Limitation for google sitemap.xml file size

Question

can any one please let me know the memory limitation(MB) of google sitemap.xml file size.

Preexist

Answer 1

According to the Latest Update: 01 Jan 2017

Any Sitemap file is limited to 50MB (uncompressed) with a maximum of 50,000 URLs.

And a Sitemap index file (not to be confused with a Sitemap file) can include up to 50,000 Sitemaps.

So, for a single Sitemap index file, the maximum capacity of URLs and storage could be calculated as described below:

in terms of URLs:

50,000 sitemaps = ( 50,000 * 50,000 ) URLs = 2,500,000,000 URLs

Note: Google supports several sitemap formats but still, all formats limit a single sitemap to 10MB (uncompressed) and 50,000 URLs. Please also refer to the sitemap index file's schema as being defined here.

in terms of size:

50MB + (50,000 sitemaps * 50MB) = 2,500,050 MB = > 2.3 TB

So altogether, we can have maximum 2,500 millions URLs by submitting a single site map index file and we can have around 2TB of storage for all sitemap files which are included in the site map index file.

Since we can submit up to 500 sitemap index files to Google see here, the conclusion is:

(500 * 2,500) millions URLs limit with the size of (500 * 2) TB

Reference:

Schema for Sitemap index files

Sitemap formats : Google Webmaster Console

Google supports several sitemap formats such as XML, RSS, mRSS, Atom 1.0 and Text.

All formats limit a single sitemap to 10MB (uncompressed) and 50,000 URLs. If you have a larger file or more URLs, you will have to break your list into multiple sitemaps. You can optionally create a sitemap index file (a file that points to a list of sitemaps) and submit that single index file to Google. You can submit multiple sitemaps and/or sitemap index files to Google.

How big can my Sitemap be? : Sitemaps.org

Sitemaps should be no larger than 50MB (52,428,800 bytes) and can contain a maximum of 50,000 URLs. These limits help to ensure that your web server does not get bogged down serving very large files. This means that if your site contains more than 50,000 URLs or your Sitemap is bigger than 50MB, you must create multiple Sitemap files and use a Sitemap index file. You should use a Sitemap index file even if you have a small site but plan on growing beyond 50,000 URLs or a file size of 50MB. A Sitemap index file can include up to 50,000 Sitemaps and must not exceed 50MB (52,428,800 bytes). You can also use gzip to compress your Sitemaps.

Bodice

"According to Latest Update: (as of 2016)" - I didn't think anything had changed in the last few years? However, there are several inconsistencies in your numbers... You've made reference to both "10,000" and "1,000" sitemaps in a sitemap index. However, the spec states you can have 50,000 sitemaps in a sitemap index (this hasn't changed in recent years). Together with 50,000 URLs in a single sitemap equates to 2.5 billion URLs (50K * 50K). What's the "49,000 URLs" referring to in your calculation? – Drucilla

...in addition, Google states "You can submit up to 500 sitemap index files for each site", which is potentially 500 x 2.5 billion! Reference: support.google.com/webmasters/answer/75712?rd=1 – Drucilla

I've just realised where this 1,000 vs 50,000 Sitemaps in a Sitemap-index file comes about... there appears to be an inconsistency on the sitemaps.org website itself! Whilst the FAQ page (quoted above) states "1,000 Sitemaps", the Sitemaps protocol page states "50,000 Sitemaps" (both pages dated 27 Feb 2008). However, Google states 50,000 in their support docs. – Drucilla

This old Google thread from 2010 states that "The limit used to be 1,000. ... The current maximum number of Sitemaps that can be referenced in a Sitemap Index file is 50,000." – Drucilla

@w3dk Ah, I mistyped an extra 0 there. Also, at the time of my answering, the related documentations could probably be somehow confusing. I didn't say there can be only one sitemap index file. However, the answer has been updated. Thanks for the correction. – Bodice

@kolunar your numbers are wrong, you calculate with 1000 sitemaps per sitemapindex. See w3dk comments. – Adverse

@Adverse w3dk got confused himself, 1,000 is the correct number, the total number of sitemap index files being allowed is 500, so 500 * 1000 = 50,000 sitemaps in totoal. see the 1st and the 2nd screenshots. – Bodice

According to latest update from google / bing & sitemaps.org the file size limit has been increased to 50MB. each Sitemap file that you provide must have no more than 50,000 URLs and must be no larger than 50MB – Oscan

What does "uncompressed" actually mean? Does it include the indentation spaces? – Insect

Answer 2

NOTE : Updated Limits ( as of Sep 10 2016 )

updated limits are

Number of URLs = 50,000
File size ( uncompressed ) = 10MB

Source : Official Google Guidelines

According to source :

A sitemap file can't contain more than 50,000 URLs and must be no larger than 10 MB uncompressed. If your Sitemap is larger than this, break it into several smaller Sitemaps. These limits help ensure that your web server is not overloaded by serving large files to Google.

For other users, Please ignore the forum links given on other answers,
because those links point to static pages which are not updated.

Merrifield

The source guideline page has conflicting file size limits. One section says 10MB and another says 50MB. – Cattleman

The "50MB" must have been an error in the Google document, only 10MB is stated now (which is consistent with the Sitemap protocol that Google say they support). – Drucilla

@UKA I don't see any problem with that. Forums don't get updated but official source link that I added gets updated. What is the ignorance here? – Merrifield

Answer 3

I have reached this question while developing for 100K products sitemap.

And limits are

1. 50K URL

2. 50 MB file size limit

To stay safe I think multiple sitemaps will help.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
   <sitemapindex xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
   <sitemap>
      <loc>http://www.example.com/sitemap_1.xml</loc>
      <lastmod>2018-01-02T15:11:46+06:00</lastmod>
   </sitemap>
   <sitemap>
      <loc>http://www.example.com/sitemap_2.xml.gz</loc>
      <lastmod>2018-01-01T15:11:46+06:00</lastmod>
   </sitemap>
   </sitemapindex>

Congregational

Answer 4

UPDATED limits from Nov 30 2016

File size limit has been increased to 50MB per uncompressed file & URL limits remain 50,000 URLs per sitemap / sitemap index

You can provide multiple Sitemap files, but each Sitemap file that you provide must have no more than 50,000 URLs and must be no larger than 50MB (52,428,800 bytes). If you would like, you may compress your Sitemap files using gzip to reduce your bandwidth requirement; however the sitemap file once uncompressed must be no larger than 50MB. If you want to list more than 50,000 URLs, you must create multiple Sitemap files.

If you do provide multiple Sitemaps, you should then list each Sitemap file in a Sitemap index file. Sitemap index files may not list more than 50,000 Sitemaps and must be no larger than 50MB (52,428,800 bytes) and can be compressed. You can have more than one Sitemap index file. The XML format of a Sitemap index file is very similar to the XML format of a Sitemap file.

Source https://www.sitemaps.org/protocol.html#otherformats

For those who are still confused about the 10MB limit mentioned on the google suppport page, that page is not updated as they announced the changes on Nov 30, 2016.

Announcement by google : https://twitter.com/googlewmc/status/803884180266479616 Announcement by bing : https://blogs.bing.com/webmaster/November-2016/Increasing-the-size-limit-of-Sitemaps-file-to-addr

TL;DR

Limit for Sitemap Files : 50,000 URLs & 50MB uncompressed file size

Limit for Sitemap Index Files : 50,000 Sitemaps & 50MB uncompressed file size

Oscan

Answer 5

According to a claim in the Wikipedia article, the limit is 50,000 URLs and 10 MB (uncompressed) per sitemap. I think this number is from the Google Webmaster FAQ (can't find the official entry but this Google groups entry says the same.)

Not sure whether this limit applies to the other search engine providers as well.

Brutality

@methode the forum post I link to says that 10MB is the maximum size after gunzipping. Do you have a link to back up your claim? If you do, please do add it. Both the forum post and the Wikipedia entry are not necessarily 100% reliable info IMO. – Brutality

i should really shut up before drinking the first coffee in the morning... yeah, you're absolutely right. I removed my comment. Then the only addition is to confirm that all major search engines follow these requirements since it's set in the Sitemaps protocol (sitemaps.org/protocol.php#index), and all of them rely on this protocol. (this was also tested but no link for that) Sorry for the previous, misleading comment. – Keelby

@Keelby great info and link - that was the official confirmation I was looking for. Cheers! – Brutality

This answer is no longer up to date. Actual limit is 50MB see Abhishek Goel answer below. – Adverse

@Adverse The mentioned "50MB" would seem to have been an error in the linked document. All references now state "10MB", which is consistent with the Sitemap protocol. – Drucilla

You are right. See support.google.com/webmasters/answer/183668 : "Break up large sitemaps into a smaller sitemaps to prevent your server from being overloaded if Google requests your sitemap frequently. A sitemap file can't contain more than 50,000 URLs and must be no larger than 10 MB uncompressed." – Adverse

What about sitemap.txt limits? – Chiccory

Answer 6

The information you're looking for is located at the link below under "Guidelines for Sitemaps". This comes straight from the horse's mouth as they say.

http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=183668

Roz

Could you please put the answer directly and refer to the source instead of posting a RTFM answer? – Demello

Answer 7

The answer is clear on the official sitemaps.org:

You can provide multiple Sitemap files, but each Sitemap file that you provide must have no more than 50,000 URLs and must be no larger than 10MB (10,485,760 bytes). If you would like, you may compress your Sitemap files using gzip to reduce your bandwidth requirement; however the sitemap file once uncompressed must be no larger than 10MB. If you want to list more than 50,000 URLs, you must create multiple Sitemap files.

tl;dr sitemaps.xml must be < 10mb when uncompressed, regardless if you're gzipping it or not

Bunt