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September 07, 2005
You want to
verify your site
so you can view additional statistics. You click the verify link beside the site on the My
Sitemaps page, create the file we ask for, upload it to your server, and click the Check Status
button. And then you see this error message:
We've detected that your 404 (file not found) error page returns a status of
200 (OK) in the header.
What should you do?
This error
means that we've detected that your server returns a status of OK when the requested file is not
found. This is the same status that the server returns when the file exists. When we look for
the verification file, we can't tell if your server is returning a status of OK because it finds
the file, or because it can't find the file. This means we are unable to verify your site.
Modify your web server configuration to return a status of 404 (file not found) in
the header of 404 pages. If your site is hosted, ask your hosting company to do this.
Make sure that if your server returns a custom error page when a requested file is not found,
that page returns a 404 status in the header. And make sure that the server doesn't
redirect requests that return "file not found" to a valid page of your site, such as your home
page. This configuration returns a redirect status code (such as 301 or
302) rather than the correct 404 status code.
You can read more about
HTTP status codes.
If you don't have a mechanism for checking the headers that your server returns, you can do a
search for terms such as
check server header tool
to find online tools that will check this for you.
Once your web server is configured correctly, try to verify your site again and we'll check the
configuration.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle Search Console site verification can fail if your 404 error page incorrectly returns a 200 (OK) status instead of a 404 (Not Found) status.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eTo fix this, adjust your web server settings to return the correct 404 status code when a file is not found, ensuring no redirects to other pages occur.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eCustom 404 error pages should also include a 404 status in the header to prevent verification issues.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can use online tools to check your server's header responses and confirm the configuration before attempting verification again.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["To verify your site, address the error where your server incorrectly returns a `200 (OK)` status for `404 (file not found)` errors. Modify your web server configuration to ensure `404` pages return a `404` status in the header. Avoid redirecting \"file not found\" requests to valid pages. If hosted, request your hosting company to adjust this setting. Use online tools to check server headers, and then retry the site verification.\n"],null,["# Verifying your site: trouble with 404 pages\n\nSeptember 07, 2005\n\n\nYou want to\n[verify your site](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9008080)\nso you can view additional statistics. You click the verify link beside the site on the My\nSitemaps page, create the file we ask for, upload it to your server, and click the Check Status\nbutton. And then you see this error message:\n\n\n**We've detected that your `404 (file not found)` error page returns a status of\n`200 (OK)` in the header.**\n\nWhat should you do?\n\n\n[This error](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9008080#verificationfileconfigerror)\nmeans that we've detected that your server returns a status of OK when the requested file is not\nfound. This is the same status that the server returns when the file exists. When we look for\nthe verification file, we can't tell if your server is returning a status of OK because it finds\nthe file, or because it can't find the file. This means we are unable to verify your site.\n\n\nModify your web server configuration to return a status of `404 (file not found)` in\nthe header of `404` pages. If your site is hosted, ask your hosting company to do this.\n\n\nMake sure that if your server returns a custom error page when a requested file is not found,\nthat page returns a `404` status in the header. And make sure that the server doesn't\nredirect requests that return \"file not found\" to a valid page of your site, such as your home\npage. This configuration returns a redirect status code (such as `301` or\n`302`) rather than the correct `404` status code.\n\n\nYou can read more about\n[HTTP status codes](https://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec10.html).\nIf you don't have a mechanism for checking the headers that your server returns, you can do a\nsearch for terms such as\n[check server header tool](https://www.google.com/search?q=check%20server%20header%20tool)\nto find online tools that will check this for you.\n\n\nOnce your web server is configured correctly, try to verify your site again and we'll check the\nconfiguration.\n\nPosted by [Vanessa Fox](https://www.vanessafox.com/)"]]
