How to remove canonicalisation globally in Sanity?

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Last updated: Nov 29, 2025

How can we remove canonicalisation on a site? Is there any global setting for this?

AI Update

The concept of "canonicalisation" or canonical URLs isn't something you can globally disable in Sanity itself—it's actually a frontend implementation concern, not a CMS feature.

Here's what you need to understand:

What Are Canonical URLs?

Canonical URLs are HTML <link> tags (typically <link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/page">) that you add to your page's <head> section. They tell search engines which version of a page is the "preferred" one when you have duplicate or similar content at multiple URLs. According to Sanity's canonical URL glossary, they help prevent duplicate content issues and consolidate SEO signals.

How to "Remove" Canonicalisation

Since canonical tags are added in your frontend code (not in Sanity), here's how to remove them:

1. Check Your Frontend Templates

Look in your page templates where you render the <head> section. Common places include:

Next.js: pages/_document.js, app/layout.tsx, or individual page components
Gatsby: gatsby-ssr.js or page templates
Other frameworks: Your HTML template files

2. Remove the Canonical Tag Code

Find and remove code that looks like this:

// Example in Next.js
<Head>
  <link rel="canonical" href={canonicalUrl} />
</Head>

Or in your SEO component/plugin that might be generating these tags automatically.

3. Check SEO Plugins

If you're using an SEO plugin or package (like next-seo, react-helmet, or a Sanity SEO plugin), you may need to:

Remove the canonical URL field from your Sanity schema
Update your SEO component to not render canonical tags
Check plugin configuration to disable canonical URL generation

Important Considerations

Before removing canonical tags, be aware that:

They're generally considered an SEO best practice
Removing them won't harm your site, but you'll lose the benefits of consolidating duplicate content signals
If you have no duplicate content issues, canonical tags won't hurt anything (pages should self-reference their own canonical URL)

If You're Using Gatsby + Netlify

Since your search results mentioned "Gatsby and Netlify," check:

Your Gatsby gatsby-config.js for SEO plugins
Page templates in src/templates/
Any custom SEO components
Your site's <head> rendering logic

There is no global Sanity setting to disable canonicals—you control this entirely in your frontend code. If canonical tags are appearing on your site, they're being added by your frontend implementation, not by Sanity itself.

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