The default WordPress sitemap URL is /wp-sitemap.xml, added to core in WordPress 5.5. Before that release you needed a plugin to get a sitemap at all, which is why so much older advice still assumes one. Today the question is not whether your site has a sitemap but which sitemap is active: the core one, or one generated by a plugin that has switched the core version off. This post covers where to look, what the core sitemap contains, and what to check when it is not there.
The default WordPress sitemap URL
Add /wp-sitemap.xml to your domain, for example https://example.com/wp-sitemap.xml. What loads is a sitemap index, not a list of pages. The WordPress core team’s announcement, New XML Sitemaps Functionality in WordPress 5.5 (22 July 2020), describes it as the index that “contains the listing of all the sitemap pages exposed by a WordPress site.”
Each entry in the index links to a sub-sitemap, which in turn lists the actual URLs. Open one or two and confirm they contain the pages you expect. If you are working on a site you do not manage and are not sure which sitemap it uses, our guide to finding a website’s sitemap covers the other places to look.
What the core sitemap includes
The core sitemap covers the public parts of a standard WordPress site, within fixed limits. The table summarises what the announcement specifies.
| Aspect | Core WordPress sitemap (5.5 and later) |
|---|---|
| Location | /wp-sitemap.xml (a sitemap index) |
| Content covered | Public post types, taxonomies, author archives and the homepage |
| Entries per sitemap | Up to 2,000 (filterable) |
| Sitemaps per index | Up to 50,000 |
| robots.txt | WordPress adds the sitemap to it |
| Turned off when | The site is set to discourage search engines, or a filter or plugin disables it |
| Server requirement | The SimpleXML PHP extension; without it, a 501 error |
Two rows deserve attention. First, “public” is a technical setting, not an editorial one. Author archives and taxonomy pages you never meant to promote can appear because WordPress treats them as public. Second, the sitemap does not judge quality. Thin tag pages and near-empty author archives are listed alongside your best posts.
A sitemap and your indexing settings should agree. If you have set tag archives or a single-author archive to noindex, they should not also be listed as pages you want crawled. Mixed signals rarely cause disaster, but they make Search Console reports harder to read, because excluded pages show up as sitemap URLs Google chose not to index. Our guide to the meta robots tag covers how noindex works, and an SEO plugin is usually the simplest way to keep the two in step.
The limits rarely bite. With up to 2,000 entries per sitemap, a site with a few hundred posts gets a handful of sub-sitemaps, and the index can hold far more than any ordinary site will need. The 2,000 figure is filterable, so developers can change it if very long sitemaps cause slow responses on modest hosting. For most sites the defaults are fine and there is nothing to tune.
When an SEO plugin takes over
SEO plugins commonly ship their own sitemap and disable the core one, so the two do not compete. The plugin’s version is often at /sitemap_index.xml, though the address varies by plugin. Plugin sitemaps usually add controls core lacks, such as excluding individual posts or whole taxonomies from a settings screen.
This is where confusion starts. A site owner submits /wp-sitemap.xml to Search Console, then installs a plugin months later. The old address may now redirect, or return an error, while the plugin’s sitemap sits unsubmitted. Whenever you add, remove or switch an SEO plugin, check which sitemap is live and update the submission. Our comparison of Rank Math vs Yoast covers the two most common plugins, and both generate their own sitemap.
The quickest test takes a minute. Load /wp-sitemap.xml and your plugin’s sitemap address in a private browser window. Whichever returns a list of sitemaps is the live one. If both do, two generators are running, and you should switch one off so crawlers and Search Console see a single, consistent list.
Why the WordPress sitemap is missing
If /wp-sitemap.xml returns nothing useful, work through the causes in order.
- The site discourages search engines. Under Settings → Reading, the option to discourage search engines from indexing the site disables the core sitemap automatically. Staging sites often have it ticked, and it sometimes survives a launch.
- A plugin has replaced it. Check your SEO plugin’s settings for its sitemap address.
- Code has disabled it. A theme or custom plugin can switch it off with the
wp_sitemaps_enabledfilter. - The server lacks SimpleXML. Without that PHP extension the sitemap returns a 501 error. Your host can enable it.
The filter is the cleanest way to turn the sitemap off deliberately, for example on a private site. A one-line version in a small plugin looks like this:
If you find that line in a theme you did not write, and you do not run a plugin sitemap instead, that explains the gap. If Search Console reports the sitemap as unreadable rather than missing, our guide to “sitemap could not be read” covers the usual fixes.
Submitting it, and what a sitemap cannot do
WordPress adds the sitemap to its virtual robots.txt, so crawlers that read that file can find it. Visit https://example.com/robots.txt and look for a line such as Sitemap: https://example.com/wp-sitemap.xml. If you have replaced robots.txt with a physical file, the automatic line will not appear, and you should add it yourself. Our robots.txt guide covers the rest of that file.
Then submit the sitemap index in Google Search Console. One submission covers every sub-sitemap the index lists. Check back after a few days to see how many URLs Google has discovered and whether any errors appear.
The limitation is what a sitemap actually does. It helps search engines discover URLs; it does not make them index or rank those URLs. A page listed in a perfect sitemap can still be crawled and left out of the index if Google judges it thin or duplicated. The details here also come from the 2020 announcement. Core behaviour can change between releases, so if something does not match, check the current WordPress developer documentation for your version.
Treat the sitemap as plumbing. Confirm which one is live, make sure it lists the pages you want found and not the ones you do not, submit it once, and recheck whenever the plugin setup changes. Our guide to XML sitemaps for SEO covers how to keep it clean as the site grows.
Frequently asked questions
What is the default WordPress sitemap URL?
Since WordPress 5.5 it is /wp-sitemap.xml, a sitemap index that links to sub-sitemaps for your content. An SEO plugin may replace it with its own address.
How do I find my WordPress sitemap if a plugin is installed?
Check the plugin’s sitemap settings. Many use /sitemap_index.xml, but the address varies by plugin. Your robots.txt file may also list it.
Why does /wp-sitemap.xml not work?
Usually because search engines are discouraged in Settings → Reading, a plugin has replaced it, a filter disables it, or the server lacks SimpleXML (a 501 error).
Should I use the core sitemap or a plugin sitemap?
Either works. Use whichever your setup already runs, and make sure only one is active and submitted to Search Console.
The takeaway The built-in sitemap lives at /wp-sitemap.xml. An SEO plugin usually replaces it. Check which one is live, submit that one, and recheck whenever the plugin setup changes.
