How do I get Google to update a result after the page has been changed or deleted?

If a page about you has been deleted or edited but Google still shows the old version, you can ask Google to catch up using its free Refresh Outdated Content tool. You sign in with a Google account, paste in the page's URL and, if the page still exists, give one or two words from the old search result that no longer appear on the live page. The tool only works once the change has been made at source: if the information is still on the page, Google will refuse the request.

Why Google shows a page that has changed

Google does not read websites live. It stores its own copy of each page it crawls and builds the search result, the title and the short description underneath it (the snippet), from that copy. When a publisher deletes a page or rewrites a paragraph, Google keeps showing the stored version until its crawler next visits. For a busy news site that may be quick; for a small blog or an old directory page it can be a long wait.

The Refresh Outdated Content tool exists to close that gap, and nothing more. It makes no judgement about whether content is fair or accurate - it checks whether what Google is showing still matches what is on the web.

When the tool applies

According to Google's help page for the tool, it is meant for cases where:

• you don't own the page, and
• the page or image has been removed, or important content on it has been significantly changed or deleted.

It is not the right tool when the information is still on the live page, when you think the content is wrong, harmful or unlawful but nothing has changed yet, or when you want the page taken off the website itself. It only changes search results; nothing is removed from the web.

Typical situations where it does help: a forum thread the moderators have deleted, a local news report that was later edited to remove a name, an employer's staff page that still lists someone who left, or a directory listing that was taken down after a request.

How to submit a request

1. Search Google for the result and copy the link from the result itself (right-click and copy the link address). Google asks for the link address, not the text shown in the result or the URL in your browser bar.
2. Open the Refresh Outdated Content tool and sign in with a Google account. Google requires sign-in to limit abuse.
3. Paste the URL and submit.
4. If the page has been taken down, for example it now returns a "page not found" error, the request goes ahead on the URL alone.
5. If the page still exists but has changed, you will be asked for one or two words that appeared in the snippet of the old search result but are no longer on the live page. A name or a specific phrase that has been removed works well. Avoid common words that still appear elsewhere on the page.
6. The request then sits in a queue at the bottom of the tool, where you can check its progress.

For images, the request needs both the image URL and the URL of the page it sits on. If the same image or text appears under several different addresses, each one needs its own request.

What happens after you submit

Each request is listed with a status. Pending means it is still being processed, which Google says can take a few days. Approved means the change should take effect in search results. A denial comes with a link explaining why.

Approval does different things depending on the request. For a deleted page, the result drops out of Google's search results. For a changed page, only the old snippet is removed: the page can still appear, and its listing is fully refreshed the next time Google crawls it.

So if an article has been edited and it is the old headline that bothers you, expect it to linger a little. The snippet goes quickly once approved, but the title in the listing only updates when Google recrawls the page.

Why requests get denied

Google publishes the reasons for denial. The ones people run into most often:

• Content still on page. The words you gave are still on the live page. Either the change has not been made, or you picked words that appear somewhere else on it. Check the live page carefully and try more specific words.
• Outdated content not in index. Google's copy no longer contains those words, so there is nothing to refresh.
• Page not removed. You asked for a deleted page to be dropped, but the URL still loads. Some sites redirect deleted pages to a homepage or show a "not found" message while the server still reports the page as working. In that case, it may help to submit it as a changed page instead, giving words that are no longer there.
• Duplicate request. A request for the same URL is already being processed.

One that catches people out: if a request is approved and the old result still appears, compare the URL in the results with the one you submitted, character by character. Google treats an address that differs even in capital letters as a separate URL, and each version needs its own request.

Bing and other search engines

A Google request has no effect anywhere else. Bing runs its own removal form for broken links and outdated cached pages, which asks you to sign in and works on the same principle: the change has to have been made at source first. If there is a chance the people looking you up use Bing, submit there too.

When the page has not changed

None of this works until the website changes, so the first step is often a polite, specific request to the site owner or publisher. Explain what is out of date or inaccurate and what you would like changed, and include evidence where you have it.

If the page contains personal data about you that is inaccurate, UK data protection law gives you a right to ask for it to be corrected. The ICO's guidance on the right to rectification says the organisation normally has one month to respond. News publishers are in a different position: the ICO's journalism guidance explains that an exemption for journalism can, in some circumstances, override the rights to correction and erasure, and whether it applies depends on the facts.

If the publisher will not act, you can make a delisting request to Google instead. Our guide to the right to be forgotten in the UK walks through that form, which asks Google to weigh your privacy against the public interest rather than checking whether a page has changed. And when neither route is open, the wider options in removing negative search results apply, including pushing the result down with stronger, accurate content about you.