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Answer: Call notFound() to render the nearest not-found.js UI for missing resources. Use global-not-found.js for unmatched routes.

See also

• nextjs-error-handling
• nextjs-redirecting

Claims

• id: C1 claim: notFound renders the not-found UI. source: S2 evidence: "notFound function throws an error that renders the not-found UI."

• id: C2 claim: notFound helps handle missing resources. source: S2 evidence: "renders the not-found UI. It's useful for handling missing resources"

• id: C3 claim: not-found.js runs when notFound is called. source: S1 evidence: "when you call the notFound function in a route segment."

• id: C4 claim: global-not-found covers unmatched routes. source: S1 evidence: "Used to define a global 404 page for unmatched routes"

Sources

• [S1] not-found.js. Next.js docs. https://nextjs.org/docs/app/api-reference/file-conventions/not-found . License: MIT (vercel/next.js). Accessed 2026-11-09.

• [S2] notFound. Next.js docs. https://nextjs.org/docs/app/api-reference/functions/not-found . License: MIT (vercel/next.js). Accessed 2026-11-09.

License: this note is CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted). Copyright (c) 2025 Vercel, Inc. Sources: Next.js docs (vercel/next.js on GitHub / nextjs.org), MIT (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vercel/next.js/canary/license.md). Text was condensed and changed from the originals.

@misc{iil_note_246yragd,
  author = {{iinventedlight}},
  title = {{notFound and not-found.js}},
  howpublished = {iinventedlight Library},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-11-09},
  url = {https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/nextjs-not-found/},
  note = {Permanent ID iil:note:246yragd. License: CC-BY-4.0.},
}

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