404 vs 410: which should a removed page return?

Both work. A 404 means "not found" and a 410 means "gone on purpose and not coming back". For a page you deleted deliberately with no replacement, 410 is the more precise message. Google treats the two in nearly the same way, so a clean 404 is also fine. If a close replacement exists, use a 301 redirect instead.

Why it matters

When a page is removed, search engines need a clear signal so they stop listing it. If the page keeps returning 200, it can stay in results and appear as a soft 404. Google's documentation says that 4xx status codes, apart from 429, tell its indexing system that the content does not exist, and previously indexed URLs are removed. The code you choose also tells people and tools whether the removal was intended.

How to choose and set it

Decide what happened to the page. Was it deleted for good, never existed, or moved?
If it moved or has a close match, use a 301 redirect to the new page and stop here.
If it never existed or went away by accident and may return, use 404. This is the normal answer for mistyped addresses.
If you removed it deliberately and it will not come back, such as an expired offer or discontinued product with no substitute, use 410.
Set the status in your server. In nginx, for example:

location = /old-offer {
    return 410;
}

In a CMS, use a redirect or "gone" plugin, or the platform's setting for deleted items.
Check the result:

curl -sI https://example.com/old-offer

The first line should read HTTP/1.1 410 Gone or 404 Not Found. 8. Show a helpful page body with the status, with links to useful sections, instead of a blank screen. 9. Remove the page from your sitemap and stop linking to it internally.

Common mistakes

Showing a "page not found" message with status 200.
Redirecting every removed page to the home page.
Using 410 for a page that may come back, such as a seasonal page.
Returning 5xx errors by accident, which search engines treat as temporary.
Leaving removed URLs in the XML sitemap.

Frequently asked questions

Does 410 remove a page from Google faster?

Google treats the two codes in a very similar way, so the choice is mostly about being precise. Do not expect a fixed timetable for either.

Is a 404 bad for SEO?

No. Missing pages return 404 on every healthy site. Problems arise only when pages that matter return errors, or when error pages return 200.

Can I recover a 410 page later?

Yes. If you republish the page at the same address with a normal 200 response, search engines can crawl it again, though it may take time.

To see how your own removed pages respond, Try the free website sample.