Have you deleted a page, removed an old document, or updated information on your church’s website, but the old content still appears on Google? Google’s search results do not update immediately when your website changes. Google needs to revisit the affected page before it can recognize the changes.
You can use Google Search Console to request that a result be hidden more quickly. However, a removal request is temporary—you must also address the content on your website to prevent it from appearing again.
1. Address the content on your website
Remove content that should no longer be available. Delete the page or file. Its original address should return a proper “not found” response, such as a 404.
Removing a link from your navigation is not enough. If the page remains publicly accessible, removing its menu link does not prevent Google from indexing it. Similarly, removing a link to a PDF does not delete the PDF itself.
For more information, see Google’s guidance on removing content from Search.
2. Sign in to Google Search Console
Open Google Search Console and sign in with the Google account used to manage your church’s website in Search Console.
If your website is not listed, you will need to add it and complete Google’s ownership verification. For a Domain property, this requires verification through your domain’s DNS settings. If someone else on your team already manages the property, ask them to grant you access.
3. Submit a removal request
Once you have access to your website in Search Console:
- Select the correct website using the property selector.
- Open Removals and select the Temporary Removals tab.
- Click New Request, then choose Temporarily remove URL.
- Enter the complete web address of the page or file you want hidden.
- Select Remove this URL only to target an individual page or file.
- Review the address, then follow the prompts to submit your request.
Be careful with the broader removal option. Choosing Remove all URLs with this prefix can hide an entire section—or your entire website—depending on the address entered. Use the individual-page option unless you intentionally need to remove a group of pages.
See Google’s Removals tool instructions for additional details.
4. Check the request status
Return to the removal report to monitor your request. Check the status rather than assume the request has taken effect immediately.
An approved temporary removal generally lasts about six months. The result may return afterward unless the content has been removed, password-protected, or excluded from indexing.
Important: This request affects Google Search only. It does not delete the original content or remove results from other search engines.
What if I only need Google to show updated information?
If you have corrected information on a page and still want people to find that page, request an update rather than hiding the entire result.
After saving your website changes, open URL Inspection in Search Console, enter the page’s full address, and select Request Indexing. This asks Google to revisit the page and process its current content.
Google says recrawling can take a few days to a few weeks. Submitting the same request repeatedly will not speed it up. See Google’s instructions for requesting a recrawl.
What if the content is on another website?
For a website you do not own, Google offers a Refresh Outdated Content tool.
This tool is intended for pages or images that have already been deleted or significantly changed—not content that remains unchanged on the live website. Sign in with a Google account, enter the affected address, and follow the prompts. Google may ask you to identify words that appear in the search result but are no longer on the page. You can then check the request’s status in the tool.
See Google’s Refresh Outdated Content instructions for eligibility and submission details.