Blocked due to other 4xx issue: find the real status code

Last updated: 2026-10-30

In short

This status means Googlebot received a 4xx client error that is not one of the codes with their own row, such as 401, 403 or 404. Google gives no further detail, so the first step is to find the exact code your server returned. Then fix how your server handles the request for pages that should be public.

Exact label in Search Console: Blocked due to other 4xx issue

What it means

Google's Page indexing help says the server encountered a 4xx error not covered by any other issue type and suggests debugging the page with the URL Inspection tool. The URL Inspection API describes the same state as blocked due to other 4xx issue, not 403 or 404. Google's help article titles the reason URL blocked due to other 4xx issue; the report row drops the word URL.

Whatever the exact code, Google treats 4xx responses alike for indexing: it ignores the content, does not index new URLs that return a 4xx code and removes already indexed URLs over time. The exception is 429 Too Many Requests, which Google treats as a sign of an overloaded server and counts as a server error.

Is it a problem?

Yes, if the URLs are pages that should work. A code such as 400 Bad Request or 405 Method Not Allowed returned to a plain page request usually means the server or an application layer rejects something about the request. If the URLs are malformed links that never were pages, the impact is small.

Common causes

Requests rejected as malformed

Servers or frameworks that return 400 for unexpected parameters, encodings or headers.

Security rules with unusual codes

WAFs or plugins that answer blocked requests with a 4xx code other than 403.

Legal or regional restrictions

Pages that return 451 Unavailable For Legal Reasons for some regions.

Method or content negotiation errors

Routes that only accept certain methods or headers and reply with 405, 406 or similar codes.

Broken generated URLs

Malformed URLs in links or sitemaps that the application cannot parse.

How to fix it

  1. Get the exact status code. Inspect the URL and open View crawled page to see the HTTP response, run Test live URL, and check your access logs for Googlebot requests to the same URL.
  2. Reproduce with a plain request. Request the URL with a simple HTTP client and no cookies. If it fails, fix the route, parameter handling or server rule.
  3. Check security layers. Look at WAF, CDN and plugin logs for rules that block crawlers with a non-standard code, and allow verified Googlebot.
  4. Fix or remove bad URLs. If the URLs are malformed, correct the links or sitemap entries that generate them.
  5. Validate. Once the pages return 200, request indexing for the important ones and click Validate fix.

Check it with GSC Magic

gsc_inspect_urls_batch reports the page fetch state for each URL, so your assistant can collect every URL in this state and group it by path and query parameters; one template or parameter is often behind all of them. report_index_health flags these URLs inside your sitemap. For the exact status code, check your server logs or the HTTP response in URL Inspection.

gsc_inspect_urls_batchreport_index_healthgsc_inspect_url

Prompts to copy

Inspect these URLs and list every one blocked due to other 4xx issue, grouped by path pattern and query parameters.

Run an index health check on my sitemap and list all URLs with a 4xx fetch problem, split into 401, 403, 404 and other 4xx.

Compare these failing URLs with similar URLs on my site that are indexed and tell me what differs in their structure or parameters.

Guides on the blog

Blocked due to access forbidden (403)

This status means your server returned 403 Forbidden to Googlebot. Google points out that Googlebot never sends credentials, so a 403 to Googlebot is usually returned incorrectly. If the page should be in Google, find the firewall, CDN or server rule that blocks it and allow verified Googlebot.

 Blocked due to unauthorized request (401)

This status means the server answered Googlebot with 401 Unauthorized, asking for credentials Googlebot does not have. If the page is private, that is correct and the page stays out of Google. If it should be public, remove the authorization requirement or, if you must keep it, let verified Googlebot requests through.

 Not found (404)

Not found (404) means Google requested the URL and your server answered 404. Google says a 404 is not necessarily a problem when a page was removed without a replacement. Fix the 404s you link to yourself or list in a sitemap, and 301 redirect pages that moved.

 Server error (5xx)

Server error (5xx) means your server returned a 500-level error when Googlebot requested the page. Google slows crawling when it sees these errors and eventually drops URLs that keep failing. Check host status in Crawl Stats, reproduce the error, then fix capacity, timeouts or rules that block Googlebot.

Frequently asked questions

Which status codes end up here?

Google only says a 4xx error not covered by another issue type. 401, 403 and 404 have their own rows. Check the exact code in URL Inspection or your server logs rather than guessing.

Is 429 one of these?

Google's crawling documentation treats 429 as a sign that the server is overloaded and considers it a server error, not an ordinary client error. If you see many 429 responses, look at rate limiting and capacity.

Are these pages removed from the index?

Google says URLs that return a 4xx code are not indexed, and already indexed URLs that start returning one are removed from the index over time.

Sources