Google Sitemaps Bug With Hyphenated File Names

Feb 5, 2024 - 7:41 am 3 by

Google Spider Web

Google might be having some weird bug with XML sitemap files that have hyphens within the final name. So if your sitemap file name is /sitemap-10.xml it will trigger a "couldn't fetch" error, but using /sitemap10.xml with the same exact file will not trigger any errors. This error shows up in the Google Search Console sitemaps section.

This was uncovered by the folks at Screaming Frog who posted this on X:

Little something we spotted in GSC. Is there a bug here? Sitemaps all the same, just different filename. Google errors with any filename with a hyphen followed by more than a single digit. Recreated in multiple properties etc. Thought we'd mention!

Google did not yet respond to this issue, but Screaming Frog did send this screenshot:

Google Sitemap Dash Errors

Others were also able to replicate this:

Do you have this issue too?

Forum discussion at X.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: September 15, 2025

Sep 15, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Search Console Reporting Change Since 100 Results Broke

Sep 15, 2025 - 7:51 am
Bing Search

Bing Places Update Coming Soon: Navigation, Experience & More

Sep 15, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

PSA: Most Third Party Google Search Tracking Tools Are Broken

Sep 15, 2025 - 7:31 am
Search Engine Optimization

Structured Data Does Not Help With Visibility In AI Search

Sep 15, 2025 - 7:21 am
Google News

FTC Investigating Google Over Ad Pricing & Terms On Websites

Sep 15, 2025 - 7:11 am
 
Previous Story: I Saw Bing Deep Search In The Wild