HTTP 410 Gone — Meaning, Causes & How to Fix
The resource is permanently gone and no forwarding address is known; remove any links to it.
- Code
- 410
- Name
- Gone
- Class
- 4xx Client Error
- Specification
- RFC 9110 §15.5.11
- Cacheable by default
- Yes — heuristically cacheable by default
What HTTP 410 means
410 Gone says the resource existed but has been deliberately and permanently removed, with no new location. It is more explicit than 404, which leaves open whether the absence is temporary.
Common causes
- Discontinued products, expired listings or deleted content you do not plan to replace.
- Cleaning up spam or hacked URLs.
How to fix it
For site owners
- Use 410 only for content that will not come back and has no relevant replacement — otherwise 301 to the replacement.
- Remove internal links to the removed URLs.
For visitors & developers
- Remove bookmarks or links to the URL; it will not return.
SEO impact
Google removes 410 URLs from the index just like 404 URLs; 410 is a slightly clearer signal and is handy for clearing out spam pages after a hack.
Example 410 response
HTTP/1.1 410 Gone
Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8
Content-Length: 512Related status codes
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Open HTTP Status Codes tool →All status codesFrequently asked questions
What does HTTP 410 mean?
HTTP 410 Gone is a 4xx Client Error status code. The resource is permanently gone and no forwarding address is known; remove any links to it.
Is 410 faster than 404 for deindexing?
Google says it treats them very similarly; a 410 may be processed a little faster. Either way the page leaves the index after it is recrawled.
Which specification defines 410?
It is defined in RFC 9110 §15.5.11.
Is a 410 response cacheable?
Yes. 410 is one of the codes RFC 9110 §15.1 lets caches store heuristically, so it can be reused without explicit caching headers. Send Cache-Control to control how long.