Sitemap Validator
Free sitemap validator — fetch a sitemap.xml, parse its URL entries, count them, and flag XML errors or malformed URLs before you submit to search engines.
About the Sitemap Validator
A malformed XML sitemap can stop search engines reading any of your URLs. This free sitemap validator fetches a sitemap.xml server-side, parses its structure, and reports how many URL entries it contains along with any errors that would trip up a crawler.
It confirms the XML is well-formed, recognises both <urlset> sitemaps and <sitemapindex> files that reference child sitemaps, counts the <url> or <sitemap> entries, and flags problems like parse errors, empty locations or obviously malformed URLs. You get a clean count and a pass or fail verdict at a glance.
Run it before submitting a sitemap to Google Search Console or Bing, after generating a new sitemap, or when a site is not being indexed as expected. Catching a broken sitemap early saves days of crawl problems.
How to Use the Sitemap Validator
- 1Enter the URL of your sitemap.xml (or a sitemap index).
- 2Click Validate to fetch and parse it server-side.
- 3Review the URL count and any errors or warnings.
- 4Fix reported issues and re-validate before submitting.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a sitemap validator check?
It confirms the sitemap is well-formed XML, follows the sitemap protocol structure (urlset with url and loc elements, or a sitemapindex), and counts the entries. It flags parse errors, missing or empty locations and malformed URLs — the issues that stop search engines processing the file.
What is a sitemap index file?
A sitemap index is a special sitemap that lists other sitemap files rather than page URLs, used when a site has more than 50,000 URLs or wants to organise sitemaps by section. This validator recognises index files and reports the child sitemaps they reference.
How many URLs can a sitemap have?
A single sitemap file may contain up to 50,000 URLs and must stay under 50 MB uncompressed. Sites that exceed either limit split their URLs across multiple sitemaps listed in a sitemap index. This tool counts the entries so you can confirm you are within the limits.
Why is my sitemap failing validation?
Common causes include XML syntax errors (unescaped ampersands or broken tags), the file returning an HTML error page instead of XML, missing loc elements, or relative instead of absolute URLs. The validator pinpoints the problem so you can correct the file.
Should sitemap URLs be absolute?
Yes. Every <loc> in a sitemap must be a full absolute URL including the protocol (https://) and domain. Relative paths are invalid in the sitemap protocol and will be rejected, so this tool flags any that are not properly formed.