Where is the built-in WordPress XML sitemap?

Definition: The built-in WordPress XML sitemap index is available at the site's home URL followed by /wp-sitemap.xml when permalinks are enabled. A sitemap index lists the individual XML sitemaps containing the site's eligible content URLs.

Key facts

• As of 17 October 2026, WordPress's core sitemap documentation identifies /wp-sitemap.xml as the index endpoint, introduced with WordPress 5.5.
• Without permalinks, the index URL method uses /?sitemap=index at the site's home URL.
• The posts provider selects published content from supported public post types and excludes attachments by default.
• The users provider lists author archive URLs for users with published posts in eligible public post types.

Which address opens the index?

The index URL method builds the address with home_url(), the WordPress function for the site's public front-end address. The following paths are relative to that address, including its subdirectory when applicable:

/wp-sitemap.xml
/?sitemap=index

The method selects the first path when permalinks are enabled and the second when they are disabled. Opening the index provides the list of individual sitemap URLs to inspect next.

The provider URL method constructs individual sitemap filenames from the provider name, an optional content subtype, and a page number. For example, the posts provider uses separate subtypes for posts and pages. The page number allows a content group to span several sitemap documents.

What content do the linked sitemaps contain?

The posts provider's source selects public, viewable post types, including eligible custom post types. Its query requires the publish status. Drafts therefore fall outside that default query. Attachments are explicitly removed from the supported post types.

A taxonomy is a way of grouping content. The taxonomies provider selects public, viewable taxonomies and uses hide_empty when querying their terms. Its entries contain term archive URLs.

The users provider creates author archive entries using get_author_posts_url(). Its author selection uses has_published_posts and excludes the page and attachment post types from that qualifying set. A user account with only published pages therefore does not qualify through those pages.

Why might the sitemap be unavailable?

The sitemap server's source bases its default enabled state on the site's blog_public option. The wp_sitemaps_enabled filter lets site code override that state. Disabled core sitemap requests receive a 404 response.

The same source adds a Sitemap: line containing the index URL to WordPress-generated robots.txt output for public sites when sitemaps are enabled. Checking that output provides another way to locate the declared index.

Related terms

• XML sitemap
• Where is the search engine visibility setting in WordPress?
• How do I exclude a post type from WordPress core sitemaps?
• How do I remove user archives from WordPress core sitemaps?

FAQ

Do I need a plugin for the built-in sitemap?

WordPress includes the feature in core from version 5.5, as described in its sitemap introduction. The documented default maximum is 2000 entries per individual sitemap, adjustable through a filter.

Where does a homepage showing the latest posts appear?

The posts provider adds the homepage URL to the initial page of the pages sitemap when the show_on_front option is posts. If you use that homepage setting, inspect the pages sitemap for its entry.

Sources

1. WordPress Core, "New XML Sitemaps Functionality in WordPress 5.5", 22 July 2020
2. WordPress Developer Resources, "WP_Sitemaps_Index::get_index_url()", undated
3. WordPress Developer Resources, "WP_Sitemaps_Provider::get_sitemap_url()", undated
4. WordPress Developer Resources, "WP_Sitemaps_Posts", undated
5. WordPress Developer Resources, "WP_Sitemaps_Taxonomies", undated
6. WordPress Developer Resources, "WP_Sitemaps_Users", undated
7. WordPress Developer Resources, "WP_Sitemaps", undated

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