Knowing how to remove a sitemap from Google Search Console is helpful to know if you have old sitemap.xml files in the account. Or, maybe you submitted the wrong sitemap path and need to delete it or you just simply want to remove it in general, here is how to do it.
If you need to delete your sitemap from Search Console, this guide provides a step-by-step process for effectively removing a sitemap.
How to Remove Your Sitemap from Google Search Console
- Sign in to Google Search Console.
- Select your website.
- Click on ‘Sitemaps’ on the left side.
- Under ‘Submitted Sitemaps’, click on the sitemap you want to remove.
- Click on the 3 vertical dots in the top-right of the page. Then Remove sitemap.
For detailed instructions about deleting it, keep reading.
Access Google Search Console
Go to the Google Search Console website and sign in with your Google account. Make sure you have the necessary permissions to access the website property in question.
Log in to your account: https://search.google.com/search-console/about
Select the Property
Once logged in, select the website property that contains the sitemap you want to remove. You’ll see a list of properties associated with your account.
Open the Sitemaps Report
In the left-hand sidebar, click on “Sitemaps” under the “Indexing” section. This will open the sitemaps report, which lists all the submitted sitemaps for your website.
Identify the Sitemap to Remove
Look through the list of submitted sitemaps and identify the one you want to remove. The sitemap URLs are typically in the format: sitemap.xml
Remove the Sitemap
Click on the sitemap you want to remove. This will take you to a page displaying more information about that specific sitemap.
Delete the Sitemap
On the sitemap details page, you should see 3 dots. Click on the dots to remove the sitemap from Google Search Console.
Confirm Sitemap.xml Removal
A confirmation pop-up may appear to ensure you want to delete the sitemap. Confirm the action to proceed with the removal.
Update Robots.txt (Optional)
If the sitemap is still accessible from your website’s robots.txt file, you may want to remove the reference to the sitemap there as well. This step is optional but ensures that search engines won’t discover the sitemap again in the future.
Verify Removal (Optional)
To verify that the sitemap has been successfully removed, you can check the “Sitemaps” report again after some time. The removed sitemap should no longer be listed.
Conclusion About Removing a Sitemap From Search Console
Please note that removing a sitemap from Google Search Console does not delete the sitemap file from your website’s server; it only stops Google from using it as a reference for indexing your site. If you want to remove the actual sitemap file from your server, you can do that via your website’s hosting control panel or FTP client.