IndexNow: notify search engines of changes
IndexNow tells participating search engines about added, changed or deleted URLs. This page covers the key and key file, submission limits, the history and status codes, and what a successful submission does not promise.
✓ Checked in the workspace code and the IndexNow documentation · 7 October 2026
What IndexNow is and is not
IndexNow is an open protocol for telling participating search engines that a URL was added, changed or deleted, so they can crawl it sooner (IndexNow documentation). The workspace sends these notifications for a property and keeps a history. Engines that adopt the protocol share submissions with each other, and the workspace names Bing, Yandex and Naver among them.
Google does not support IndexNow, and the page says so. For Google use the URL Inspection tools and sitemaps. A successful submission only means an engine received the URL; it does not promise crawling or indexing.
Step 1: create and save a key
- Create a key of 8 to 128 characters using letters, digits and hyphens. A generator from Bing is linked on the page.
- Save it in the workspace. It is stored encrypted, and you can replace it later.
- Download the key file, named after your key with a .txt extension, and upload it to the root of the site. The file must contain only the key.
- Check that the file opens at the address shown on the page. Engines can discard submissions they cannot verify.
Step 2: submit URLs
- Paste URLs one per line, or import an XML sitemap, a TXT file or a CSV with a “url” column.
- Limits: up to 10,000 URLs per request. Every URL must belong to the selected property.
- Duplicates: a URL accepted or pending in the last 10 minutes is skipped automatically.
- What is sent: URLs are grouped by scheme and host and sent in one request per group with the host, your key, the key file location and the list.
Submit URLs that actually changed: new pages, updated pages and removed pages. Submitting the whole site every day is noise.
Reading the history
| Status | HTTP code | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| accepted | 200 | the engine received the URL |
| pending | 202 | received, key validation pending |
| error | other | 400 bad format, 403 invalid key, 422 URLs do not match the host or key, 429 rate limit |
The history lists URL, status, HTTP code and time, can be exported as CSV, and has a Retry action for failed rows.
If something looks wrong
| Symptom | Cause and fix |
|---|---|
| “Configure your IndexNow key before submitting” | save a key first |
| 403 invalid key | the key file is missing, has extra text or does not match; re-upload it and test the address |
| 422 | a URL’s host does not match the key location; keep the key file on the same host |
| “does not belong to the selected property” | remove URLs from other hosts or paths |
| 429 | rate limited; wait and retry with fewer URLs |
IndexNow, answered
Does IndexNow work for Google?
No. Google does not support it; use URL Inspection and sitemaps.
Does a 200 response mean the page is indexed?
No. It only means the URL was received.
How many URLs per request?
Up to 10,000.
Continue
Next, see URL Inspection and Index Tracker for Google, and how Brave Search finds pages.