How do I submit a sitemap to Google?

Open Google Search Console, choose your property, select Sitemaps in the left menu, type the sitemap address (for example sitemap.xml) under Add a new sitemap, and select Submit. You can also add a Sitemap line to robots.txt so crawlers find it themselves. Submitting helps discovery but does not guarantee that any page is indexed.

Why it matters

Submitting tells Google exactly where your list of pages lives and gives you a report on whether the file can be read. That makes problems visible early, before you wonder why new pages are slow to appear.

How to do it

Open your sitemap address in a browser and confirm it loads as XML with status 200.
Sign in to Google Search Console and select the property for your site. If you have not added one yet, follow the Search Console setup guide first.
Choose Sitemaps from the left menu.
Under Add a new sitemap, enter the part of the address after your property root. For https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml, enter sitemap.xml.
Select Submit. The new entry appears in the Submitted sitemaps table.
Open the entry later and check the status. Success means Google could read the file. The report also shows when it was last read and how many pages it discovered.
Optionally add the same address to robots.txt:

Sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml

Use a full address in the robots.txt line, including https and the host. Google's old sitemap ping address no longer works, so Search Console and robots.txt are the two methods to rely on.

If your site uses a sitemap index, submit the index address only. Search Console lists the child sitemaps beneath it.

Crawvix's scan includes a check named "Sitemap submitted to Google Search Console".

Common mistakes

Submitting under a property that does not cover the sitemap's address, for instance a URL-prefix property for the wrong host.
Submitting a file that lists redirected, noindex or error pages.
Resubmitting again and again in the hope of faster indexing. It does not help.
Ignoring the other search engines. Bing has its own tool, covered in the Bing Webmaster Tools setup guide.
Leaving a typo in the path, which produces a "Couldn't fetch" status.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to resubmit after I add pages?

No. Google fetches a known sitemap again from time to time. Keep the file current, and keep lastmod values honest, and Google can pick up the changes.

How many sitemaps can I submit?

You can submit several, and a sitemap index can bundle many files into one address. Each file has its own limit of 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed.

Where do I see errors?

In the Sitemaps report. Select the sitemap to see its status and any details Google gives about problems reading it.

When your sitemap is ready, Try the free website sample.