Generate Your Robots.txt File
Rule 1
No disallow paths (all pages allowed)
The Ultimate Free Robots.txt Generator
Master your website's crawl budget and SEO visibility with our advanced Robots.txt Generator. Whether you are running a small blog or a massive e-commerce store, this tool gives you precise control over how Google, Bing, and other bots interact with your site.
Table of Contents
What Is a robots.txt File?
A robots.txt file is a simple text file placed in the root directory of your website (e.g., https://example.com/robots.txt). It acts as a gatekeeper, giving instructions to search engine bots (crawlers) about which pages they are allowed to visit and which they should ignore.
It is the first file a legitimate bot requests when it visits your site. Think of it as a "Code of Conduct" sign at the entrance of your digital property. While it doesn't physically block access (bad bots can ignore it), reputable search engines like Google, Bing, and Yandex follow its rules strictly.
Why is robots.txt Critical for SEO?
Crawl Budget Optimization
Search engines have a limited "budget" for how many pages they crawl on your site per day. If they waste time crawling low-value admin pages or tags, they might miss your important blog posts. Robots.txt prevents this waste.
Private Content Protection
Keep staging environments, admin dashboards, and checkout pages out of search results. While not a security mechanism, it keeps these pages from cluttering public search indexes.
Preventing Duplicate Content
If your site generates print-friendly versions or dynamic URLs with parameters, robots.txt can tell Google to ignore them, preventing "duplicate content" penalties.
Sitemap Discovery
It's the standard place to link your XML sitemap. This gives crawlers a direct map to all your detailed content, ensuring faster indexing of new pages.
How to Use Our Generator
- 1
Set Default Permissions
Start with the "All Robots" section. By default, you usually want to "Allow" all robots. Only switch this to "Disallow" if you want your entire site to remain hidden (e.g., if it's under construction).
- 2
Exclude Specific Bots (Optional)
If you specifically want to block marketing bots (like MJ12bot or AhrefsBot) to save server resources, select them from our list and choose "Refuse".
- 3
Add Restricted Directories
In the "Restricted Directories" section, type in the paths you want to hide. Common examples include:
- /wp-admin/
- /checkout/
- /tmp/
- /private/
- 4
Link Your Sitemap
Paste the full URL of your sitemap (e.g.,
https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml). This is a best practice that helps Google discover your pages faster.
Understanding the Syntax
User-agent
Specifies which bot the following rules apply to. User-agent: * means "all bots". User-agent: Googlebot applies only to Google.
Disallow
Tells the bot NOT to visit this path. Disallow: /images/ prevents crawling of your images folder.
Allow
Used to override a Disallow rule. For example, you might Disallow /wp-admin/ but Allow /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php.
Sitemap
Specifies the location of your XML sitemap. This directive is supported by all major search engines.
Deadly Mistakes to Avoid
- Accidentally Blocking the Whole Site
Typing
Disallow: /(with the slash) tells bots to ignore your ENTIRE website. Only use this if you truly want to disappear from Google. - Blocking CSS and JS Files
Google needs to "render" your page to understand if it's mobile-friendly. If you block your
/assets/or/css/folders, Google sees a broken page and might rank you lower. - Using Robots.txt for Security
Never use this file to hide private data. Hackers check robots.txt specifically to see what you are trying to hide. Use password protection (.htaccess) for real security.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I have multiple robots.txt files?
No. You must have exactly one file named robots.txt (all lowercase) in the root directory. Subdomains (like blog.example.com) can and should have their own robots.txt file.
How long does it take for changes to take effect?
Google bots usually cache your robots.txt file for about 24 hours. You can force a refresh using the "Robots.txt Tester" tool in Google Search Console if you need immediate updates.
Does "Disallow" prevent indexing?
Not always. "Disallow" prevents crawling (visiting the page), but if a lot of other sites link to that page, Google might still index it and show the URL in search results (usually without a description). To prevent indexing entirely, use the noindex meta tag on the page itself.
What is Crawl-delay?
Some bots (like Bingbot) support a Crawl-delay: 10 directive, which tells them to wait 10 seconds between requests. This helps prevent your server from crashing if too many bots visit at once. Googlebot ignores this directive (you configure Google's crawl rate in Search Console instead).