Sitemap checker: Can Google read your XML sitemap?

The common causes are a file that is not XML (an HTML or login page instead), invalid lastmod dates, relative or other-host URLs, more than 50,000 URLs in one file, and listed pages that redirect or return 404. The validator checks each against the sitemaps.org protocol and tests a sample of the listed pages, so you can fix the file before Search Console reports it.

No. List only final URLs that answer 200 and can be indexed; a sitemap full of redirects, 404s or noindex pages makes Google trust its hints less. Update the sitemap after a migration so it lists the new addresses. The validator requests up to 25 listed URLs and flags any that redirect or do not answer 200.

No. Enter any page of the site and the validator reads the sitemaps declared in robots.txt and /sitemap.xml, so it finds them even at unusual addresses such as /wp-sitemap.xml or /sitemap_index.xml. If it finds none, the result says so, and the guide on finding a website's sitemap lists the other places to look.

Open Google Search Console, choose your property, go to Sitemaps, enter the sitemap URL and click Submit. Also add a line such as Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml to robots.txt, so Google, Bing and other crawlers find it without a manual step. Google retired its sitemap ping in 2023, so there is nothing to resubmit after updates; an accurate lastmod does that job.

Enter your site above. The checker finds the sitemaps declared in robots.txt and at /sitemap.xml, unpacks gzipped files, validates the XML against the protocol and requests up to 25 listed URLs to confirm they answer 200 without redirecting. It also tells you whether the page you entered is listed. Search Console's Sitemaps report adds how many URLs Google has read.

Yes. The index is validated and its child sitemaps are counted. Status checks of listed pages sample the first child sitemap that lists pages, up to 25 URLs per run, so on a large site the sample shows patterns rather than every broken URL. Fix the pattern at its source, usually a plugin setting, and the other child sitemaps follow.

Up to 50,000 URLs per file, the protocol limit, in files up to 5 MB. Larger files are reported as too big; split them into several sitemaps under a sitemap index, which also makes problems easier to find by section. Image and video sitemap extensions are tolerated but not validated yet.

Yes, with no sign-up. getReport is funded by donations, not plans, and the complete report with all seven modules is one click away, also free. It stays at its shareable link for 12 months, is not listed publicly and carries a noindex tag, and nothing about your visitors is collected.