rank math sitemap does not load

Hello, we apologize for the issue you are facing with your Rank Math sitemap not loading. There could be several reasons for this problem. Here are some common issues and their solutions:

1. Blank or White Page: If your sitemap shows a blank page, check the source code. If the source code is empty, there may be a conflict with another plugin or theme. You can use the Health Check plugin to identify the conflicting plugin or theme.

   

2. Sitemap Not Created: If Rank Math does not create a sitemap and throws a 404 error, ensure that the Sitemap module is enabled in Rank Math settings.

3. Server Configuration: If you are using an Apache or Nginx server, you may need to add specific rewrite rules to your server configuration. For Apache, add the following to your .htaccess file:

   # 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

   For Nginx, add the following to your config file:

   # 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. Caching Issues: If you have caching plugins installed, they might be causing issues with loading the sitemap. Try flushing the cache and excluding the sitemap from caching.

5. Robots.txt Blocking: Ensure that your sitemap URL is not blocked by your robots.txt file. You can check this in Rank Math SEO → General Settings → robots.txt.

If you continue to experience issues, please reply to this ticket with your site URL so we can assist you further.

Sources:
Rank Math Sitemap Issues and Their Fixes » Rank Math