How to Force 404 Errors in WordPress (and Use 410 for Deleted Pages)

Sometimes you need to force 404 errors in WordPress. Maybe you deleted thin or spammy pages, or old URLs with bad backlinks, and want search engines to drop them. When I deleted URLs with bad backlinks to recover from a Google penalty, I found the unpublished pages still returned a 200 OK status. Here is how to make sure removed pages really return a 404 (or better, a 410) in WordPress in 2026.

Quick answer: Trash or delete the post, then purge your page cache and CDN, and check the URL’s status code with an HTTP header checker or curl -I. If it still shows 200, use Rank Math’s or the Redirection plugin’s option to return 410 Content Deleted (or 404) for that URL, or add a small template_redirect snippet that sends a 404 status.

404 vs 410: which should you use?

• 404 Not Found: the page does not exist. Google drops it after recrawling a few times.
• 410 Gone: the page was removed on purpose. Google treats it as a slightly stronger signal and usually drops it faster.
• 301 Redirect: use this instead if a better page on the same topic exists, to keep visitors and link value.

Learn more about HTTP 410 error pages.

Why WordPress may not return a 404

• Cached pages: LiteSpeed Cache, WP Rocket or a CDN can keep serving the old page with 200 OK until purged.
• Redirect plugins: some plugins redirect every 404 to the homepage, which Google treats as a “soft 404”.
• Attachment and archive pages: an image attachment or tag page may still exist for the old content.
• Theme 404 template: a custom 404 page that returns 200 instead of 404.

How to force a 404 or 410 in WordPress

Method 1: Rank Math Redirections

In Rank Math > Redirections, add the old URL as the source and choose 410 Content Deleted (or 451) as the type. No destination is needed.

Method 2: Redirection plugin

Add a redirect for the URL and choose the action “Error (404)” or “Error (410)”.

Method 3: A code snippet

add_action( 'template_redirect', function () {
    $gone = array( '/old-page/', '/another-old-post/' );
    if ( in_array( $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], $gone, true ) ) {
        global $wp_query;
        $wp_query->set_404();
        status_header( 404 );
        nocache_headers();
        include get_query_template( '404' );
        exit;
    }
} );

Check that it worked

1. Purge your cache plugin and CDN.
2. Run curl -I https://example.com/old-page/ or use an online HTTP header checker. You should see 404 Not Found or 410 Gone.
3. In Google Search Console, inspect the URL and check the Pages report for “Not found (404)”.

Clean up after removing pages

• Remove internal links to the deleted URLs. See how to find and remove broken internal links.
• Remove them from your XML sitemap (SEO plugins do this automatically).
• Decide which other weak pages to prune; here is how to find thin content.

FAQ

Are 404 errors bad for SEO?

No. 404s for pages that should not exist are normal. Only fix 404s for pages that should be live or have valuable links.

How long does Google take to drop a 404 page?

Usually days to weeks, depending on how often Google crawls your site. 410 can be slightly faster.

What is a soft 404?

A page that says “not found” but returns 200 OK, or redirects to an irrelevant page. Google reports these in Search Console.

Have you pruned old content on your site? Share your results in the comments.