Submitting Sitemaps to Google Search Console (2026 Walkthrough)
You verified your site in Google Search Console—great! But verifying the domain doesn't somehow magically tell Google which pages to crawl. It just gives you the keys to the analytics.
To actually start ranking, you have to hand Google the map. submitting your Sitemap is the "Hello World" of technical SEO. However, in 2026, the interface has updated, and the dreaded "Couldn't Fetch" error is more common (and confusing) than ever.
This guide will walk you through the exact button clicks to submit your sitemap and, more importantly, how to decode the "Coverage Report" to fix indexing issues before they kill your organic traffic.
Table of Contents
1. Step-by-Step Submission Guide
Assuming you have already verified your property (if not, see our verification guide), here is how to submit.
- Log in to Google Search Console.
- Select your property from the top-left dropdown menu.
- In the left-hand sidebar, click on Sitemaps (under the "Indexing" section).
- In the "Add a new sitemap" field, enter your sitemap extension.
- If your sitemap is at `example.com/sitemap.xml`, just type:
sitemap.xml. - If you have a Domain Property, enter the full URL if prompted, or just the path.
- If your sitemap is at `example.com/sitemap.xml`, just type:
- Click the blue SUBMIT button.
2. Decoding Status: Success vs Couldn't Fetch
Once submitted, you will see a table with a "Status" column.
Success
Google successfully downloaded and processed your sitemap. The "Discovered URLs" count should match (roughly) the number of pages on your site.
Couldn't Fetch
Google failed to read the file. This does not always mean 404. It's a catch-all error for "I tried, but something went wrong."
3. How to Fix "Couldn't Fetch"
This is the most common frustration in 2026. Here is the checklist to fix it.
Check robots.txt blocks
Did you accidentally add Disallow: /sitemap.xml? Or Disallow: /? Use the "Live Test" in URL Inspection to confirm Googlebot can access it.
The "Pending" Bug
Sometimes "Couldn't Fetch" actually just means "Pending." If you submitted it 5 minutes ago, wait 24 hours. Seriously.
Caching Headers
If your server returns a `noindex` header on the XML file itself, Google will reject it. Check your HTTP response headers.
4. The Sitemap Coverage Report
Clicking on the graph icon next to your sitemap opens the dedicated coverage report. This tells you specifically about the URLs inside that sitemap.
- Indexed, not submitted in sitemap:
You have pages Google found, but you forgot to put them in your XML file. Fix your generator!
- Submitted URL marked 'noindex':
Contradiction. You asked Google to index it (via sitemap) but the page says "don't index me" (via meta tag). Remove it from the sitemap.
- Submitted URL not found (404):
You are submitting broken links. This hurts your quality score. Clean your sitemap immediately.
5. Removing Old Sitemaps
If you changed plugins (e.g., Yoast to RankMath), your URL might have changed from `sitemap_index.xml` to `sitemap.xml`. You must remove the old one.
- Click on the old sitemap in the list.
- Click the three dots (menu) in the top-right corner.
- Select Remove Sitemap.
Note: This stops Google from checking that specific file, but it doesn't de-index the pages inside it (unless you 404 them).