How to check if a URL is indexed

Choose a method by access and volume

The right method depends on two questions: do you control the site, and how many URLs do you have. The table summarises the options covered in this handbook.

Owner tools explain why. Public queries only tell you whether. For backlinks on third-party sites only the public route is available, which is covered in checking backlink indexation.

Method 1: URL Inspection (site owners)

1. Open Search Console and select the property that contains the URL. Google's help page states that the URL must be in the currently opened property.
2. Paste the complete URL, including protocol, into the inspection bar at the top of the screen.
3. Read the overall status. URL is on Google means the URL is indexed and eligible to appear. URL is not on Google means it cannot appear in results.
4. Expand Page indexing to see discovery, last crawl, whether crawling and indexing were allowed, and the Google-selected canonical.
5. If you have just fixed something, run Test live URL. The default view is the last indexed version, not the live page.

Two cautions from Google's own documentation are worth repeating. The indexed status "doesn't actually guarantee that your page will appear in Search results", and for a definitive test Google suggests searching for the URL. Inspection also has a daily request limit per property; through the Search Console API that limit is 2,000 inspections a day and 600 a minute per site.

Method 2: a site: search (anyone)

1. Go to google.com in a private window so personalisation is minimal.
2. Search site: followed immediately by the full URL, for example site:https://example.com/guide/page.
3. If the exact page appears, treat it as indexed.
4. If nothing appears, do not stop. Move to method 3.

Google describes a site: query on an exact URL as something that "may help you understand whether a specific URL is indexed and served", and warns that the operator "doesn't necessarily return all the URLs that are indexed". A positive result is reliable; a blank result is a hint. The details are on the site: accuracy page.

Method 3: quoted URL and inurl: (anyone)

1. Search the URL wrapped in double quotes, for example "example.com/guide/page".
2. Search inurl: followed by a distinctive part of the path.
3. Search the bare URL with no operator at all.

Each query form reaches the index through a slightly different route, so a URL hidden from one can surface in another. The guide to inurl: and quoted checks explains the trade-offs and the false positives to watch for, such as other pages that merely mention the URL in their text.

Method 4: a bulk checker (many URLs)

Running four queries per URL by hand stops being practical somewhere past a few dozen URLs, and automated querying from one IP address quickly meets CAPTCHAs. A bulk checker accepts a list, runs the query forms for each URL and returns a table. The bulk checking guide covers batch sizes, cost and exports. The publisher's own tool, the IndexChex checker, runs all four query forms above and counts a URL as indexed if any of them returns it.

Reading the result

A positive result from any reliable method settles the question for that moment. A negative needs interpretation. Before calling a page not indexed, rule out the common false negatives:

• Canonicalisation. Google may have indexed a different URL, such as the version with or without a trailing slash. URL Inspection shows the Google-selected canonical; see canonicalization and index checks.
• Recency. Google's Page indexing help notes that new content can take a few days to be indexed.
• Blocks. A noindex tag or robots.txt rule keeps a page out by design. Check them using the pre-indexing checks.
• Operator gaps. Public queries can miss indexed URLs, which is why different tools sometimes disagree.

When a page really is not indexed, the guide to not-indexed results sorts causes into "not yet", "not chosen" and "blocked", and from check to resubmit covers what to do next.

Timing

Checking minutes after publishing mostly measures crawl delay, not the final outcome. A sensible pattern is a first check a day or two after publication or link placement, and a follow-up several days later. The re-check frequency page gives schedules for different situations.