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XML Sitemap Validator

Paste an XML sitemap to validate structure, namespace, URLs, lastmod dates, changefreq and priority values, plus the 50,000-URL limit. 100% in your browser.

What is the XML Sitemap Validator?

The XML Sitemap Validator checks a pasted sitemap against the sitemaps. org protocol that Google, Bing and other engines follow.

  • Well-formedness check with clear parser error messages
  • Namespace, root-element and structure validation for urlset and sitemapindex
  • Absolute URL, 2,048-character and duplicate checks on every <loc>
  • W3C datetime validation for <lastmod>, enum check for <changefreq>, 0.0–1.0 range for <priority>
  • 50,000-URL and 50 MB protocol limit checks
  • Per-line issue reporting, fully client-side

How to use the XML Sitemap Validator

  1. 1

    Open your sitemap file and copy its full XML source.

  2. 2

    Paste it into the validator box.

  3. 3

    Review the error and warning list — each issue shows its line number.

  4. 4

    Fix the reported entries in your sitemap file and re-paste to confirm.

About the XML Sitemap Validator

The XML Sitemap Validator checks a pasted sitemap against the sitemaps.org protocol that Google, Bing and other engines follow. It verifies the XML is well-formed, the namespace is correct, every <url> entry has a valid absolute <loc>, and that <lastmod>, <changefreq> and <priority> values are within specification.

It also enforces the protocol limits — 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed per file — flags duplicate URLs, and reports each problem with the line it occurs on so you can jump straight to the offending entry. Sitemap index files are validated too.

Paste your sitemap's source — this tool analyzes pasted XML only and never fetches a URL, so drafts and staging sitemaps work fine. Everything runs 100% locally in your browser; your sitemap is never uploaded anywhere.

Frequently asked questions

What makes an XML sitemap valid?

A valid sitemap is well-formed XML with a <urlset> root in the http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9 namespace, where every <url> contains an absolute <loc> under 2,048 characters. Optional tags must follow the spec: lastmod as a W3C datetime, changefreq from a fixed word list, priority between 0.0 and 1.0.

How many URLs can one sitemap contain?

At most 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed per file. Larger sites split URLs across multiple sitemaps and list them in a sitemap index file, which may itself reference up to 50,000 sitemaps. Our XML Sitemap Splitter can do the splitting for you.

Do changefreq and priority still matter for Google?

Google has said it ignores both changefreq and priority, relying on lastmod and its own crawl signals instead. Invalid values still make your file non-compliant for other consumers though, so this tool validates them — but don't expect ranking effects from tuning them.

What format does lastmod need to be in?

W3C datetime format: either a plain date like 2026-07-15, or a full timestamp like 2026-07-15T09:30:00+00:00. A bare date is fine for most sites. Google does use lastmod when it is consistently accurate, so avoid stamping every URL with today's date on each regeneration.

Why does the validator say my & characters are broken?

In XML an ampersand must be written as &amp; unless it starts a valid entity. URLs with query strings like ?a=1&b=2 are the most common cause of sitemap parse failures — each & must be escaped as &amp; in the <loc> value.

Can this tool check my live sitemap by URL?

No — it runs entirely in your browser with no server, so it cannot fetch pages from other domains. Copy the XML from your sitemap file or from the browser's view-source of your live sitemap and paste it in. Nothing you paste leaves your machine.

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