Robots.txt Generator
Control crawler access.
Robots.txt Generator at a glance
Robots.txt Generator is a free online seo tool you can use right now to control crawler access โ no account, no install and no usage limit. It runs entirely inside your browser, so whatever you enter stays on your own device.
- Price
- Free โ no trial, no paid tier, no watermark
- Sign-up
- Not required
- Where it runs
- In your browser โ nothing is uploaded to a server
- Works on
- Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge โ desktop, tablet and phone
- Category
- SEO Tools
About Robots.txt Generator
Build a robots.txt file with the rules you need, including per-crawler directives and a sitemap reference.
The single most important thing to understand is that Disallow prevents crawling, not indexing. A blocked URL can still appear in search results if other pages link to it โ Google simply lists it without a description, because it was not permitted to read the page. This surprises people who used robots.txt specifically to hide something.
The corollary is a genuine trap. To keep a page out of the index you must allow crawling and serve a noindex directive, because Google has to fetch the page to see that directive. Blocking it in robots.txt guarantees the noindex is never read, so the page can remain listed indefinitely. Blocking and noindexing together is self-defeating.
Robots.txt is also public and provides no security whatsoever. Listing /admin/ or /internal-backup/ under Disallow tells anyone who reads the file exactly where to look โ and the file is at a fixed, well-known location that everyone checks. Never use it to hide anything sensitive; use authentication. And take care with Disallow patterns: a rule blocking a directory that also contains your CSS or JavaScript prevents Google from rendering the page properly, which can damage rankings far more than whatever you were trying to block.
How to use Robots.txt Generator
- Choose which crawlers the rules apply to, or use * for all.
- Add your allow and disallow paths, and reference your sitemap URL.
- Copy the file, upload it to your site root, and check it in Search Console's robots.txt report.
Frequently asked questions
Will Disallow keep a page out of Google?
No. It blocks crawling, not indexing โ a disallowed URL can still be listed if other pages link to it, just without a description. To exclude a page from the index, allow crawling and serve a noindex tag.
Should I both block a page and add noindex?
No, that combination is self-defeating. Google must crawl the page to see the noindex directive, and robots.txt prevents exactly that. Choose one: noindex to de-index, Disallow to save crawl budget.
Is robots.txt a security measure?
Not at all. The file is public and at a well-known location, so listing sensitive paths advertises them. Anything that needs protecting needs authentication.
Can blocking directories hurt my rankings?
Yes. If a blocked path also contains CSS or JavaScript, Google cannot render your pages properly and may judge them broken or mobile-unfriendly. Always allow the assets needed to render the page.