL Inspection tool shows you what Google knows about one URL on your site. It has two modes.
- Indexed result (Google Index). This is the version of the page Google saw the last time it crawled and indexed it. It is not live. If you changed the page yesterday, this view may not show the change yet.
- Live test. Google fetches the page right now and checks whether it could be indexed. This is how you confirm a fix.
From the same screen you can see how Google found the URL, whether anything blocks it, which canonical Google chose and which structured data it found. You can also ask Google to crawl it again.
What It Does Not Check
This part trips people up. A clean result does not mean everything is fine. According to Google’s documentation, the tool does not check:
- Manual actions or security issues (these have their own reports in Search Console)
- Whether the page meets Google’s quality guidelines
- Pages removed for legal reasons, or temporary removals you set up in Search Console
- Whether a video is actually indexed (the live test only says whether a video was found)
How to Open the URL Inspection Tool
There are two ways in.
- Use the search bar. Paste the full URL into the “Inspect any URL” bar at the top of Search Console and press Enter. The URL must belong to the property you have open. If you use a URL-prefix property for
https://www.example.com/, you cannot inspect a page onhttps://example.com/from it. - Use the inspect icon in reports. Most reports, like Page indexing and Performance, show a small magnifying glass next to each URL. You may need to hover over the row to see it. Clicking it opens the inspection for that URL.
I always paste the exact URL I want indexed, including https://, the right host and any trailing slash. A slightly different version gives you the result for a different URL.
Reading the Indexed Result
The top card gives you the overall status. There are four you will see.
- URL is on Google. The page is indexed and can appear in search results. It is not a promise that it will rank or show for any query.
- URL is on Google, but has issues. The page is indexed, but something in the enhancements, such as structured data or AMP, has a problem.
- URL is not on Google. The page cannot appear in search results. The reason is in the Page indexing section below.
- URL is an alternate version. This shows for an AMP page that is an alternate of a normal (non-AMP) page.
Below that, open the Page indexing section. It is split into Discovery, Crawl and Indexing. This is where most of the answers are.
Discovery: How Google Found the URL
- Sitemaps lists any sitemap that includes the URL. “No referring sitemap” means Google did not link this URL to one of your sitemaps.
- Referring page shows a page Google may have used to find the URL. If it is empty, that does not mean no page links to it. Google just does not show one here.
Google says the sitemap field is not always filled in, even for submitted pages. So I treat “No referring sitemap” as a hint, not proof, and check that important pages are in the sitemap and linked from at least one normal page.
Crawl: Whether Google Could Fetch It
- Last crawl is the date and time of the last crawl, shown in your local time.
- Crawled as shows whether Google used its smartphone or desktop crawler. For almost every site today this is the smartphone crawler.
- Crawl allowed? tells you whether robots.txt lets Google crawl the page. “No” means a rule in robots.txt is blocking it.
- Page fetch shows “Successful”, or “Failed” with a reason such as a server error, a 404 or a redirect error.
Indexing: Whether Google Was Allowed to Index It, and Which URL It Chose
- Indexing allowed? shows “No” if a
noindexrule (in a meta robots tag or anX-Robots-TagHTTP header) blocks indexing. - User-declared canonical is the canonical you set. A canonical is a signal that tells Google which version of a page is the main one. You can set it with a link tag, an HTTP header or your sitemap. “None” is fine for a normal page.
- Google-selected canonical is the URL Google actually picked as the main version. It can be different from yours.
One detail catches people out. If robots.txt blocks a page, “Indexing allowed?” always shows “Yes”. That is because Google cannot crawl the page, so it cannot see a noindex tag on it. This is why you should never use robots.txt and noindex together on the same page. I explain this in more detail in my robots.txt guide.
Common Reasons a Page Is “Not on Google”
When the status is “URL is not on Google”, the Page indexing section usually shows one of these reasons. Here is what each means and what I check first.
| Reason shown | What it means | What I check first |
|---|---|---|
| URL is unknown to Google | Google has not found the URL yet | Internal links and sitemap, then request indexing |
| Discovered – currently not indexed | Google knows the URL but has not crawled it yet | Internal links to the page, server speed, lots of low-value URLs |
| Crawled – currently not indexed | Google crawled it but chose not to index it for now | Content quality and whether the page adds something new |
| Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag | A noindex rule is blocking indexing | Meta robots tag, SEO plugin settings, X-Robots-Tag header |
| Blocked by robots.txt | Google is not allowed to crawl it | The robots.txt rule matching this URL |
| Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user | Google thinks another URL is the main version | Internal links, sitemap and redirects all pointing to your preferred URL |
| Soft 404 | The page returns 200 but looks empty or like an error page | Thin or empty content, “no results” pages |
| Page with redirect | The URL redirects somewhere else | Whether you inspected the old URL instead of the final one |
In my experience, “Crawled – currently not indexed” is rarely a technical problem. Usually the page is too thin, too similar to other pages, or poorly linked.
Enhancements and Video in the Inspection Report
Below Page indexing you will find enhancement sections. These depend on what Google found on the page.
- Rich results. Any supported structured data Google detected, such as Breadcrumbs, Product snippets, Review snippets, FAQ or Videos. Each shows valid items, warnings and errors. Errors can stop that rich result from showing. Warnings usually mean an optional field is missing.
- AMP. Only shows if the page has a linked AMP version.
- Video indexing. Only appears if Google detects a video. It shows “Video indexed” or “Video not indexed” with a reason, such as the video not being the main content of the page.
If a structured data type is valid but Google does not support it as a rich result, it will not appear here at all. That does not mean your markup is broken.
View Crawled Page: See What Google Actually Got
For indexed pages, click View crawled page. It has three tabs.
- HTML. The HTML Google indexed. If your site uses JavaScript to build content, this shows the rendered HTML, after scripts ran.
- Screenshot. Not available for indexed results. You only get a screenshot from the live test.
- More info. The HTTP response and headers, page resources that could not load, and JavaScript console messages.
This is where I check JavaScript problems. I search the HTML tab (Ctrl+F) for a sentence from the main content, the title tag and the canonical. If key text is missing from the HTML, Google did not see it. Then I look at “Page resources” in More info for blocked or failed scripts and CSS.
The HTTP response shows the status code and headers Google received. That is how you spot an X-Robots-Tag: noindex header you cannot see in the page source.
Test Live URL: Check a Page Right Now
Click Test live URL in the top right after you inspect a URL. Google fetches the page as it is now. The page must be public, with no login. It does not need to be indexed already, so you can test a brand-new page.
The live test has its own statuses:
- URL is available to Google. Google could fetch and read the page, and found no blocking problems.
- URL is available to Google, but has issues. It can be indexed, but some enhancements have problems.
- URL is not available to Google. Something is blocking it. Check the Availability section for the reason.
You can switch between the two results with the Google Index and Live Test tabs at the top. I like to compare them side by side. If the live test passes but the indexed result fails, you have probably already fixed the problem and Google just has not recrawled yet.
View Tested Page and the Screenshot
After a live test, click View tested page. You get the same HTML and More info tabs, plus a Screenshot tab. The screenshot shows how Google rendered the page. If it looks broken, or the main content is missing, a blocked CSS or JavaScript file is a common cause.
I run this test on every new template before launch. It catches pop-ups or broken scripts that hide content from Google.
What the Live Test Cannot Tell You
A passing live test is not a promise that the page will be indexed. Google says the live test cannot check:
- Which canonical Google will choose, or whether the page will be seen as a duplicate
- Statuses like “Crawled – currently not indexed” or “Discovered – currently not indexed”
- Whether the page is in a sitemap
The Google-selected canonical is only shown in the indexed result. Also, the live test follows redirects without telling you, so inspect the final URL you actually want indexed.
Request Indexing: When It Helps and When It Doesn’t
The Request indexing button asks Google to crawl the URL again. Google first runs a quick live check. If the page cannot be indexed (for example, it has a noindex tag), the request will not go through.
Here is what to expect:
- It is not a guarantee. Google still decides whether to index the page.
- Timing varies. Google’s URL Inspection help says indexing typically takes a day or so but can take longer. Its general recrawl guidance says crawling can take from a few days to a few weeks.
- Clicking again does not help. Google says requesting a recrawl many times for the same URL will not get it crawled any faster.
- There is a daily limit. Google does not publish the exact number. If you hit it, you will see a “Quota exceeded” message and need to try again the next day.
I use Request indexing for a handful of important URLs: a new key page, a page where I just fixed a serious error, or a page I updated with time-sensitive information. For many URLs, such as a whole new section or a site migration, submit or update your XML sitemap with accurate <lastmod> dates instead. That is what Google recommends, and it scales.
It also will not fix a quality problem. For a “Crawled – currently not indexed” page, asking again without improving it usually changes nothing.
How I Troubleshoot a Page That Is Missing From Google
This is the order I follow when someone tells me a page is not in Google. It saves me from guessing.
- Inspect the exact URL. Paste the full URL you want indexed into the inspection bar and read the top status.
- If it says “URL is on Google”, search for the page title or a unique sentence in Google. If it is truly missing, check the Manual actions, Security issues and Removals reports. Remember that indexed does not mean ranking well.
- If it says “URL is not on Google”, open Page indexing and read the reason. Look at Crawl allowed?, Page fetch and Indexing allowed? to find the block.
- Compare the canonicals. If the Google-selected canonical is a different URL, Google is treating your page as a duplicate. Make sure your internal links, sitemap and redirects all point to the URL you want.
- Fix the cause on the site. Remove the
noindex, change the robots.txt rule, fix the server error, or improve thin content. - Run Test live URL. Confirm the status is “URL is available to Google” and check the screenshot and HTML to be sure the main content renders.
- Request indexing and wait. Then check the indexed result again in a few days rather than every hour.
Mistakes I Often See With URL Inspection
- Treating the indexed result as live. People fix a page, see the old error and think the fix failed. Run the live test instead.
- Inspecting the wrong version of the URL. A missing trailing slash or the
http://version can give a completely different result. - Spamming Request indexing. It does not speed things up and it uses your daily quota.
- Blocking a page in robots.txt to remove it from Google. This hides the
noindextag from Google. To remove a page, allow crawling and usenoindex. - Using it to audit a whole site. It checks one URL at a time. When I audit a site, I start with the Page indexing report, then inspect two or three sample URLs from each problem group.
Checking Many URLs: The URL Inspection API
If you need to check hundreds of URLs, the Search Console URL Inspection API gives you the same indexed data in bulk. Google launched it in January 2022. According to Google’s usage limits, each property can make 2,000 inspection calls per day and 600 per minute.
Many SEO crawlers can connect to it, so you can pull index status into a crawl without writing code. It does not request indexing. For most small business sites, the normal tool is all you need.
Final Thoughts
The URL Inspection tool answers one question very well: what does Google know about this page, and what is stopping it? Read the indexed result to see what Google saw last time, use the live test to confirm your fixes, and save Request indexing for the pages that really matter. For a full walkthrough of every field, Google’s URL Inspection tool help page is worth bookmarking.
Once your key pages are indexed, the next step is making sure each one is built to rank. My on-page SEO checklist covers what to check on a single page, and the SEO checklist for 2025 helps you decide what to fix first across your whole site.
