XML sitemap generator — turn a list of URLs into sitemap.xml

How to use the XML sitemap generator

1. In URLs, paste one absolute address per line. To add details to a single page, follow it with | lastmod | changefreq | priority, for example https://example.com/pricing | 2026-09-15.
2. Optionally pick a Default last modified date for lines that have none.
3. Leave Default changefreq and Default priority on Omit, or choose a value for every URL.
4. Tick Priority 1.0 for the home page if you set priorities and want the root URL to stand out.
5. Copy or download sitemap.xml and check the URL count and any warnings under it.

What it does and when to use it

A sitemap is a list of the pages you want search engines to find. It matters most for new sites with few incoming links, large sites, and pages that sit deep in the navigation. Most CMS platforms build one for you; this tool suits static sites, hand-built landing pages, or a quick sitemap for a staging check.

Pair it with the robots.txt generator, which can point crawlers at the file. If you want to tidy or inspect an existing sitemap, the XML formatter indents it and the XML minifier shrinks it again.

How it works

Each line is split at |, tabs or spaces. The first part must parse as an http or https URL. In the rest of the line the tool looks for a date (anything starting with YYYY-MM-DD), a changefreq word (always, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly or never) and a priority between 0 and 1.0, in any order. Values on a line beat the defaults.

Characters such as & are escaped as XML entities, and the output uses the http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9 namespace from the sitemaps.org protocol. It also warns when URLs come from more than one host.

Worked examples

The sample list. The four default URLs give URLs: 4; two of them carry their own date:

  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/pricing</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-09-15</lastmod>
  </url>

A messy list. Five lines for shop.example.com with Default priority 0.5 and the home-page box ticked. The #reviews duplicate is merged, /contact is skipped as relative, and the blog URL triggers the warning “https://blog.example.com/tea is on a different host from shop.example.com”. The home page gets <priority>1.0</priority> and the kettles page keeps its own <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>. Result: URLs: 3.

Query strings. https://example.com/?a=1&b=2 becomes <loc>https://example.com/?a=1&amp;b=2</loc>, which is what valid XML needs.

Limits and tips

• The tool does not crawl your site. It only lists what you paste, so it will not notice missing or broken pages.
• It writes one urlset file. Image, video and news extensions and sitemap index files are not generated.
• List only pages you want indexed: no redirects, no pages marked noindex, and one version of each URL (with or without the trailing slash, not both).