SEO toolProtocol compliance checkResults in one fetch

Sitemap Validator

Enter a sitemap.xml URL and we'll fetch it and validate it against the sitemaps.org protocol: whether the root element is valid, whether every URL has a valid <loc>, and whether lastmod, priority and changefreq are formatted correctly — plus whether the entry count or file size exceed the protocol limits.

Good for these situations

Great for a quick sitemap compliance check, not for checking whether every listed link is reachable.

Before launching a new site or redesign, confirm sitemap.xml itself is well-formed.

Before submitting a sitemap to search engines, catch entries that would get rejected or ignored.

Periodically health-check a live sitemap after redesigns or migrations.

Sitemap URL

Enter the full sitemap.xml URL (including https://).

Enter a URL to start validating

Paste a publicly accessible sitemap.xml URL and we'll fetch it and validate its structure against the protocol.

What gets checked

Covers the core sitemaps.org protocol rules: root structure, URL field formats, entry count and size limits.

•Fetch any sitemap.xml URL and parse its structure
•Detect a regular sitemap (urlset) vs. a sitemap index (sitemapindex)
•Validate that every <loc> is a valid absolute URL
•Validate lastmod, priority and changefreq against the protocol format
•Detect duplicate URLs and flag entry count / file size limit overruns
•Problem entries are shown as a capped sample so huge sitemaps won't stall the page

How it works

Follow these steps to validate a sitemap.

1Paste the full sitemap.xml URL you want to check.
2Click Validate and wait for the server to fetch and parse the file.
3Review the general checks: root element type, entry count, size, duplicate URLs and more.
4For any problem entries, see whether it's a missing <loc> or an invalid field format.

Notes

A few limitations and notes worth knowing before you use the tool.

Validation requires the server to fetch the target sitemap on your behalf (to bypass browser cross-origin limits); it's read once and never stored.

Private, loopback and internal addresses are blocked by the safety policy and can't be fetched.

This only checks structure and spec compliance — it doesn't visit the pages in the sitemap, so it won't catch broken links.

FAQ

A few common questions before you start.

What happens to my sitemap content during validation?

The server fetches that URL's content on your behalf to parse it (browsers can't read cross-origin), reads it once, and doesn't store it. Private, loopback and internal addresses are blocked by the safety policy and can't be fetched.

How are sitemap index files (sitemapindex) validated?

We list two things: the validation result for the index file itself, and whether each child sitemap's <loc> is valid. To avoid unbounded fan-out fetches, we don't recursively validate the entries inside child sitemaps yet.

Does it check whether the listed links actually work?

This tool only checks structure and spec compliance — it doesn't visit the pages listed in the sitemap, so it won't catch broken links.

Are there limits on entry count or file size?

Per the sitemaps.org protocol, a single sitemap can list at most 50,000 URLs and must not exceed 50MB uncompressed; going over either limit is flagged as a failure.