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MichelleARC's avatar
MichelleARC
Copper Contributor
Oct 08, 2023

Old URLs display in search results

We are in the process of building our SharePoint 2019 on-premise site. During the process of building the site, we changed the name of the site to a new site name.   When I test the search function...
NikolinoDE's avatar
NikolinoDE
Platinum Contributor
Oct 09, 2023

MichelleARC 

It is important to ensure that old URLs do not appear in search results, especially after changing the name of your SharePoint site. To address this issue in SharePoint 2019, you can follow these steps to configure your search settings and remove the old URLs from the search results:

  1. Central Administration:
    • Open SharePoint Central Administration on your SharePoint server.
  2. Search Service Application:
    • Navigate to "Application Management" and then "Manage service applications."
    • Find and click on your Search Service Application to manage its settings.
  3. Crawl Rules:
    • In the Search Service Application settings, go to "Crawl Rules." Here, you can set up rules to control how SharePoint crawls your content.
  4. Create a New Crawl Rule:
    • Create a new crawl rule to exclude the old URLs from search results.
    • Click on "New Crawl Rule."
  5. Specify a Path:
    • In the "Path" section of the new crawl rule, specify the old URL or pattern you want to exclude from search results.
    • Choose whether to exclude a specific URL, a path, or a pattern. Make sure to specify the old site URL or part of it that you want to exclude.
  6. Select "Exclude":
    • In the "Crawl Configuration" section, select "Exclude all items in this path."
  7. Save the Crawl Rule:
    • Save the crawl rule.
  8. Run a Full Crawl:
    • After setting up the crawl rule, you may need to run a full crawl of your content to ensure that the old URLs are removed from the search index.
    • Go back to the Search Service Application settings and initiate a full crawl.
  9. Test the Search Results:
    • Once the full crawl is complete, test the search function again to ensure that the old URLs no longer appear in the search results.

By creating a crawl rule that excludes the old URLs, you should be able to prevent them from displaying in search results. Be sure to periodically review and manage your crawl rules to ensure that your search results are accurate and up to date.

 

My knowledge of the topic is limited, but since no one has answered yet, even though it has been read many times, I posted the question in various AIs and found the above suggested solution for you. The proposed solution is untested.

 

My answers are voluntary and without guarantee!

 

Hope this will help you.

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