SEO tools
Will Google read your sitemap?
Fetch a sitemap by URL, paste it or drop the file. Every entry is checked against the sitemap protocol and Google’s limits.
URLs are fetched through Imbuz’s own fetch service so your browser can read them; nothing is stored. Pasted and uploaded sitemaps never leave your device.
About this tool
Every rule Google applies to a sitemap, in one pass
Search Console reports sitemap errors days after you submit. This checks it now: that the XML is well-formed and uses the right namespace, that it stays under 50,000 URLs and 50 MB, that every URL is absolute, on the same host and properly escaped, that lastmod dates are valid and not in the future, and that nothing is duplicated. Sitemap indexes list their child sitemaps so you can validate each one, and you can check whether the first 50 URLs actually answer 200.
- Free, no sign-up
- Nothing stored
- Paste or fetch
Index or URL set
A sitemap index lists its child sitemaps with a one-click validate for each; a URL set lists its pages.
Grouped, with examples
Each kind of problem is listed once with a count and the first examples, so a 40,000-URL sitemap stays readable.
Optional status check
Check the first 50 URLs for redirects, errors and noindex headers — the URLs that should not be in a sitemap at all.
Step by step
How to validate a sitemap
Enter the sitemap URL
Usually /sitemap.xml or /sitemap_index.xml — or paste the XML, or drop a .xml or .xml.gz file.
Read the report
Errors stop Google reading entries; warnings are worth fixing; notes explain how Google treats the rest.
Check the URLs
Run the status check to find redirects, 404s and noindexed pages that should come out of the sitemap.
Get the most out of it
Tips for the best results
- Only list canonical URLsEvery URL should answer 200, be indexable and be the canonical version — no redirects, no parameters.
- Make lastmod truthfulGoogle uses lastmod when it is accurate and learns to ignore it when every date is the build date.
- Reference it in robots.txtA Sitemap: line in robots.txt lets every crawler find it, not just Google.
- Split big sites by typeSeparate sitemaps for products, articles and categories make Search Console’s coverage reports far more useful.
Keep going
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Questions
Questions about this tool
Pasted text never leaves your browser. Addresses you enter are fetched through Imbuz’s own fetch service, and nothing is stored. More in the general FAQ.
How many URLs can a sitemap have?
Up to 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed per file. Larger sites split their URLs across several sitemaps and list them in a sitemap index, which can itself reference up to 50,000 sitemaps.
Does Google use priority and changefreq?
No. Google ignores both and uses lastmod only when it is consistently accurate. They do no harm, and other search engines may read them.
Why does Search Console say my sitemap could not be read?
Usually malformed XML (a bare & in a URL is the classic), the wrong namespace, a server error or redirect on the sitemap URL, or a file served as HTML. The validator reports each of these with the line or URL involved.
Should every page be in the sitemap?
Every page you want indexed, and nothing else: no redirects, 404s, noindexed pages or non-canonical duplicates. A sitemap is a list of recommendations, so a clean one is trusted more.
Is the sitemap stored?
No. It is fetched through this site’s fetch service so your browser can read it, checked in your browser, and nothing is stored. Pasted and dropped sitemaps never leave your device.