Developer Tools
Generate a Robots.txt File
Generate robots txt ideas or values for quick copy-and-use workflows.
Direct Answer
Use the Robots.txt Generator when you need a starter robots.txt file to tell crawlers which paths can be crawled and where the sitemap is located.
What robots.txt controls and what it doesn't
robots.txt is a crawling instruction, not an indexing or access-control mechanism, and mixing it up with those causes some of the most common site launch mistakes.
- controls whether well-behaved crawlers request a given path at all
- does not remove a page from search results by itself
- does not prevent a page from being indexed if it's linked from elsewhere
- is not enforced against bots that choose to ignore it
- must live at the domain root, not in a subdirectory
Common rules to include
A typical robots.txt combines a default policy with a few targeted exceptions and a pointer to the sitemap.
- User-agent: * as the default rule group
- Disallow entries for admin paths, internal search, or duplicate parameterized URLs
- a Sitemap: directive with the absolute sitemap URL
- separate User-agent blocks for bots you want to treat differently
- Allow entries to carve out exceptions inside a disallowed directory
Specific Use Cases This Tool Handles
Common situations where this tool helps, and what to do in each.
| Use Case | How This Page Helps |
|---|---|
| Copy-ready variations | Generate several options, copy the best result, then regenerate when you need another batch. |
| Fast naming and content drafts | Use generated output as a starting point for captions, titles, names, snippets, or random values. |
| No account workflow | Run the generator in the browser without signing into a large creative suite. |
How to Use Robots Txt Generator
- Set your options (length, type, count) using the controls.
- Click Generate to produce new results.
- Click Copy next to any item to copy it individually, or Copy all to get everything.
- Download .txt saves all generated results as a text file.
- Click Generate again for a fresh set.
Reference
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Generate reusable output from selected options. |
| Input | Settings such as count, length, format, or topic. |
| Result | Generated items ready to copy. |
| Best for | Fast ideas, random values, names, passwords, codes, and reusable snippets. |
| Category | Developer Tools |
| Works on | Desktop, tablet, and mobile browsers |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does robots.txt stop a page from appearing in search results?
Not by itself. robots.txt blocks crawling, not indexing - a disallowed URL can still show up in search results (usually without a snippet) if other pages link to it. To reliably keep a page out of the index, use a noindex meta tag or header, which requires the page to be crawlable so the crawler can see that instruction.
What's the difference between Disallow in robots.txt and a noindex meta tag?
Disallow is a site-wide, per-path instruction that prevents crawling in the first place. A noindex meta tag is a per-page instruction inside the HTML that prevents indexing after the page has been crawled. Blocking a page with Disallow can actually prevent a crawler from ever seeing its noindex tag.
Where does robots.txt need to be located?
At the root of the domain, such as example.com/robots.txt - it won't be recognized in a subdirectory. Rules only apply to the exact host, scheme, and port the file was fetched from, so http and https versions, or a www and non-www version, each need their own file if the rules differ.
Is robots.txt legally or technically enforced?
No. It's a voluntary convention called the Robots Exclusion Protocol. Reputable search engine crawlers respect it, but nothing stops a scraper or malicious bot from ignoring the file entirely, so it shouldn't be relied on to protect sensitive content.
Can I block one specific bot without blocking all crawlers?
Yes. Add a separate User-agent block naming that bot (for example User-agent: BadBot) with its own Disallow rules, distinct from the User-agent: * group that applies to everyone else.
How do I point crawlers to my sitemap from robots.txt?
Add a Sitemap: line with the full absolute URL, such as Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml. You can list multiple Sitemap lines if you have more than one sitemap file or a sitemap index.
What does Crawl-delay do?
It asks a crawler to wait a given number of seconds between requests. Google ignores this directive entirely (crawl rate is managed through Search Console instead), while Bing and some other crawlers do honor it.
Can I use wildcards in robots.txt paths?
Yes. * matches any sequence of characters within a path, and $ anchors a rule to the end of the URL. Both are supported by Google and Bing, letting you write rules like Disallow: /*.pdf$ to block all PDF files.