What is robots.txt and why does it matter for SEO?

robots.txt is a plain text file at the root of your website that tells search engine crawlers which pages or directories they can and cannot access. While not a security measure, it is important for managing crawl budget and preventing indexing of irrelevant pages.

Where should I upload robots.txt?

Place robots.txt at the root of your domain, accessible at https://yourdomain.com/robots.txt. It must be at this exact location to be recognized by search engines.

What does Disallow: / mean?

Disallow: / tells search engine bots they cannot access any page on your site. This effectively blocks the entire site from being crawled: use it with extreme caution, only on staging or private sites.

Can I block only specific crawlers?

Yes. Add a separate User-agent block for a specific bot (e.g. User-agent: Bingbot) with its own Disallow and Allow rules. The tool includes a datalist of common bot names.

Crawl-delay tells bots to wait N seconds between requests to avoid overloading your server. Google ignores this directive, but Bing and other crawlers do respect it.

Does robots.txt prevent content from appearing in search results?

Disallowing a URL in robots.txt only prevents crawling. If the URL is linked from elsewhere, Google may still index it (showing the URL without content). Use noindex meta tags to prevent indexing of already-crawled pages.

Can I parse an existing robots.txt file?

Yes. Expand the Parse existing robots.txt panel, paste your current file, and click Parse into form. The tool loads all rules into the visual editor for modification.

Should I include my sitemap URL in robots.txt?

Yes. Adding a Sitemap: directive in robots.txt is a reliable way to ensure all search engines can find your sitemap regardless of whether you have submitted it manually.

Robots.txt Builder

Visually build your robots.txt file. Control how search engine crawlers access your site.

Site-wide Settings

Default rule for all bots

allow alldisallow all

Global crawl delay (optional)

User-agent Rules

Block 1

User-agent

Disallow paths

Allow paths

No entries

Crawl delay (this block)

Sitemaps

robots.txt

User-agent: *

Robots.txt generator free online: build crawl rules for search engines visually

Every website should have a robots.txt file to communicate crawl rules to search engines. Without it, bots may waste crawl budget on admin pages, duplicate content, search results pages, or other URLs that should never appear in search indexes. Conversely, accidental over-blocking: a common mistake: can prevent entire sections of your site from being crawled and indexed.

This free robots.txt generator provides a visual builder so you can add rules without remembering the robots exclusion protocol syntax. Create multiple user-agent blocks for different crawlers, add allow and disallow paths with a click, set crawl delay, and include your sitemap URL. The real-time preview shows the output as you build. Need to modify an existing file? Use the built-in parser to load any robots.txt into the editor for visual editing.

Step-by-step guide

1
Set the default rule
Choose whether to allow all bots by default or disallow them, then add specific exceptions.
2
Configure user-agent blocks
Edit the * block for all bots, or add separate blocks for Googlebot, Bingbot, or other specific crawlers.
3
Add disallow and allow paths
Enter paths to block (e.g. /admin, /private) or explicitly allow (e.g. /api/public). Each block can have multiple rules.
4
Add your sitemap URL
Enter your sitemap.xml URL in the Sitemaps section. Multiple sitemaps can be listed.
5
Copy or download the file
Click Copy or Download to get your robots.txt file ready to upload to your web root.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is robots.txt and why does it matter for SEO?: robots.txt is a plain text file at the root of your website that tells search engine crawlers which pages or directories they can and cannot access. While not a security measure, it is important for managing crawl budget and preventing indexing of irrelevant pages.
Where should I upload robots.txt?: Place robots.txt at the root of your domain, accessible at https://yourdomain.com/robots.txt. It must be at this exact location to be recognized by search engines.
What does Disallow: / mean?: Disallow: / tells search engine bots they cannot access any page on your site. This effectively blocks the entire site from being crawled: use it with extreme caution, only on staging or private sites.
Can I block only specific crawlers?: Yes. Add a separate User-agent block for a specific bot (e.g. User-agent: Bingbot) with its own Disallow and Allow rules. The tool includes a datalist of common bot names.
What is Crawl-delay?: Crawl-delay tells bots to wait N seconds between requests to avoid overloading your server. Google ignores this directive, but Bing and other crawlers do respect it.
Does robots.txt prevent content from appearing in search results?: Disallowing a URL in robots.txt only prevents crawling. If the URL is linked from elsewhere, Google may still index it (showing the URL without content). Use noindex meta tags to prevent indexing of already-crawled pages.
Can I parse an existing robots.txt file?: Yes. Expand the Parse existing robots.txt panel, paste your current file, and click Parse into form. The tool loads all rules into the visual editor for modification.
Should I include my sitemap URL in robots.txt?: Yes. Adding a Sitemap: directive in robots.txt is a reliable way to ensure all search engines can find your sitemap regardless of whether you have submitted it manually.

AlteredIdea vs alternatives

vs Google Docs / Word: Purpose-built tool, instant results, no account.

vs browser extensions: No install, no permissions, works on any device.

vs paid SEO tools: Completely free, unlimited use.

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