Nosnippet is a robots meta tag value that instructs crawlers to omit the descriptive snippet beneath a page’s title in search engine results pages.
Website owners and SEO specialists read this when optimizing content for search engine results pages.
01What it is and how it works
When a page includes ` (or the HTTP header X-Robots-Tag: nosnippet`), the crawler records the directive and, at serving time, suppresses the automatically generated snippet. The title and URL still appear, but the descriptive text is replaced by an ellipsis or omitted entirely. The directive applies to the specific URL only; it does not affect other pages on the same site unless they also carry the tag.
It tells Google and other search engines to hide the short preview text that normally appears under a link in search results.
02What to do about it
If you want a snippet to appear, remove the nosnippet directive from the page’s head or HTTP header. Verify the change with the URL Inspection tool in Search Console, then request indexing. For pages where you intentionally hide snippets — such as paywalled content or privacy‑sensitive pages — keep the tag and monitor click‑through rates to ensure the omission does not hurt traffic unexpectedly.
03How it is measured or noticed
You can see the effect in the live SERP: the result shows only the title and URL, with no descriptive line. In Search Console, the “Coverage” report lists “Indexed, not submitted in sitemap” pages that have the tag, and the “Performance” report will show a lower average position if the missing snippet reduces clicks. The nosnippet flag also appears in the “Robots” column of the Page Indexing report.
04Common mistakes
- Applying nosnippet site‑wide via a global robots.txt rule — robots.txt cannot carry nosnippet; it only works in meta tags or HTTP headers.
- Leaving the tag on high‑value landing pages by accident after a template change, which removes useful snippets and drops CTR.
- Assuming nosnippet also blocks the page from being indexed — it only hides the snippet; the page can still rank.
- Using the directive on AMP pages without also adding it to the canonical version, causing inconsistent snippet behavior.
05Limits and confusion
Nosnippet does not prevent the page from appearing in rich results, knowledge panels, or image carousels; those features may still pull structured data. It is often confused with noindex, which removes the page from the index entirely, and with max-snippet:0, which limits snippet length but still allows a zero‑length snippet. The directive is ignored by some non‑Google crawlers that do not support the robots meta tag extensions.
06Worked example
<meta name="robots" content="nosnippet">
<!-- Page still appears in results, but no snippet is shown -->
Frequently asked questions
How does telling crawlers to omit the description differ from using robots.txt to block a page?
No, nosnippet only hides the description while the page can still be indexed, while robots.txt can prevent the page from being indexed at all. The two directives serve different purposes.
Should I add a robots meta tag that blocks the description if I want a snippet to appear in search results?
No, you should remove any robots directive that hides the description if you want a snippet to appear. Keeping it in place will prevent the description from showing even though the page is indexed.
How do I tell a crawler to suppress the descriptive snippet on my page?
Yes, you can add <meta name="robots" content="nosnippet"> to the page head or send an X-Robots-Tag: nosnippet header, and the crawler will omit the snippet when rendering the SERP. This prevents the descriptive line from appearing under the title.
Does the directive that hides the description still work in current search engine algorithms?
Yes, it continues to be respected by major search engines, though some may ignore it if other signals conflict. It remains effective unless conflicting signals cause search engines to disregard it.
What happens if I accidentally leave a robots meta tag that blocks the description on a page that should show a description?
Yes, the search result will display only the title and URL with no descriptive line, which can reduce click‑through rates and make the page less informative to users. You’ll notice the missing snippet when you view the live SERP.
Asked out loud
spoken, not typedThe same term in the words somebody uses speaking to an assistant rather than typing into a box — written from the situation, which is why each one carries the situation it came from.
Yes, remove the nosnippet meta tag or header from the page so the description can appear. Doing this will restore the snippet in the SERP immediately.
No, you need to edit the page's head or send an X-Robots-Tag header to remove the nosnippet directive, then re-crawl the page. After the change, the description will show up in the next search result.
Yes, the nosnippet directive is still active, so removing it from the page head will let the description appear again. The description will then be visible in the SERP.