diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/ReferenceDocs.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/ReferenceDocs.java
index 6054d03c896fc..3e5cf3013c66b 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/ReferenceDocs.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/ReferenceDocs.java
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ public enum ReferenceDocs {
     SECURE_SETTINGS,
     CLUSTER_SHARD_LIMIT,
     DELETE_INDEX_BLOCK,
+    ARCHIVED_SETTINGS,
     // this comment keeps the ';' on the next line so every entry above has a trailing ',' which makes the diff for adding new links cleaner
     ;
 
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/AbstractScopedSettings.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/AbstractScopedSettings.java
index 80bb5a20a3349..1211d01a20067 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/AbstractScopedSettings.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/AbstractScopedSettings.java
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 import org.apache.lucene.search.spell.LevenshteinDistance;
 import org.apache.lucene.util.CollectionUtil;
 import org.elasticsearch.ExceptionsHelper;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.ReferenceDocs;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.Strings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.regex.Regex;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.Maps;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.set.Sets;
@@ -543,29 +545,40 @@ void validate(final String key, final Settings settings, final boolean validateV
     void validate(final String key, final Settings settings, final boolean validateValue, final boolean validateInternalOrPrivateIndex) {
         Setting<?> setting = getRaw(key);
         if (setting == null) {
-            LevenshteinDistance ld = new LevenshteinDistance();
-            List<Tuple<Float, String>> scoredKeys = new ArrayList<>();
-            for (String k : this.keySettings.keySet()) {
-                float distance = ld.getDistance(key, k);
-                if (distance > 0.7f) {
-                    scoredKeys.add(new Tuple<>(distance, k));
-                }
-            }
-            CollectionUtil.timSort(scoredKeys, (a, b) -> b.v1().compareTo(a.v1()));
-            String msgPrefix = "unknown setting";
             SecureSettings secureSettings = settings.getSecureSettings();
-            if (secureSettings != null && settings.getSecureSettings().getSettingNames().contains(key)) {
-                msgPrefix = "unknown secure setting";
+            String msgPrefix = (secureSettings != null && secureSettings.getSettingNames().contains(key))
+                ? "unknown secure setting"
+                : "unknown setting";
+            if (key.startsWith(ARCHIVED_SETTINGS_PREFIX)) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                    Strings.format(
+                        "%s [%s] was archived after upgrading, and must be removed. See [%s] for details.",
+                        msgPrefix,
+                        key,
+                        ReferenceDocs.ARCHIVED_SETTINGS
+                    )
+                );
             }
-            String msg = msgPrefix + " [" + key + "]";
-            List<String> keys = scoredKeys.stream().map((a) -> a.v2()).toList();
+            List<String> keys = findSimilarKeys(key);
             if (keys.isEmpty() == false) {
-                msg += " did you mean " + (keys.size() == 1 ? "[" + keys.get(0) + "]" : "any of " + keys.toString()) + "?";
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                    Strings.format(
+                        "%s [%s] did you mean %s?",
+                        msgPrefix,
+                        key,
+                        (keys.size() == 1 ? "[" + keys.get(0) + "]" : "any of " + keys)
+                    )
+                );
             } else {
-                msg += " please check that any required plugins are installed, or check the breaking changes documentation for removed "
-                    + "settings";
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                    Strings.format(
+                        "%s [%s] please check that any required plugins are installed,"
+                            + " or check the breaking changes documentation for removed settings",
+                        msgPrefix,
+                        key
+                    )
+                );
             }
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException(msg);
         } else {
             Set<Setting.SettingDependency> settingsDependencies = setting.getSettingsDependencies(key);
             if (setting.hasComplexMatcher()) {
@@ -609,6 +622,19 @@ void validate(final String key, final Settings settings, final boolean validateV
         }
     }
 
+    private List<String> findSimilarKeys(String key) {
+        LevenshteinDistance ld = new LevenshteinDistance();
+        List<Tuple<Float, String>> scoredKeys = new ArrayList<>();
+        for (String k : this.keySettings.keySet()) {
+            float distance = ld.getDistance(key, k);
+            if (distance > 0.7f) {
+                scoredKeys.add(new Tuple<>(distance, k));
+            }
+        }
+        CollectionUtil.timSort(scoredKeys, (a, b) -> b.v1().compareTo(a.v1()));
+        return scoredKeys.stream().map((a) -> a.v2()).toList();
+    }
+
     /**
      * Transactional interface to update settings.
      * @see Setting
diff --git a/server/src/main/resources/org/elasticsearch/common/reference-docs-links.txt b/server/src/main/resources/org/elasticsearch/common/reference-docs-links.txt
index 94992c2c3dda4..4debe85c78ba1 100644
--- a/server/src/main/resources/org/elasticsearch/common/reference-docs-links.txt
+++ b/server/src/main/resources/org/elasticsearch/common/reference-docs-links.txt
@@ -47,3 +47,4 @@ ALLOCATION_EXPLAIN_MAX_RETRY                                    cluster-allocati
 SECURE_SETTINGS                                                 secure-settings.html
 CLUSTER_SHARD_LIMIT                                             misc-cluster-settings.html#cluster-shard-limit
 DELETE_INDEX_BLOCK                                              api/doc/elasticsearch/operation/operation-indices-remove-block
+ARCHIVED_SETTINGS                                               deploy-manage/upgrade/deployment-or-cluster/archived-settings
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/ScopedSettingsTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/ScopedSettingsTests.java
index c2b0e1d6f9c6c..d639a7809a41f 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/ScopedSettingsTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/ScopedSettingsTests.java
@@ -335,6 +335,24 @@ public Iterator<Setting<?>> settings() {
         assertThat(e3.getMessage(), equalTo("too long"));
     }
 
+    public void testValidateArchivedSetting() {
+        IndexScopedSettings settings = new IndexScopedSettings(Settings.EMPTY, IndexScopedSettings.BUILT_IN_INDEX_SETTINGS);
+        final IllegalArgumentException e = expectThrows(
+            IllegalArgumentException.class,
+            () -> settings.validate(Settings.builder().put("archived.index.store.type", "boom").build(), false)
+        );
+        assertThat(
+            e.getMessage(),
+            equalTo(
+                "unknown setting [archived.index.store.type] was archived after upgrading, and must be removed."
+                    + " See [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/8.19/"
+                    + "deploy-manage/upgrade/deployment-or-cluster/archived-settings] "
+                    + "for details."
+            )
+        );
+
+    }
+
     public void testTupleAffixUpdateConsumer() {
         String prefix = randomAlphaOfLength(3) + "foo.";
         String intSuffix = randomAlphaOfLength(3);