What is a Shopify 404 error?
A 404 error happens when someone tries to visit a URL on your Shopify store that doesn't exist. Instead of seeing a product or page, they get a "Page Not Found" message. This is the server saying "there's nothing at this address."
On Shopify, 404s are common because products get deleted, URL handles change, collections are reorganized, and marketing campaigns link to pages that later disappear.
Common causes of 404 errors on Shopify
The most frequent sources of 404 errors on Shopify stores include:
- Deleted products — when a product is removed but external links, search results, or bookmarks still point to the old URL
- Changed URL handles — updating a product or collection handle creates a new URL and leaves the old one returning 404
- Expired campaigns — ad landing pages or email links that point to products no longer available
- Platform migrations — moving from another platform to Shopify often leaves behind old URL structures that no longer resolve
- Typed or mistyped URLs — visitors who type a URL incorrectly or follow a broken external link
- Theme or navigation changes — updating navigation menus or removing pages without setting up redirects
Why 404 errors hurt your store
A few 404s might seem harmless, but they can cause real damage:
- Lost SEO traffic — search engines discover broken pages through their index and external backlinks. When those pages return 404, the link equity is wasted.
- Poor user experience — a visitor who clicks a link expecting a product and lands on a 404 page often leaves and doesn't come back.
- Wasted ad spend — if you're running ads to a product page that has been deleted or had its handle changed, you're paying for traffic that hits a dead end.
- Lower conversion rates — every 404 is a lost opportunity to convert a visitor into a customer.
How to find 404 errors on your Shopify store
Shopify doesn't have a built-in 404 monitoring dashboard. Here are the main approaches:
- Google Search Console — the Coverage report shows pages that return 404. It's useful but doesn't show how often real visitors hit those pages, only what Google crawls.
- Analytics tools — some analytics setups can track 404 page views, but this usually requires custom configuration.
- 404 monitoring apps — tools like Viloko Redirect Manager are purpose-built to track real storefront 404 visits, logging each broken path along with visit counts and referrer information.
How to fix 404 errors
Once you've identified your 404 errors, here's how to handle them:
- Create 301 redirects — for broken paths that have a clear replacement (similar product, new collection, updated page), create a Shopify native 301 redirect so visitors land somewhere relevant.
- Restore the content — if a product or page was deleted by mistake, restoring it may be the simplest fix.
- Ignore irrelevant paths — some 404s come from bots scanning for vulnerabilities or testing random URLs. These can be safely ignored.
- Fix external links — if you control the sites linking to broken pages, update those links. If not, create redirects to capture the traffic.
