“Crawled – currently not indexed” is one of the most frustrating statuses in Google Search Console. There is no error to fix and no setting to switch off. Google visited the page and simply decided not to add it to its index, at least for now. We see it constantly when clients hire us to fix Google indexing, from blogs like The Travel Psychologist to service sites like Claricast.
What the status actually means
According to Google’s Page indexing report documentation, the page was crawled but not indexed, and it may or may not be indexed in the future. In practice it means Google did not see enough value, uniqueness or importance to index the page yet.
Crawled vs. Discovered: not the same problem
- Discovered – currently not indexed: Google knows the URL exists but has not crawled it yet. Often a crawl budget, speed or internal linking problem.
- Crawled – currently not indexed: Google has read the page and chosen to skip it. Usually a quality, duplication or importance problem.
Step 1: Check which pages are affected
Export the list from Search Console. Sort it into groups: important pages (services, products, key articles) and pages that do not need to be indexed at all (tag archives, attachment pages, filtered URLs, thin author pages).
Step 2: Remove pages that should not be indexed anyway
Many sites waste Google’s attention on low-value URLs. Noindex thin archives, redirect WordPress attachment pages to their parent posts, and stop search result pages from being indexed. This helps Google focus on the pages that matter.
Step 3: Make important pages genuinely better
- Add substance: answer the questions your customers actually ask.
- Remove near-duplicates: if five location pages say the same thing, merge them or make each one unique with real local detail.
- Improve the title and H1 so the page’s purpose is obvious.
- Add original images, examples and data where you have them.
Step 4: Strengthen internal links
Link to the page from the homepage, the main menu or relevant articles using descriptive anchor text. A page with no internal links looks unimportant to Google.
Step 5: Check canonicals and duplicates
Use URL Inspection to see which canonical Google selected. If Google picked a different URL, you have a duplication problem to resolve with canonical tags, redirects or content changes.
Step 6: Request indexing, then be patient
After improving a page, use URL Inspection › Request indexing. Resubmitting the sitemap also helps. Then give it time; reprocessing can take days or weeks.
What not to do
- Do not hammer “Request indexing” daily on unchanged pages.
- Do not buy spammy backlinks to force indexing.
- Do not mass-publish AI text with no editing; it often ends up in this exact status.
Real examples
For Digital Spax, CopierStaples and Durofy, the fixes combined technical clean-up with better internal linking and a clean sitemap. Browse all our case studies for more.
FAQ
Is “Crawled – currently not indexed” a penalty?
No. It is a normal status that means Google has not chosen to index the page yet.
Should I delete pages stuck in this status?
Only if they have no value to visitors. Otherwise improve and link to them.
Can you fix this on Wix or Squarespace?
Yes. The same principles apply. See our Wix and Squarespace SEO service.
