The URL Inspection tool is a feature of Google Search Console that reports what Google knows about a single URL on a verified property. It shows whether the URL is indexed, when it was last crawled, which canonical Google selected, and any enhancements detected. A live test fetches the page in real time and shows the rendered HTML, a screenshot and any resources that failed to load.
Indexed version vs live test
The default view describes the version Google has in its index, which may be days or weeks old. The Test live URL button fetches the page now with Googlebot and shows whether it could be indexed in its current state. The two can differ: a fix you just shipped appears in the live test but not in the indexed view until Google recrawls.
What to look at
The most useful fields for diagnosing problems are the ones that explain why a page is or is not in the index.
- Page indexing status and the reason if excluded
- User-declared canonical vs Google-selected canonical
- Crawl allowed, page fetch result and indexing allowed
- Last crawl date and the crawler used
- Rendered HTML and screenshot from the live test
- Page resources that could not be loaded, and console messages
Request indexing
After a live test, you can request indexing to ask Google to recrawl the URL. It is subject to a daily quota and does not guarantee indexing. It is useful for a handful of important pages after a fix; for many URLs, update the sitemap and let Google recrawl.
Search Console also offers a URL Inspection API for checking index status at scale, with its own usage limits.
Example
Finding out why a feature page is missing
Brambleport launches a new feature page that does not appear in search after two weeks. URL Inspection shows the status as crawled but not indexed, and the Google-selected canonical is an older, similar page. The team rewrites the new page to make its purpose distinct, links to it from the old page and the nav, and requests indexing.
Common mistakes
Reading the indexed view as current
It shows the last crawled version. Use the live test to check a fix you have just deployed.
Requesting indexing repeatedly
Repeat requests for the same URL do not speed things up. If a page stays out of the index, the cause is usually quality, duplication or a technical block.
Questions
No. The tool only works for URLs on properties you have verified in Search Console.
