Not able to open /sitemap_index.xml

Hello, we’re sorry to hear that you’re facing issues accessing your sitemap at `https://rankmath.com/kb/fix-sitemap-issues/. Here are a few steps you can take to troubleshoot this issue:

1. Check if the Sitemap is Enabled: Ensure that the Sitemap module is enabled in Rank Math. You can do this by going to Rank Math SEO → Sitemap Settings in your WordPress dashboard.

2. Flush Permalinks: Sometimes, flushing permalinks can resolve access issues. To do this, go to the Permalinks settings in your WordPress dashboard and click Save Changes without making any changes.

3. Check Server Configuration: If you are using an Apache or Nginx server, you may need to add specific rewrite rules to your server configuration. Here are the rules for both:

   • Apache:

     # START of Rank Math Sitemap Rewrite Rules
     RewriteEngine On
     RewriteBase /
     RewriteRule ^sitemap_index.xml$ /index.php?sitemap=1 [L]
     RewriteRule ^([^/]+?)-sitemap([0-9]+)?.xml$ /index.php?sitemap=$1&sitemap_n=$2 [L]
     RewriteRule ^([a-z]+)?-?sitemap.xsl$ /index.php?xsl=$1 [L]
     # END of Rank Math Sitemap Rewrite Rules

   • Nginx:

     # START Nginx Rewrites for Rank Math Sitemaps
     rewrite ^/sitemap_index.xml$ /index.php?sitemap=1 last;
     rewrite ^/([^/]+?)-sitemap([0-9]+)?.xml$ /index.php?sitemap=$1&sitemap_n=$2 last;
     rewrite ^/([a-z]+)?-sitemap.xsl$ /index.php?xsl=$1 last;
     # END Nginx Rewrites for Rank Math Sitemaps

4. Check for Plugin Conflicts: Sometimes, other plugins can interfere with the sitemap functionality. You can use the Health Check plugin to identify any conflicts.

5. Check Robots.txt: Ensure that your robots.txt file is not blocking access to the sitemap. You can check this in Rank Math SEO → General Settings → robots.txt.

If you’ve tried these steps and are still unable to access your sitemap, please reply to this ticket, and a human agent from the Rank Math Support team will assist you further.