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See also Robots.txt Generator

Robots.txt Checker Beta

1. Import and validate from URL

Example: https://example.org/robots.txt

2. Or paste/edit your robots.txt

What is a robots.txt file?

A robots.txt file is a text file that is used to communicate with web robots (also known as robots, bots, or crawlers). It tells the robot which pages it should and should not access on a website. It is also used to specify the crawl rate or the rate at which the robot should visit a website.

How does robots.txt work?

Robots.txt is a text file that webmasters create to instruct web robots (typically search engine robots) how to crawl and index pages on their website. The robots.txt file is part of the the robots exclusion protocol (REP), a group of web standards that regulate how robots crawl the web, access and index content, and serve that content up to users. It works by specifying which parts of a website should not be crawled and indexed by a search engine robot. This includes pages, files, directories, or even certain types of content.

Should I have a robots.txt file?

Yes, you should have a robots.txt file. Robots.txt is a text file that tells web robots (most often search engine robots) which pages on your website to crawl and index. It is a good practice to include a robots.txt file on your website to ensure that search engine bots are able to crawl and index your content efficiently.

Where to find a robots.txt file?

A robots.txt file can be found on the root domain (i.e. the domain that is used to access a website) of a website. The file is typically located at the root directory, such as www.example.com/robots.txt.

What are the benefits of having a robots.txt file?

  1. Improved website crawlability: A robots.txt file allows search engines to more easily and accurately crawl a website, allowing them to better index content and understand website structure.
  2. Improved website security: By specifying what content search engine bots should not crawl, a robots.txt file can help protect sensitive information and prevent malicious bots from accessing it.
  3. Improved website performance: By limiting the amount of content that search engine bots crawl, a robots.txt file can improve website performance by reducing bandwidth usage.
  4. Improved website usability: By preventing search engine bots from crawling certain pages, a robots.txt file can improve website usability by making sure that search results contain only relevant content.

How to create a robots.txt file?

You can use our Robots.txt Generator to create a robots.txt file. For the basic usage simply click on the “Basic Allow All” button to download the generated robots.txt file. For the advanced usage click on the “Advanced” button, add any use agent, disallowed or allowed urls, and download the generated file.

Where should I put my robots.txt file?

Your robots.txt file should be placed in the root directory of your website. This is the same directory where your index.html file is located.

What directives are required in your robots.txt file?

The following directives are typically found in a robots.txt file:

  1. User-agent: This directive specifies which web crawlers are allowed to access the website.
  2. Disallow: This directive specifies which directories or files should not be accessed by web crawlers.
  3. Allow: This directive specifies which directories or files should be accessible by web crawlers.
  4. Sitemap: This directive specifies the location of the website's XML sitemap.
  5. Crawl-delay: This directive specifies the amount of time that web crawlers should wait before crawling a page again.

How to validate your robots.txt file?

You can use our Robots.txt Checker to validate your robots.txt file. Simply provide the full url to your robots.txt file or copy and paste its contents into the textarea and click “Validate”

Is robots.txt safe?

Yes, robots.txt is generally considered safe. It is a text file that can be used to give instructions to web robots (also known as web crawlers or spiders) on how to crawl or index a website. This file is used to prevent web robots from accessing certain parts of a website, such as private or sensitive information.

Is it legal to bypass robots.txt?

No, it is not legal to bypass robots.txt. Robots.txt is a file used by websites to tell search engine crawlers which pages and files they should not access. Bypassing robots.txt can result in legal issues such as copyright infringement or violation of terms of service.