How do I validate my XML sitemap?

Enter your sitemap URL in the XML Sitemap Validator to check it against the sitemaps.org protocol and list any errors.

What errors does the validator catch?

It catches malformed XML, wrong namespaces, invalid or unencoded URLs, oversized files, too many URLs, bad date formats, and other sitemaps.org protocol violations.

How many URLs can a sitemap contain?

A single sitemap supports up to 50,000 URLs and 50MB uncompressed; larger sites must split across multiple sitemaps listed in a sitemap index file.

My sitemap is valid but Search Console shows errors — why?

Search Console may report fetch issues (blocking, timeouts) or coverage issues (redirects, noindex URLs) that are separate from XML validity. The validator confirms the file itself parses correctly.

SEO TOOLS · FREE ONLINE TOOL

XML Sitemap Validator

Validate any XML sitemap and spot-check its URLsA broken sitemap is worse than a missing one: Search Console accepts malformed sitemaps, then quietly fails to process them. This validator checks your file against the protocol and pinpoints the exact line or URL at fault.

✓ Free to use✓ No sign-up✓ Ready in your browser

// XML SITEMAP VALIDATOR · GET STARTED

Use XML Sitemap Validator

Validate any XML sitemap and spot-check its URLs

// XML SITEMAP VALIDATOR · HOW IT WORKS

How to use the XML Sitemap Validator

Enter sitemap URL

Enter the sitemap URL (e.g. https://example.com/sitemap.xml).

Validate

Click "Validate Sitemap" to run the checks.

Review results

Review the XML verdict, structure notes and URL sample results.

// XML SITEMAP VALIDATOR · ABOUT THIS TOOL

About the XML Sitemap Validator

A broken sitemap silently wastes your crawl budget: search engines fetch it, hit errors, and move on. This validator parses the XML, checks the sitemap namespace and entry structure, handles sitemap indexes, and confirms a sample of URLs return 200.

Use it after generating a sitemap, after site migrations, and in regular technical SEO audits. Fix every error before submitting to Google Search Console.

Where it helps most

Validate first, submit second.

Post-generation checks

Careful webmasters run it right after generating or regenerating a sitemap, before submitting anything to Search Console for indexing today.

Migration audits

Thorough post-migration audits catch sitemaps still listing old URLs that no longer exist anywhere on the site at all now.

Fetch-error diagnosis

Anyone staring at a "couldn't fetch" error in Search Console uses it to determine whether the file or the server is at fault.

Feedback loops

After fixing validation errors, resubmit the sitemap in Search Console to shorten the feedback loop from days to hours instead.

Validating well

Surgical fixes, not guesswork.

Protocol checks

Well-formed XML, valid URL formatting, absolute URLs only, proper character encoding.

Reachability

Checks that listed pages are reachable, not redirecting or 404ing.

Coverage insight

A valid sitemap with indexing gaps points to quality or crawl-budget issues instead.

XML Sitemap Validator: built for trust

The sitemap does its job quietly in the background once it validates clean.

// XML SITEMAP VALIDATOR · COMMON QUESTIONS

XML Sitemap Validator FAQs

What breaks an XML sitemap most often?

Relative URLs, unescaped special characters like ampersands, URLs that redirect or return 404s, and entries blocked by robots.txt. The validator checks for all of these and pinpoints the offending lines.

Why does Search Console say "couldn't fetch" my sitemap?

Can a sitemap list pages blocked by robots.txt?

Should sitemap URLs use http or https?

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