Why does Search Console call my live, content-filled page a soft 404 when it returns 200?

Yep — a 200 alone doesn’t settle it. Search Console calls something a soft 404 when Google sees a user-friendly “not found” type page without a real 404 response, and it can also be a clue that the rendered page looked empty or broken when Google crawled it. Use URL Inspection’s live test and open the tested-page screenshot, then check the last crawl date too. Look for missing main content, an empty search/product result, a template error, blocked scripts, or copy that tells visitors the item is unavailable. If the page is genuinely gone, return a real 404 (or redirect it only to a truly relevant replacement). If it’s a real page, make sure the main content loads for Google and isn’t just a thin shell.