Sitemap validator for local XML files

Use the sitemap validator on the document you plan to publish

A sitemap validator should separate properties that are present in local XML from facts that require a network request. This page reads pasted XML or one local .xml or .xml.gz file. It checks whether the XML is well formed, uses the exact sitemap namespace, has a supported urlset or sitemapindex root and keeps each required loc value in the right entry structure.

The optional publication URL does not load anything. It tells the validator where this file will live so it can compare each location with the declared protocol, host and directory. Leave it blank and the receipt says that scope was not checked. This is more precise than guessing a location from a filename or presenting pasted XML as a live website audit.

If you need to create a new file first, the XML sitemap generator builds deterministic XML from a visible URL list, named CSV columns or a current-page manifest. Bring the resulting file back here when you want an independent local validation receipt.

Entry count and uncompressed size are separate limits

The sitemap protocol allows at most 50,000 entries and 50 MB of uncompressed XML in one sitemap file. A short, repetitive file can exceed the entry limit while remaining far under the byte limit, and a file with long locations or extension metadata can reach the byte limit first. The validator counts both independently. A gzip input is expanded in a bounded local stream before the XML is decoded as strict UTF-8.

Sitemap indexes have the same entry and size ceilings. This route validates the index file itself and the loc values it contains, but it does not follow those values or inspect a child sitemap. Run each child file separately when you need local evidence for the entire set.

Well-formed XML is necessary but not sufficient

A general XML parser can accept a perfectly well-formed document that uses the wrong namespace, contains a relative location, puts fields in the wrong protocol order or has 50,001 entries. This validator uses a namespace-aware parser and adds sitemap-specific gates for absolute HTTP or HTTPS locations, location length, W3C dates, change frequency, priority, duplicates and declared publication scope. DTD declarations and external entities are rejected rather than resolved.

Image, video, News and XHTML alternate-link namespaces can add valid data to a sitemap. The receipt inventories those elements so their presence is visible, but it does not label their specialized field rules as validated. Use the inventory to decide which extension-specific review still has to happen.

A valid sitemap is not an indexing promise

Local validation cannot tell whether the published URL returns HTTP 200, redirects, appears in robots.txt, contains the same bytes or exposes reachable pages. It also cannot establish whether a search engine crawled or indexed a listed URL. Submission is a hint to a crawler, not a guarantee of inclusion or ranking.

After publishing, use your search engine's webmaster tooling for submission and coverage evidence. For exported Google Search Console performance rows, the Search Console report analyzer can summarize the queries and pages that actually received recorded impressions and clicks. Keep that observed outcome separate from this document-level protocol receipt.

Sources for the protocol checks

The structure, namespace, escaping, location and file limits follow the Sitemaps protocol. Google's sitemap documentation explains the same file limits, absolute URL requirement and the distinction between submission and indexing. Both sources describe the uncompressed size limit, which is why a small gzip file is not accepted without bounding its expanded XML.