404 Error
A 404 error is an HTTP status code shown when a URL cannot be found — often a deleted product or a changed link in your store.
What is a 404 error?
A 404 error (“Not Found”) is the HTTP status code a web server returns when the requested URL does not exist. The visitor sees an error page instead of the content they were looking for. It typically happens when a page is deleted, a URL is mistyped, or an old link points to something that no longer exists.
Why does a 404 error matter?
Every 404 is a potentially lost customer. If a shopper clicks a link from Google, a newsletter, or a bookmark and lands on a dead end, they often leave the store entirely — costing you organic traffic and sales directly. A pile of 404s is not a direct Google penalty, but it wastes crawl budget and signals a poorly maintained site.
Common use cases
- Deleted products. Shopify does not automatically create a redirect when you delete a product, so
/products/handlereturns a 404. - Changed handles. Editing a product or collection handle changes the URL — here Shopify offers an automatic redirect you can opt out of.
- Platform migrations. Moving to Shopify changes the entire URL structure.
- Broken external and internal links. Other sites or theme typos pointing to pages that are gone.
Shopify perspective
The fix is a 301 redirect from the dead URL to a relevant page — a similar product or the closest collection. Redirects are managed under Online Store > Navigation > URL Redirects. Shopify serves a 404 (not a 410) for missing pages and has no built-in 404 monitoring, so unwatched errors pile up. A dedicated redirect app can log every 404 with its URL, referrer, and timestamp so you can fix the break in one click.