> ## Knowledge Base Index
> Fetch the complete knowledge base index at: https://support.seotesting.com/sitemap.xml
> Use this file to discover available pages before exploring further.
> Pure-Markdown content can be obtained by appending a '.md' suffix to the content URLs listed in the sitemap (without the trailing slash).

# XML Sitemap Validator


## **What is the XML Sitemap Validator?**
The [**__XML Sitemap Validator__**](https://app.seotesting.com/tools/validatesitemap) is a free tool that checks your XML sitemap and sitemap index files against the official sitemaps.org specification, and tells you about any issues that make a sitemap invalid.

## **Why is this useful?**
An invalid sitemap can stop search engines processing your URLs properly, and Google Search Console's error messages don't always make it obvious what's wrong. Validating a sitemap before you submit it - or when Search Console reports a problem - shows you exactly which part of the file is at fault, so you can fix it rather than guess.

## **Strict and non-strict validation**
The validator runs in two modes:
* **Strict** - runs the XML files against the official sitemaps.org specification and fails the sitemap if it doesn't meet the exact spec.
* **Non-strict** - simply tries to read the URLs from the XML sitemap files. This is the approach Google Search Console takes.
Running both is often the most useful approach: if a sitemap fails strict but passes non-strict, it isn't to spec but Google will likely still process it. If it fails non-strict too, that's a problem worth fixing straight away.

## **How to validate a sitemap**
* Open the[ __XML Sitemap Validator__](https://seotesting.com/free-seo-tools/xml-sitemap-validator/).
* Enter the URL of your XML sitemap or sitemap index file
* Choose whether to run the validation in **strict** or **non-strict** (leave the 'strict' box unchecked for non-strict mode). 
* Click '**Validate**' to review the error report.

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/3/4/3/d/343dcfd35d951400/screenshot-2026-07-23-112121_5ldder.png =866xauto)


* Fix any issues reported in the file, then re-validate to confirm.

## **Does it work with sitemap index files?**
Yes. Enter the URL of the sitemap index file and the index itself will be validated, as will each of the sitemap XML files it links to.

## **Related free tools**
* Need to create a sitemap? Use the[ __XML Sitemap Generator__](https://seotesting.com/free-seo-tools/xml-sitemap-generator/).
* Need the URLs out of a sitemap? Use the[ __Sitemap URL Extractor__](https://seotesting.com/free-seo-tools/sitemap-url-extractor/).