Removing something from Reddit and removing it from Google are two separate jobs. A thread can stay live on Reddit but drop out of search entirely, and just as often, a thread gets deleted from Reddit yet its cached snippet keeps showing up in Google for weeks. If your actual goal is “I don’t want people finding this when they search my name,” Reddit’s own removal tools only solve half the problem.
This guide covers the Google side specifically. If the thread also needs to come down on Reddit itself, our guide to reddit comment removal covers that process — the two often need to happen in parallel.
Why a Reddit Thread Can Outlive Its Own Removal
Reddit pages carry a lot of domain authority, which is exactly why they rank so easily — and why Google is slow to drop them once they’re indexed. Even after a thread is deleted or locked on Reddit, the URL can sit in Google’s index showing a cached title and snippet until Google recrawls the page and notices it’s gone. That gap can run anywhere from a few days to several weeks.
Two Ways to Approach This
1. Get It Removed From Reddit First
This is the cleanest path when it’s available. Once a thread is genuinely deleted or locked on Reddit’s side — not just downvoted or buried — the page eventually returns a removed or empty state, which gives Google a clear signal to drop it from the index on its next crawl.
2. Request Removal Directly From Google
When Reddit won’t act, or you need results out of search faster than Reddit’s process allows, Google has its own removal tools that work independently of what happens on the original site.
Using Google’s Removals Tool
Google Search Console includes a “Removals” section where you can submit a URL for temporary hiding from search results — typically about six months — while the underlying page catches up. This works two ways:
- Outdated content removal — if the Reddit page has already been deleted or edited but Google’s cached version still shows the old content, you can request Google refresh or drop that cached snapshot
- Temporary removal — hides a live URL from search results for about six months, which buys time while a permanent solution (Reddit deletion, legal request) plays out
Neither option deletes the page itself. They control what Google shows, not what exists on Reddit’s servers.
When Google Won’t Remove It
Google generally won’t deindex a page just because it’s unflattering. Its removal tools are built for outdated content, personal information exposure (like a home address or ID number), or content that violates specific legal grounds — not general reputation complaints. A thread that’s simply critical, even harshly so, usually stays indexed unless it also crosses into one of those categories.
Suppression as a Backup Strategy
When a thread can’t be removed or deindexed outright, the fallback is pushing it down the results page rather than off it. That means building out stronger, more relevant pages — your own site, press coverage, professional profiles — that outrank the thread for the searches that matter. It’s slower than removal, but it works even in cases where neither Reddit nor Google will act directly.
Legal Grounds That Move Faster
A handful of legal categories give Google stronger grounds to act quickly: doxxing and non-consensual personal information, court-ordered defamation takedowns, and — for searches in the EU — right-to-be-forgotten requests under GDPR. These require documentation, but they typically move faster than a standard removal request because Google’s policy explicitly covers them.
How Long This Actually Takes
Temporary removals through Search Console typically process within a few days. Outdated content requests depend on Google’s recrawl schedule for that specific URL, which can range from days to a few weeks. Legal-basis removals vary the most — straightforward cases with clear documentation can move quickly, while contested ones take longer. None of this happens instantly, which is exactly why running Reddit-side removal and Google-side removal at the same time, rather than one after the other, saves the most time overall.
This is the part of the process where most people underestimate the timeline — and where a service like Reddit Post Removal earns its keep, since it means running Reddit’s removal process and Google’s removal process at the same time instead of finding out about the second step after the first one’s already failed to fix the visibility problem.
