Robots.txt Tester and Generator

A robots.txt file is a simple text file that tells search engine crawlers (like Googlebot) which pages or sections of your website they can or cannot access. It's placed in the root directory of your website (e.g., https://example.com/robots.txt) and follows the Robots Exclusion Protocol.

The robots.txt file contains directives like "User-agent" (specifying which crawler the rule applies to), "Disallow" (blocking access to specific paths), "Allow" (explicitly allowing access), and "Sitemap" (pointing to your XML sitemap location).

While robots.txt is not legally binding and well-behaved crawlers follow it voluntarily, it's an essential tool for managing how search engines interact with your website and can help prevent indexing of sensitive or duplicate content.

To test an existing robots.txt file, enter the website URL in the "Test Robots.txt" tab and click "Test Robots.txt". The tool will show you the robots.txt URL where you can view the current file. Copy the content and paste it into the text area to analyze specific paths.

Use the "Path to Test" feature to check if a specific URL path would be allowed or blocked for a particular user agent. This helps you understand exactly how crawlers will interact with different parts of your website.

The "Generate Robots.txt" tab lets you create a custom robots.txt file by adding rules one by one, including common WordPress restrictions, sitemap declarations, and user-agent specific directives. You can then download the file or copy it to implement on your website.

Always place your robots.txt file in the root directory of your domain (not in a subdirectory). Use specific paths rather than wildcards when possible, and remember that robots.txt rules are case-sensitive for paths but not for directives.

Include your XML sitemap location using the "Sitemap:" directive to help search engines discover all your important pages. Block access to admin areas, temporary files, and duplicate content, but be careful not to block important CSS, JavaScript, or image files that affect how Google renders your pages.

Test your robots.txt thoroughly before implementing it, as blocking the wrong paths can negatively impact your SEO. Remember that robots.txt is publicly accessible, so don't use it to hide sensitive information – use proper authentication instead.

Our robots.txt generator simplifies the process of creating properly formatted robots.txt files with an intuitive interface. You can easily add rules, test different scenarios, and generate WordPress-optimized configurations with common security and performance recommendations.

The tool includes real-time path testing functionality, allowing you to verify how your rules will affect specific URLs before implementing them on your live website. This prevents accidental blocking of important pages that could hurt your SEO.

We provide pre-configured common rules for WordPress sites, including proper handling of admin areas, plugin directories, and theme files, while ensuring that important resources like uploads remain accessible to search engines for proper page rendering and indexing.