# Default mintlify.app subdomain indexed with custom domain

> Why your default

.mintlify.app address stays crawlable after you add a custom domain, and how to remove it from search engine results.

After you add a [custom domain](/guides/create-content-customize-custom-domain) like `docs.example.com`, your default `<subdomain>.mintlify.app` address stays publicly reachable and search engines can continue to crawl it. In some cases the default address outranks your custom domain in search results.

## Why this happens

Mintlify does not automatically disable, redirect, or apply `noindex` to your default address when you add a custom domain. Some setups depend on the default address to serve the custom domain, so turning it off would take those sites down.

Pages on your default address already set their canonical URL to your custom domain, but the `canonical` tag is a hint that search engines can ignore. This is more likely when the default address has more inbound links or a longer indexing history than your custom domain.

## Disable the default address

Support can make your default `<subdomain>.mintlify.app` address return a `404` so search engines drop it from their index. Your custom domain keeps working.

This is only available if your custom domain's `CNAME` points to `cname.mintlify.builders`, as shown on the [Custom domain setup](https://app.mintlify.com/settings/project/custom-domain) page. If your `CNAME` points to your `<subdomain>.mintlify.app` address, or you serve your docs through a [reverse proxy](/guides/manage-your-site-deploy-reverse-proxy), disabling the default address also takes down your custom domain.

To disable the default address, email \[support@mintlify.com]\(mailto\:support@mintlify.com) from an email address associated with your organization. Include:

- Your custom domain, like `docs.example.com`.
- Your default address, like `acme.mintlify.app`.
- The organization and project, formatted as `app.mintlify.com/<your-org>/<your-project>`.

While the default address is disabled, you cannot add a new custom domain from the dashboard. Contact support if you need to change domains later.

## Speed up removal from search results

- If you set a canonical URL in `seo.metatags.canonical` in your `docs.json` or in a page's frontmatter, make sure it uses your custom domain. See [Set a canonical URL](/guides/agent-ready-content-optimize-seo#set-a-canonical-url).
- In [Google Search Console](https://search.google.com/search-console), add your custom domain as a property and submit its sitemap at `https://<your-custom-domain>/sitemap.xml`.
- To hide default address URLs from Google results sooner, add `<subdomain>.mintlify.app` as a Search Console property and use the Removals tool. Verify the property with a [`google-site-verification` meta tag](/guides/agent-ready-content-optimize-seo#verify-site-ownership) before support disables the default address, because verification requires the address to be reachable.

## Related topics

- [Custom domain](/guides/create-content-customize-custom-domain)
- [Deploy at a subpath with Vercel](/guides/manage-your-site-deploy-vercel)
- [Mintlify CLI command reference](/guides/get-started-cli-commands)

## Related pages

- [Admin](./admin-index.md)
- [Agent](./agent-2-index.md)
- [Agent](./agent-index.md)
- [Agent-ready content](./agent-ready-content-index.md)
- [AI](./ai-index.md)
- [Analytics](./analytics-index.md)
- [API docs](./api-docs-index.md)
- [API reference](./api-reference-index.md)
- [Assistant](./assistant-2-index.md)
- [Assistant](./assistant-index.md)

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