noindex
A rule in a page's code or HTTP header that tells Google to leave the page out of its search results. Google has to be able to crawl the page to see it.
Also called noindex tag.
When Google crawls a page and finds a noindex rule, it drops the page from Google Search results, “regardless of whether other sites link to it” (Google Search Central).
Two ways to set it
- a
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">tag in the page’s<head>; - an
X-Robots-Tag: noindexHTTP header, which also works for files such as PDFs, videos and images.
Google doesn’t support a noindex rule in robots.txt. If you use a platform such as Wix, WordPress or Blogger, Google suggests looking for its search engine settings rather than editing the HTML.
Why a page can still show up
The page must not be blocked by robots.txt: if Google can’t crawl it, it never sees the rule, and the page can still appear in results when other pages link to it. Google also has to recrawl the page after you add the rule, which can take months for some pages. Its URL Inspection tool in Search Console can ask for a recrawl.
Related terms
Tools for it
Sources
Updated Oct 8, 2026.