Indexing and sitemaps
The Indexing group is a launcher for sitemaps, URL Inspection and IndexNow. This page covers the Sitemaps report, Google’s sitemap limits, the rules for reading URLs from a sitemap and a permission caveat for submitting.
✓ Checked against Google documentation and the workspace code · 7 October 2026
The Indexing group
The Indexing page in the property sidebar is a launcher. It gathers three jobs: manage sitemaps, inspect individual URLs (URL Inspection and Index Tracker) and notify engines other than Google about changes (IndexNow). It does not compute an indexing score of its own. For how Google reports indexing, see the glossary entries crawled – currently not indexed and discovered – currently not indexed.
The Sitemaps report
The report reads the sitemaps registered for the property from the Search Console API and lists, for each sitemap on the property’s host:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| URL | the sitemap address |
| Last submitted | when it was last submitted to Google |
| Pending, Index | whether Google has not processed it yet, and whether it is a sitemap index |
| Submitted | the number of URLs Google reports from it |
| Errors, Warnings | the counts Google reports |
In Search Console the same report also shows the sitemap type, the last read time and a status: Success, Has errors or Couldn’t fetch (Sitemaps report help).
Limits and what a sitemap does not do
- Size: a sitemap can be up to 50 MB uncompressed and hold up to 50,000 URLs; an index can list up to 50,000 sitemaps.
- No guarantee: Google states that a URL in a sitemap may never be crawled or indexed. A sitemap helps discovery; it does not force indexing.
- Removing a sitemap from Search Console does not stop Google visiting its URLs. To keep pages out, use noindex or remove the page.
- What belongs in it: canonical URLs that you want in Search (see the technical indexing audit).
Submitting sitemaps
The submit form takes up to 100 absolute http or https sitemap URLs at once. Each must be on the property’s host, and the result lists every URL as submitted or rejected.
A permission caveat. Google’s API requires the broader webmasters permission to submit a sitemap (sitemaps.submit), while the workspace connects with read-only access to Search Console. If a submission is rejected with “Search Console rejected this sitemap”, submit the sitemap in Search Console itself, and keep using this report to read results.
Reading URLs from a sitemap
URL Inspection and Sitemap Performance can load the URLs of a sitemap. The rules protect the property and the server:
- The sitemap must be on the same host as the property, also after redirects.
- It is read only if registered for the property, unless a same-host sitemap is explicitly allowed.
- The file may be at most 5 MB, and up to 1,800 URLs are taken per request.
- If you choose a sitemap index, the tool refuses it and lists its child sitemaps so you can pick one.
If something looks wrong
| Message | Cause and fix |
|---|---|
| “each sitemap must belong to the selected property” | the sitemap is on another host; use one on the property’s host |
| “Search Console rejected this sitemap” | the address is unreachable or invalid, or the read-only connection cannot submit; submit it in Search Console |
| “sitemap is larger than 5 MB” | split it or load a child sitemap |
| “sitemap index selected” | choose one of the listed child sitemaps |
| “a maximum of 100 sitemaps” | submit in smaller batches |
Indexing and sitemaps, answered
Will submitting a sitemap get my pages indexed?
No. Google says there is no guarantee that URLs in a sitemap are crawled or indexed.
How big can a sitemap be?
50 MB uncompressed and 50,000 URLs; an index can list 50,000 sitemaps.
Why can the workspace not submit my sitemap?
Submitting needs a broader Google permission than the read-only one the workspace requests.
Continue
Next, see URL Inspection and Index Tracker and IndexNow.