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4xx Client Error
What it means
A server sends 410 Gone when it took a resource down on purpose and expects that to be permanent, with no new address to redirect to.
| Property | Detail |
|---|---|
| Status class | 4xx Client Error |
| Defined in | RFC 9110, Section 15.5.11 |
| Cacheable by default | Yes. RFC 9110 lists it as heuristically cacheable, so a cache may reuse it without explicit freshness headers unless Cache-Control says otherwise. |
| Who needs to act | Sites, bookmarks and link checkers that still point at the URL. |
What does HTTP 410 Gone mean?
HTTP 410 Gone means the resource was deliberately removed from the server and the condition is expected to be permanent, with no forwarding address. It is a more specific version of 404 Not Found: it tells clients, crawlers and link checkers that links to the URL should be removed rather than retried later.
How 410 Gone works
RFC 9110 describes 410 as a web-maintenance tool: it tells recipients that the resource is intentionally unavailable and that the owner wants remote links to it removed. It names limited-time promotions and pages of people no longer associated with a site as typical cases. The RFC also says a server that cannot tell whether the removal is permanent should send 404 instead, and that there is no obligation to keep returning 410 for any particular length of time. Because 410 is heuristically cacheable, clients may remember it without asking again.
Example 410 request and response
GET /promo/summer-2024 HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com
HTTP/1.1 410 Gone
Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8The promotion has ended and the URL will not be reused, so the server says so explicitly instead of a generic 404.
What causes a 410 Gone
- Expired campaigns, events or job listings removed on purpose.
- Content taken down for legal or policy reasons, with no replacement.
- Deleted user profiles or closed accounts.
- Discontinued products with no successor page.
- API versions or endpoints retired after a deprecation period.
How to fix a 410 Gone
If you link to the URL
- Remove or replace the link; the resource will not come back.
- Update bookmarks and any integrations that depend on it.
If you run the site
- Use 410 only for deliberate, permanent removals, and 404 when unsure.
- If an equivalent page exists, redirect to it with 301 instead.
- Remove the URL from your sitemap and internal links.
410 and SEO
Google's crawler documentation lists 404 and 410 together: every 4xx code except 429 is handled the same way, the URL is removed from the index, and crawling of it slows over time. Choose 410 because it is the accurate answer, not for a ranking or speed advantage. Never return 410 for content that may come back; for a temporary outage, use 503.
Related status codes
- 404 Not Found: Absent, with no claim about whether it is permanent.
- 301 Moved Permanently: The content moved, so send visitors to the new URL instead.
- 451 Unavailable For Legal Reasons: Blocked because of a legal demand, defined in RFC 7725.
Frequently asked questions
A server sends 410 Gone when it took a resource down on purpose and expects that to be permanent, with no new address to redirect to.
Deliberately used (instead of 404) to signal a resource was permanently and intentionally deleted.
Retrying will not help, because the server has said the removal is permanent. If you link to the URL, update or drop the link. Site owners: use 410 for deliberate, permanent removals and 404 when unsure.
Google documents 404 and 410 as handled the same way: both lead to the URL being dropped from the index. Use 410 because it describes a deliberate removal accurately, not because of an expected speed difference.
Sources
Other 4xx Client Error codes
Reviewed by Raja Jahangir · Last reviewed: October 16, 2026