How to Submit a Sitemap in Google Search Console
Short answer
To submit a sitemap in Google Search Console, open the Sitemaps report, paste the sitemap URL into Add a new sitemap and click Submit. Success means the sitemap was read and its URLs are queued for crawling.
In this article
To submit a sitemap in Google Search Console, paste the sitemap URL into the Sitemaps report and click Submit. A sitemap is a file that lists a site's pages so Google can find them more easily.
Sitemaps usually get submitted when a site is new, moves domain or publishes many new pages. This guide on how to submit a sitemap covers the steps, each status, file limits and how to check how many URLs are indexed.
What are the steps to submit a sitemap?
Submitting a sitemap starts with making sure Google can fetch the file, then sending its URL in the Sitemaps report. Submitting a sitemap needs owner permission on the property.
- Make sure the sitemap is live, for example at https://example.com/sitemap.xml.
- Inspect the sitemap URL with URL Inspection and make sure the page fetch is Successful.
- Open Sitemaps in Search Console.
- Paste the sitemap URL into Add a new sitemap and click Submit.
Users without owner permission can add a Sitemap line to robots.txt. Google can find the sitemap from that line too, but the sitemap won't show in the Sitemaps report. Giving permissions is covered in the guide to Search Console access.
What do the statuses in the Sitemaps report mean?
The Sitemaps report has 3 statuses: Success, Has errors and Couldn't fetch. A status appears once Google has read the sitemap file.
| Status | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Success | The sitemap was read without errors and all its URLs are queued for crawling | Nothing; check the indexed URL count regularly |
| Has errors | The sitemap was fetched but part of it has errors; the valid URLs are still queued | Open the sitemap's details and fix the lines with errors |
| Couldn't fetch | Google couldn't retrieve the sitemap file | Check robots.txt, a 404 or a server problem, then resubmit |
Google retries a sitemap marked Couldn't fetch for a few days, then stops when it keeps failing. Run a live test of the sitemap URL in URL Inspection to see the cause. Using that tool is covered in the guide to URL Inspection.
How big can a sitemap be?
One sitemap can hold up to 50,000 URLs or 50 MB uncompressed. Larger sites use several sitemaps listed in one sitemap index file.
Other rules from Google's documentation to follow:
- Use full, absolute URLs, such as https://example.com/products/, not /products/.
- Fill lastmod with the date of a significant change, because Google only uses it when it is consistently accurate.
- Google ignores priority and changefreq values.
- A sitemap index file can only list sitemaps, not other index files.
How do you check how many sitemap URLs are indexed?
The number of sitemap URLs indexed shows in the Page indexing report once it is filtered by sitemap. The Discovered pages column in the Sitemaps report only counts URLs read, not URLs indexed.
Compare the indexed count with the number of URLs in the sitemap each month. A large gap means many pages aren't indexed yet. The causes are covered in the guide to pages not indexed.
A monthly report can hold the URLs in the sitemap, the indexed count and the change from last month. Recalytics turns each client's Search Console data into a monthly report, including the index status of key pages.
Frequently asked questions
Does a sitemap need resubmitting for every new page?
No. Google rereads sitemaps already submitted, and lastmod dates help mark the pages that changed.
Does removing a sitemap from the report make Google forget it?
No. Use robots.txt, delete the file or send a noindex header to stop Google visiting those URLs.
Does a blog need a sitemap?
A small blog whose pages link to each other usually still gets found. A sitemap still helps with new pages and large sites.
Sources
The Recalytics Team writes guides on SEO and analytics reporting for digital agencies and website owners, based on Google's official documentation and Search Console and GA4 data.