XML Sitemap Validator

Validate your XML sitemap for search engine compliance and discover potential issues that could affect your website's indexing.

Drag and drop your XML sitemap file here

or

How to Use Our XML Sitemap Validator

Follow this comprehensive guide to validate your XML sitemap and ensure it meets search engine requirements

1

Choose Your Validation Method

Start by selecting one of the three available methods to validate your XML sitemap:

URL Method

Validate a sitemap that's already published online by entering its URL. This is the most common method for live websites.

Tip: Make sure your sitemap is publicly accessible and not blocked by robots.txt or password protection.

File Upload Method

Upload an XML sitemap file directly from your computer. Perfect for validating sitemaps before publishing them to your website.

Tip: You can drag and drop your file into the designated area or click to browse and select your sitemap file.

Paste XML Method

Directly paste your XML sitemap content into the text area. This method is useful for troubleshooting or testing modified sitemap content.

Tip: Make sure to include the full XML content, including the XML declaration and all namespace definitions.
XML Sitemap Validator
The three validation method buttons at the top of the validator tool
2

Enter Your Sitemap Information

Provide the necessary information based on your chosen validation method:

For URL Method:

Enter the complete URL of your sitemap in the input field. Make sure to include the full address with http:// or https:// prefix.

Example: https://example.com/sitemap.xml
XML Sitemap Validator Online

For File Upload Method:

Either drag and drop your XML sitemap file into the designated area or click the "Choose File" button to browse your computer and select the file.

Supported file format: .xml sitemap files
Sitemap Validator

For Paste XML Method:

Paste your complete XML sitemap content into the text area. Be sure to include all elements, from the XML declaration to the closing tags.

Example structure: 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/</loc>
    <lastmod>2023-01-01</lastmod>
  </url>
</urlset>
Free XML Sitemap Validator
3

Validate Your Sitemap

After providing your sitemap, click the "Validate Sitemap" button to begin the validation process.

What happens during validation:

  1. Our tool checks the XML structure for proper formatting and syntax
  2. The validator verifies that all required elements and attributes are present
  3. URLs in the sitemap are checked for proper formatting
  4. Optional elements like lastmod, changefreq, and priority are examined for compliance with standards
  5. The tool checks for sitemap-specific requirements and best practices
Validate Your Sitemap
The validation process may take a few seconds, especially for large sitemaps
4

Review Validation Results

Once validation is complete, the tool will display comprehensive results about your sitemap.

Success Result

If your sitemap passes all checks, you'll see a success message indicating that your sitemap is valid and ready for search engine submission.

Warnings

These are issues that don't invalidate your sitemap but may affect its performance or adherence to best practices. Examples include missing optional elements or suboptimal formatting.

Errors

Critical issues that may prevent search engines from properly processing your sitemap. These should be addressed immediately. Examples include invalid XML structure, missing required elements, or malformed URLs.

XML Validation
Example of validation results showing both warnings and errors
5

Fix Issues and Re-Validate

If the validator detects any issues, follow these steps to resolve them:

  1. Understand the reported issues: Read the error or warning description carefully to understand what needs to be fixed.
  2. Edit your sitemap: Make the necessary changes to address the issues. You may need to modify your XML code, fix URL formats, add missing elements, or correct date formats.
  3. Re-validate your sitemap: After making changes, run the validation again to ensure all issues have been resolved.
  4. Repeat if necessary: Continue this process until your sitemap passes validation without errors.

Quick Fixes for Common Issues:

Invalid XML Format

Ensure your XML is well-formed with properly nested tags and all opening tags have corresponding closing tags.

Missing Namespace

Include the proper namespace declaration: xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"

Malformed URLs

Ensure all URLs have the correct format with protocol (http:// or https://) and are properly encoded.

Invalid Date Format

Use ISO 8601 format for dates: YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss+TZ

6

Submit Your Validated Sitemap

Once your sitemap passes validation without errors, it's ready to be submitted to search engines:

Google Search Console Submission

  1. Log in to Google Search Console
  2. Select your property
  3. Navigate to "Sitemaps" in the left sidebar
  4. Enter your sitemap URL in the "Add a new sitemap" field
  5. Click "Submit"
Google Search Console sitemap submission

Bing Webmaster Tools Submission

  1. Log in to Bing Webmaster Tools
  2. Select your site
  3. Click on "Sitemaps" in the left navigation
  4. Enter your sitemap URL and click "Submit"

Robots.txt Reference

Add a reference to your sitemap in your robots.txt file for additional discovery:

Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml

This helps search engines find your sitemap even if you haven't submitted it directly.

Pro Tips for Sitemap Validation

Regular Validation

Validate your sitemap regularly, especially after making significant changes to your website structure or content.

Sitemap Size

Keep your sitemap under 50MB and 50,000 URLs. If needed, split larger sites into multiple sitemaps and create a sitemap index.

Prioritize Important Pages

Use the <priority> tag to indicate the relative importance of each page, with values from 0.0 to 1.0 (default is 0.5).

Include Only Public Pages

Only include URLs in your sitemap that you want search engines to index. Exclude admin, login, and other restricted pages.

Ready to validate your sitemap?

Ensure your website is properly indexed by search engines with our free XML Sitemap Validator tool.

Validate Your Sitemap Now

Why Validate Your XML Sitemap?

Discover how our validator tool helps improve your website's visibility in search engines

Enhance Search Engine Discoverability

A validated, error-free XML sitemap helps search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo discover and index all your important pages correctly. This leads to better visibility in search results and more organic traffic to your website.

Accelerate Indexing Speed

A properly formatted sitemap expedites the crawling and indexing process. By validating your sitemap, you eliminate delays caused by errors and help search engines find and process your content more efficiently, getting your pages indexed faster.

Identify and Fix Critical Errors

Our validator detects syntax errors, malformed URLs, and other issues that could prevent search engines from properly processing your sitemap. By identifying and fixing these problems, you ensure your sitemap effectively communicates your site structure to search engines.

Optimize for Best Practices

Beyond catching errors, our validator offers recommendations for sitemap optimization. These suggestions help you implement SEO best practices like proper date formatting, priority settings, and change frequency indications to maximize the effectiveness of your sitemap.

Improve Crawl Budget Efficiency

Search engines allocate limited resources (crawl budget) to each website. A validated sitemap helps search engines use this budget more efficiently by focusing on your most important pages. This optimization is particularly valuable for larger websites with thousands of pages.

Save Time and Resources

Finding sitemap issues manually is time-consuming and error-prone. Our validator automatically scans your entire sitemap in seconds, identifying all problems in one go. This efficiency allows you to focus on fixing issues rather than hunting for them.

Support for All Sitemap Types

Our validator works with all XML sitemap formats, including standard sitemaps, image sitemaps, video sitemaps, news sitemaps, and sitemap indexes. No matter what type of content you're publishing, our tool helps ensure your sitemaps meet the specific requirements for each format.

Multiple Validation Methods

With three convenient validation options (URL, file upload, or direct XML paste), our tool offers flexibility to suit your workflow. Validate sitemaps that are already online, check files before uploading them to your server, or test XML snippets during development.

Regular sitemap validation is a key component of technical SEO maintenance. We recommend validating your sitemap after any significant website updates, structure changes, or at least once a month as part of routine SEO maintenance.

Explore Our Complete XML Sitemap Toolkit

Discover our full suite of specialized sitemap tools designed to maximize your website's search visibility

XML Sitemap Generator

Create comprehensive XML sitemaps for your entire website automatically, with customization options for URL selection, priority settings, and change frequency parameters.

URL Crawling
Priority Control
Custom Frequency
Generate Sitemap

Image Sitemap Generator

Create specialized sitemaps for your image content to help search engines discover and properly index your visual assets, improving visibility in image search results.

Image Discovery
Alt Text Inclusion
Caption Support
Generate Image Sitemap

Video Sitemap Generator

Create video-specific sitemaps to improve the discoverability and indexing of your video content, helping search engines understand video metadata and display rich snippets.

Video Metadata
Thumbnail Integration
Duration Data
Generate Video Sitemap

News Sitemap Generator

Create specialized news sitemaps to help search engines discover and index your time-sensitive news content more efficiently, improving visibility in Google News and news search results.

Publication Data
Language Support
News Keywords
Generate News Sitemap

XML Sitemap Compression

Optimize large sitemaps by compressing them to meet Google's file size limits and improve loading speeds, ensuring your sitemap can be properly processed by search engines.

GZIP Compression
Size Optimization
Faster Loading
Compress Sitemap

Multi-Language XML Sitemap

Create specialized sitemaps for multilingual websites with proper hreflang tags to help search engines serve the correct language version to users in different regions.

hreflang Support
Regional Targeting
Language Variants
Create Multi-Language Sitemap

XML Sitemap Visualizer

Transform your sitemap into an interactive visual map to better understand your website's structure and hierarchy, identifying navigation issues and optimization opportunities.

Interactive View
Hierarchy Analysis
Structure Insights
Visualize Sitemap

Sitemap Difference Checker

Compare two versions of your sitemap to identify changes, additions, and removals, helping you track website updates and ensure all important pages remain indexed.

Change Detection
URL Tracking
Missing Page Alerts
Compare Sitemaps

Comprehensive XML Sitemap Management

Our complete suite of sitemap tools provides everything you need to create, validate, and optimize sitemaps for improved search engine visibility and better indexing of your website content.

Explore All Tools

Sitemap Limitations & Best Practices

Understanding the technical constraints for optimal sitemap performance

Size Limitations

  • Maximum file size: 50MB (uncompressed)
  • Maximum URLs per sitemap: 50,000
  • Maximum sitemaps in index: 50,000
  • Recommended: Keep under 10MB for faster processing

Best Practices

  • Use sitemap index: Split large sites into multiple sitemaps
  • Compress files: Use GZIP to reduce file size
  • Prioritize content: Include your most important URLs
  • Consistent domains: Use same protocol (http/https) throughout

Common Issues

  • Oversized files: Can lead to partial or failed processing
  • Missing namespaces: Causes improper interpretation
  • Mixed protocols: Creates indexing inconsistencies
  • Invalid dates: Leads to improper prioritization

Exceeding these limits won't break your sitemap, but search engines may ignore oversized files or process them incompletely. Our validator helps identify these issues before submission.

Common Sitemap Errors & How to Fix Them

Quick solutions for the most frequent issues detected by our validator

Error Example

<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/</loc>
  </url>
</urlset>

Solution

Add the XML declaration at the very beginning of your sitemap file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/</loc>
  </url>
</urlset>

The XML declaration specifies the XML version and character encoding used in the document. Without it, some parsers may have trouble processing your sitemap correctly.

Error Example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset>
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/</loc>
  </url>
</urlset>

Solution

Add the required sitemap namespace to the urlset element:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/</loc>
  </url>
</urlset>

For specialized sitemaps, include additional namespaces:

<!-- For image sitemaps -->
xmlns:image="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-image/1.1"

<!-- For video sitemaps -->
xmlns:video="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-video/1.1"

<!-- For news sitemaps -->
xmlns:news="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-news/0.9"

Error Example

<url>
  <loc>example.com/page1</loc>
</url>

Solution

Always include the full URL with protocol (http:// or https://):

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/page1</loc>
</url>

Search engines require absolute URLs with protocols in sitemaps. Relative URLs won't work. Ensure all URLs use the same protocol consistently (preferably https://).

Error Examples

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/page1</loc>
  <lastmod>01/15/2024</lastmod>
</url>

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/page2</loc>
  <lastmod>January 15, 2024</lastmod>
</url>

Solution

Use W3C datetime format (ISO 8601) for all dates:

<!-- Complete date plus hours, minutes and seconds -->
<lastmod>2024-01-15T14:30:15+00:00</lastmod>

<!-- Complete date -->
<lastmod>2024-01-15</lastmod>

Use the most precise timestamp possible. If you include the time component, always include the timezone offset.

Error Examples

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/page1</loc>
  <priority>2</priority>
</url>

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/page2</loc>
  <priority>high</priority>
</url>

Solution

Use decimal values between 0.0 and 1.0 for the priority element:

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/</loc>
  <priority>1.0</priority>      <!-- Homepage (highest) -->
</url>

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/important-category/</loc>
  <priority>0.8</priority>      <!-- Important categories -->
</url>

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/blog/post1</loc>
  <priority>0.6</priority>      <!-- Standard content -->
</url>

The default priority is 0.5 if not specified. Higher values indicate more important pages.

Error Examples

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/page1</loc>
  <changefreq>biweekly</changefreq>
</url>

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/page2</loc>
  <changefreq>10days</changefreq>
</url>

Solution

Use only the seven allowed values for the changefreq element:

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/news/</loc>
  <changefreq>always</changefreq>     <!-- Content that changes multiple times per day -->
</url>

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/blog/</loc>
  <changefreq>hourly</changefreq>     <!-- Frequently updated content -->
</url>

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/products/</loc>
  <changefreq>daily</changefreq>      <!-- Updated once per day -->
</url>

<!-- Other valid values: weekly, monthly, yearly, never -->

The changefreq value is a hint to search engines, not a command. Search engines determine their actual crawl rate based on multiple factors.

Error Examples

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/category/blue & white</loc>
</url>

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/search?q=men's shoes</loc>
</url>

Solution

Properly encode special characters in URLs:

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/category/blue%20%26%20white</loc>
</url>

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/search?q=men%27s%20shoes</loc>
</url>

Common encodings:

  • Space: %20
  • & (ampersand): %26
  • ' (apostrophe): %27
  • ? (question mark): %3F
  • = (equals): %3D
  • # (hash): %23
  • % (percent): %25

Use URL encoding tools or functions in your programming language to ensure proper encoding.

Our validator automatically identifies these and many other issues in your sitemap. After fixing errors, be sure to re-validate your sitemap before submitting it to search engines.

Recent Updates

Stay informed about the latest changes to sitemap standards and our validation tool

Mar 2024
Validator Update

Enhanced Multi-Language Sitemap Validation

We've expanded our validator to include comprehensive checks for hreflang attributes and alternate language tags, ensuring your multilingual sitemaps follow the latest Google recommendations for international SEO.

Jan 2024
Standard Change

Google Updates Sitemap Index Processing

Google announced improved processing capabilities for sitemap index files, now supporting recursive sitemaps up to 3 levels deep and faster indexing of newly submitted sitemap files.

Read Google's Announcement
Nov 2023
Validator Update

Performance Improvements & URL Status Checking

Our validator now processes larger sitemaps 3x faster and includes optional URL status checking to verify that pages in your sitemap return valid HTTP status codes.

Sep 2023
Standard Change

Video Sitemap Schema Updates

Google introduced support for additional video metadata in video sitemaps, including content ratings, premiere dates, and live stream status. Our validator now checks for these optional elements.

See All Updates

Frequently Asked Questions

Comprehensive answers to common questions about XML sitemaps and our validator tool

Using Our XML Sitemap Validator

While both our XML Sitemap Validator and Google Search Console (GSC) provide sitemap analysis, they serve different purposes and offer complementary features. Understanding these differences can help you leverage both tools effectively for optimal sitemap management.

Core Differences in Approach

Feature Our XML Sitemap Validator Google Search Console
Primary Purpose Pre-submission validation and error detection Post-submission reporting and indexing status
When to Use Before submitting to search engines After submission to monitor performance
Account Requirement No account needed, accessible to anyone Requires Google account and site verification
Validation Methods URL, file upload, or direct XML paste URL submission only
Pre-upload Testing Can validate sitemaps before they're live Can only validate already published sitemaps

Detailed Feature Comparison

Our XML Sitemap Validator provides:

  • Comprehensive technical validation: We check XML syntax, structure, format compliance, and all required/optional elements against sitemap protocol standards
  • Detailed error reporting: Specific error messages with line numbers and suggestions for fixes
  • URL validation: Checks for malformed URLs, proper encoding, and protocol consistency
  • Format validation: Ensures dates, priorities, and change frequencies use correct formats and values
  • Multiple sitemap type support: Validates standard, image, video, news, and other specialized sitemaps
  • Immediate feedback: Get results within seconds without waiting for crawl processing
  • Non-public testing: Validate sitemaps in development before making them live
  • No site ownership requirement: Useful for SEO consultants working with multiple clients

Google Search Console provides:

  • Indexing status reporting: Shows how many URLs from your sitemap Google has indexed
  • Crawl error detection: Identifies when Google encounters issues crawling your URLs
  • Ongoing monitoring: Tracks sitemap performance over time
  • Direct Google submission: Submit sitemaps directly to Google for crawling
  • Integration with other GSC tools: Connect sitemap data with other Google search insights
  • Mobile usability feedback: Additional checks on mobile-friendliness of sitemap URLs
  • Search appearance information: How your sitemap URLs appear in search results

Recommended Workflow

For optimal results, we recommend using both tools in sequence:

  1. Use our XML Sitemap Validator first to ensure your sitemap is technically correct and error-free
  2. Fix any issues identified by our validator
  3. Upload the validated sitemap to your website
  4. Submit the sitemap to Google Search Console
  5. Use GSC to monitor indexing status and performance over time
  6. Periodically re-validate with our tool when making updates to your sitemap

This complementary approach ensures your sitemaps are both technically correct and effectively working to improve your search visibility.

Our XML Sitemap Validator supports comprehensive validation across all standard sitemap types recognized by major search engines. Each sitemap type has unique requirements and specifications, all of which our validator is equipped to check.

Standard XML Sitemaps

The foundation of the sitemap protocol, standard XML sitemaps list your website's URLs along with optional metadata. Our validator checks:

  • Correct XML declaration and encoding
  • Proper namespace declarations (xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9")
  • Presence and format of required <loc> elements
  • Optional elements validation:
    • <lastmod> date format (ISO 8601)
    • <changefreq> values (always, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, never)
    • <priority> values (0.0 to 1.0)
  • URL format and encoding validation
  • Size constraints (under 50MB uncompressed and 50,000 URLs)

Sitemap Index Files

For larger websites that require multiple sitemap files, our validator checks sitemap index files for:

  • Correct <sitemapindex> root element with proper namespace
  • Valid <sitemap> entries with required <loc> elements
  • Optional <lastmod> date formats
  • References to valid sitemap file types (.xml, .xml.gz, etc.)
  • Adherence to size limits (maximum of 50,000 sitemaps in an index)

Image Sitemaps

For websites with significant image content, our validator checks image sitemap extensions:

  • Proper image namespace declaration (xmlns:image="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-image/1.1")
  • Valid <image:image> elements within URL entries
  • Required <image:loc> elements with properly formatted image URLs
  • Optional elements validation:
    • <image:caption>
    • <image:geo_location>
    • <image:title>
    • <image:license>

Video Sitemaps

For websites featuring video content, our validator checks video sitemap extensions:

  • Proper video namespace declaration (xmlns:video="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-video/1.1")
  • Required video elements:
    • <video:thumbnail_loc>
    • <video:title>
    • <video:description>
  • Optional elements like <video:duration>, <video:publication_date>, <video:player_loc>, etc.
  • Proper formatting of duration, dates, and other specialized fields

News Sitemaps

For news publishers seeking inclusion in Google News, our validator checks:

  • Proper news namespace declaration (xmlns:news="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-news/0.9")
  • Required news elements:
    • <news:publication> with <news:name> and <news:language>
    • <news:publication_date> in the correct format
    • <news:title>
  • Optional elements like <news:keywords> and <news:stock_tickers>
  • Publication date recency (Google News typically only indexes content from the last 2 days)

Multi-language/International Sitemaps

For websites targeting multiple regions or languages, our validator checks:

  • Proper alternate language link elements
  • Valid hreflang attribute formats
  • Consistency and reciprocal linking between language variations

Mobile Sitemaps

Although less common since responsive design became standard, our validator still supports mobile sitemap validation:

  • Mobile namespace declarations
  • <mobile:mobile/> tags

Our validator is regularly updated to support the latest sitemap specifications and best practices from major search engines. This ensures your sitemaps remain compliant with current standards regardless of which type you're using for your website.

Yes, our XML Sitemap Validator is specifically designed to validate sitemaps regardless of their current publication status, giving you flexibility to check your sitemaps before making them live or accessible to search engines. This capability is particularly valuable during development, staging, or when preparing major updates to your website.

Validation Methods for Non-Public Sitemaps

We offer multiple ways to validate sitemaps that aren't publicly accessible:

  1. Direct XML Paste:

    Simply copy your sitemap's XML content and paste it directly into our validator's text input area. This method works for sitemaps of any size that you can copy, regardless of whether they're hosted online or not.

    This approach is ideal for:

    • Sitemaps still in development
    • Testing sitemap changes before implementation
    • Validating programmatically generated sitemaps
    • Checking sitemaps on staging environments
  2. File Upload:

    Upload your sitemap XML file directly from your computer using our file upload option. This method is perfect for:

    • Sitemaps generated by desktop tools
    • Downloaded sitemaps that you're modifying locally
    • Validating a sitemap before uploading it to your server
    • Checking backup versions or historical sitemaps

    Our file upload supports both regular .xml files and compressed .xml.gz sitemap files.

  3. Password-Protected Sitemaps:

    While our URL validation method can't directly access password-protected sitemaps, you can still validate them using either the paste or upload methods described above.

Benefits of Pre-Publication Validation

Validating your sitemaps before making them publicly accessible offers several advantages:

  • Catch errors early: Identify and fix issues before search engines encounter them
  • Test sitemap generators: Verify that your CMS or custom scripts are producing valid sitemaps
  • Compare versions: Test different sitemap structures or configurations to determine the best approach
  • Prepare for launches: Ensure your sitemap is ready before a website launch or major redesign
  • Save crawl budget: Avoid wasting search engine crawl resources on invalid sitemaps

Working with Large Sitemaps

For extremely large sitemaps that exceed browser limitations:

  • Consider splitting them into smaller sections for validation
  • Validate your sitemap template structure and a representative sample of URLs
  • Use our file upload option, which can handle larger files than direct pasting

Our validator maintains strict privacy standards—we don't store your sitemap content after validation is complete, making it safe to check sitemaps containing sensitive or pre-release information.