How to fix "Crawled - currently not indexed" in Search Console

Step by step

1. Open the list and export it

In Search Console, go to Indexing → Pages, scroll to Why pages aren't indexed and click Crawled - currently not indexed. Export the example URLs. The report shows up to 1,000 examples, so on a large site it is a sample, not the full list.

2. Remove the URLs you do not want indexed

Sort the list into groups. These usually need no content work:

• Feeds: /feed/, /comments/feed/, /category/x/feed/
• Pagination: /page/2/ and deeper
• Attachment pages: /image-name/ pages for media files
• Parameter URLs: ?replytocom=, ?s=, sorting and tracking parameters
• Thin archives: tag pages with one or two posts

These are normal here and do not count against you. If you want them gone from the report entirely, noindex the type on Hydrogen SEO → Robots, or redirect attachment pages to their parent post. What remains is the list worth your time: real posts and pages you want in Google.

3. Inspect a few important URLs

Paste one URL into the URL Inspection tool at the top of Search Console. Check Last crawl, User-declared canonical and Google-selected canonical. If Google picked a different canonical, you have a duplication problem rather than a quality one; see fixing duplicate without user-selected canonical. Click Test live URL and View tested page to confirm Google sees your full content, not an empty shell or a cookie wall.

4. Compare each page with what ranks

Search the page's main query and read the top results. Ask honestly: does your page add anything they lack? Common WordPress patterns that land here:

• Short posts that restate what dozens of other pages already say
• Several posts on the same topic that split one subject into thin pieces
• Product or location pages that differ only by a name
• Auto-generated or lightly edited content published in bulk

5. Improve, merge or retire

For each important URL, pick one:

• Improve: add first-hand detail, examples, data, photos or steps that other pages lack. Put the answer in the first paragraph.
• Merge: fold overlapping posts into one stronger page and 301 the rest in Hydrogen SEO → Redirections.
• Retire: if the page has no purpose, delete it or noindex it.

The pruning thin content guide covers the decision in detail.

6. Link to the pages you keep

Add links from your strongest related posts to each improved page, with descriptive anchor text. A page that nothing links to looks unimportant. Run the site audit on Hydrogen SEO → Dashboard and check the Orphan pages list against your export.

7. Ask for a recrawl, then validate

After a real change, inspect the URL again and click Request indexing. There is a daily quota, so use it on your best pages; the sitemap covers the rest. When you have fixed a batch, go back to the report and click Validate fix. Validation often takes a couple of weeks, sometimes longer, and ends as Passed or Failed per URL.

What the status means

Google has three stages: discover a URL, crawl it, then decide whether to index it. "Crawled - currently not indexed" is a no at the last stage. Google does not give a reason, and the decision can change on a later crawl without you doing anything. Pages sometimes move in and out of this status, especially on newer sites.

It is different from "Discovered - currently not indexed", where Google has not crawled the page at all. See fixing Discovered - currently not indexed for that one.

When to leave it alone

If the list is mostly feeds, pagination, attachments and parameters, do nothing. If a few important pages sit here for months, work on the content. If a large share of your real posts is here, that suggests a site-wide quality issue, and adding more similar pages will not help. Fewer, stronger pages will.