XML sitemap validator
Paste the XML of a sitemap or sitemap index. The validator checks it against the sitemaps.org protocol and Google's documented limits: well-formed XML, the right root element and namespace, absolute <loc> URLs on one host, valid W3C dates in <lastmod>, duplicates, and the limit of 50,000 URLs or 50 MB per file.
Errors that stop Google reading a sitemap
- Malformed XML, often from an unescaped
&in a URL (write&) or a PHP notice printed before the XML declaration. - Relative URLs in
<loc>. Every entry must be a full URL. - A wrong namespace, which makes the file look like arbitrary XML.
- Invalid dates such as
30-09-2026. Use2026-09-30, optionally with a time and timezone.
Search Console reports these as "Couldn't fetch" or "Sitemap could not be read", which rarely says which line is wrong. Checking here first narrows it down.
Warnings worth acting on
Identical <lastmod> values on every URL usually mean the generator stamps the build time, which teaches Google to ignore your dates. URLs from another host or protocol (http on an https site, www on an apex site) point at duplicates. And <priority> and <changefreq> are ignored by Google, so it is not worth tuning them. Background on what belongs in a sitemap is in our sitemap guide.
Common questions
Does a valid sitemap guarantee indexing?
No. A sitemap helps Google discover and recrawl URLs, but it still decides what to index based on the pages themselves.
Should noindexed pages be in the sitemap?
No. List only canonical, indexable URLs that return 200. Mixing in noindexed or redirected URLs sends conflicting signals.
Can I validate a gzipped sitemap?
Not by pasting. Decompress it first, since this tool reads XML text.