Free SEO Tool

Sitemap Validator

Validate XML sitemaps, check URL health status, detect duplicates, and get a sitemap health score with specific fix recommendations.

Last updated: April 2026

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How this sitemap checker works

A sitemap validator matters because your sitemap is supposed to help Google find pages. But if it's full of 404s, redirect chains, or invalid lastmod dates, it's doing the opposite: wasting crawl budget on URLs that don't resolve. Most people set up their XML sitemap once and never check it again.

This XML sitemap validator auto-discovers your sitemap via robots.txt, parses the structure, validates every tag, and checks the HTTP status of each URL. It catches duplicate URLs, invalid date formats, broken <changefreq> values, and sitemaps that exceed the 50,000 URL / 50MB limits. Results are grouped by status code so you can prioritize fixes by severity.

What errors this sitemap validator finds

Most broken sitemaps fail in predictable ways. Old URLs that still 301 or 404 years after a migration. Dates in the wrong ISO format, or lastmod set to today on pages you haven't touched in a year. Query parameters that create near-duplicate entries across hundreds of URLs. Priority values outside the 0.0-1.0 range. And the big one: URLs that pass every XML validation check but are blocked by robots.txt or carry a noindex tag.

Sitemap validator vs. sitemap generator

Two different jobs. A sitemap generator creates the XML file from scratch, usually by crawling your site or reading your CMS database. A sitemap validator takes an existing file and checks it for errors. You need both tools but at different moments. Generator when you launch or migrate. Validator whenever you suspect drift or see crawl budget issues in GSC.

How to fix errors found by the sitemap validator

Fix the content first, then regenerate the sitemap. Don't patch XML by hand. If a URL 404s, either restore it or remove it from the site. If a lastmod date is wrong, update the CMS. The sitemap is a report, not the source of truth.

Do sitemap validators support image, video, and news formats?

Yes, image and video sitemaps are fully supported. The tool reads the Google-specific namespaces (image:image, video:video, news:news) and validates their child tags separately from the standard sitemap rules. News sitemaps have the strictest requirements: publication date within the last 48 hours and a limited tag set from the news namespace. Image sitemaps are far more forgiving but still require valid image URLs. Video sitemaps have the most required fields, including duration, thumbnail, title, and a content URL pointing to a real video file.

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FAQ

What is an XML sitemap? +

An XML sitemap is a file that lists URLs on your website to help search engines discover and crawl your pages more efficiently. It can include metadata like the last modification date, change frequency, and relative priority of each URL.

How many URLs can a sitemap have? +

A single XML sitemap can contain up to 50,000 URLs and must not exceed 50MB (uncompressed). For larger sites, use a sitemap index file that references multiple individual sitemaps.

Does Google use lastmod and changefreq? +

Google primarily uses the lastmod tag when it accurately reflects real content changes. Google has stated that changefreq and priority are largely ignored. However, keeping lastmod accurate helps Google prioritize crawling recently updated pages.

Why are there non-200 URLs in my sitemap? +

Sitemaps should only contain URLs that return a 200 status code and are indexable. URLs that redirect (301/302), return errors (404/500), or are blocked by robots.txt waste crawl budget and should be removed from the sitemap.

What is a sitemap index? +

A sitemap index file is an XML file that references multiple individual sitemaps. It allows you to organize sitemaps by content type or section (e.g., posts, pages, products) and is required when your site has more than 50,000 URLs.

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