Free Robots.txt Generator for SEO | Create & Test Rules

Guiding search engines on how to crawl your website is a fundamental part of technical SEO. A `robots.txt` file is your first line of communication with bots like Googlebot. Our free Robots.txt Generator makes it easy to create a properly formatted file, set crawling rules, and tell search engines where to find your sitemap—no syntax knowledge required.

Robots.txt Generator for SEO Allow: / Disallow: /admin Sitemap: ... Robots.txt Generator

Live Robots.txt Creator

How to Create Your robots.txt File

Our tool makes it simple to generate a comprehensive `robots.txt` file.

  1. Set Default Access: Choose whether to "Allow All" or "Disallow All" crawlers by default. "Allow All" is recommended for most websites.
  2. Add Sitemap: Paste the full URL to your `sitemap.xml` file. This is highly recommended as it helps search engines discover all your important pages.
  3. Set Specific Rules: If you need to block Googlebot or Bingbot from specific directories (like `/admin/` or `/private/`), click the "Add Rule" button for that bot and enter the path. You can add as many rules as you need.
  4. Copy Your File: The generated `robots.txt` code on the right will update automatically. Click "Copy to Clipboard" when you are finished.
  5. Upload to Your Site: Save the copied text into a file named exactly `robots.txt` and upload it to the root directory of your website (e.g., `https://example.com/robots.txt`).

Example `robots.txt` File

Here is an example of a common configuration for a WordPress site. It allows all crawlers by default, but blocks them from accessing the admin and core include directories, while also pointing to the sitemap.

User-agent: *
Disallow: /wp-admin/
Disallow: /wp-includes/

Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap_index.xml

What is a `robots.txt` File?

A `robots.txt` file is a simple text file that lives in the root directory of your website. Its primary purpose is to communicate with web crawlers (also known as "robots" or "spiders") like Googlebot. This communication follows the Robots Exclusion Protocol (REP), a web standard that tells bots which pages or sections of your site they should not crawl and index.

The file consists of a series of directives:

  • `User-agent`:`: This specifies which crawler the following rule applies to. `User-agent: *` is a wildcard that applies to all bots. You can also target specific bots like `User-agent: Googlebot`.
  • `Disallow`:`: This directive tells the specified user-agent not to crawl the URL path that follows. For example, `Disallow: /private/` would prevent bots from crawling any URL that starts with `/private/`.
  • `Allow`:`: This directive explicitly permits crawling. It's often used to override a broader `Disallow` rule. For example, you might disallow an entire directory but allow a specific file within it.
  • `Sitemap`:`: This is a highly recommended (though non-standard) addition that provides the absolute URL to your XML sitemap, making it easier for search engines to find and crawl all of your important pages.

It's crucial to understand that `robots.txt` is a guideline, not a gatekeeper. Malicious bots will ignore it completely. Its purpose is to manage how well-behaved crawlers, especially search engines, interact with your site, which is vital for managing crawl budget and preventing the indexing of private or unimportant pages.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: Can I use `robots.txt` to hide a page from Google Search?

While `Disallow` will prevent Google from crawling a page, it might still index the page if it finds links to it from other websites. The page could appear in search results with a message like "No information is available for this page." The correct way to prevent a page from being indexed is to use a `noindex` meta tag in the page's HTML `` section.

Q2: Where do I put the `robots.txt` file?

The `robots.txt` file must be placed in the top-level (root) directory of your domain. For example, for the website `www.example.com`, the file must be accessible at `https://www.example.com/robots.txt`. It will not work if it's placed in a subdirectory.

Q3: How can I test my `robots.txt` file?

Google provides a free `robots.txt` Tester tool within Google Search Console. After you upload your file, you can use this tool to validate your syntax and test whether specific URLs are blocked for Googlebot, ensuring your rules are working as intended.