Robots.txt Generator & Validator – Create & Validate Your Robots.txt File

What is the Robots.txt Generator & Validator?

The Robots.txt Generator & Validator helps you create and validate a robots.txt file that controls how search engine bots crawl and index your website. Generate a robots.txt file from templates, add custom rules, validate syntax, and download the file ready for upload to your server.

Related Tools: XML Sitemap Generator | Meta Tag Generator | Schema Markup Generator

How to Use

  1. Select a preset template or start from scratch
  2. Enter your domain name
  3. Add custom rules for specific directories or user-agents
  4. Validate your robots.txt syntax
  5. Download the file and upload to your server's root directory
Common Rules:
User-agent: * - Applies to all bots
Disallow: /admin/ - Block a folder
Allow: /admin/public/ - Allow specific folder
Crawl-delay: 2 - Crawl delay in seconds
Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml - Link to sitemap

FAQs

Q: Where should I upload the robots.txt file?
A: Upload robots.txt to the root directory of your website (e.g., https://yourwebsite.com/robots.txt). Your web hosting control panel usually provides FTP or file manager access.
Q: Can robots.txt prevent my site from being indexed?
A: No, robots.txt only controls crawling, not indexing. Use meta tags (noindex) if you want to prevent indexing while allowing crawling.
Q: What directories should I block with robots.txt?
A: Commonly blocked: /admin/, /wp-admin/, /wp-includes/, /private/, /temp/, /backup/, /cgi-bin/, and other sensitive folders.
Q: Is robots.txt case-sensitive?
A: Directives (like User-agent, Disallow) are case-insensitive, but paths are case-sensitive on most servers. Use lowercase for consistency.
Q: Can I use wildcards in robots.txt?
A: Yes, use asterisks (*) to match multiple characters. Example: Disallow: /*.pdf blocks all PDFs.
Q: How do I block a specific bot?
A: Specify the bot name in User-agent. Example: User-agent: Googlebot applies rules only to Google's bot.
Q: Should I include my sitemap in robots.txt?
A: Yes, it's recommended. Add Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml to help search engines find all pages.
Q: Can I use robots.txt to manage crawl budget?
A: Yes, use Crawl-delay to slow down bots. Example: Crawl-delay: 5 tells bots to wait 5 seconds between requests.