How to Safely Disable Yoast Sitemaps for Other Plugins

On a WordPress site, XML sitemaps are files that list page URLs so search engine crawlers can find them. When another plugin takes over sitemap creation, turn off Yoast SEO’s sitemap feature. Keep Yoast active if you still use its other features. Then check that the replacement sitemap works, and whether WordPress core, another plugin, a static file, or a cache is serving unexpected or outdated content.

Yoast’s documented setting is under Yoast SEO → Settings → Site features → Technical SEO → XML sitemaps. The steps below show how to turn it off, check the old Yoast index, and find other sitemap sources.

Configure the replacement, then turn off Yoast

First, turn on sitemaps in the replacement plugin and check which content it includes. The setting location depends on the plugin; for example, Rank Math documents its sitemap options under its own settings. Check the plugin’s documentation. Then open its sitemap index, which lists its individual child sitemaps, and check that the index and child sitemaps return the expected XML.

Once the replacement is ready, go to Yoast SEO → Settings → Site features, find XML sitemaps under Technical SEO, and switch it off. This disables Yoast’s sitemap feature without deactivating Yoast SEO. Yoast documents the setting in its Site features help page. Older plugin versions may use different labels or navigation, so check the instructions for the installed version if the path does not match.

Yoast documents this setting as the way to turn off sitemaps without code. Do not use an unverified code snippet to turn off sitemap output. Check the documentation for your exact Yoast version before using a code-based alternative.

Check what serves the former Yoast index

Yoast’s sitemap index commonly uses the path sitemap_index.xml. After turning off the feature, open that URL directly. Note its HTTP status, whether it redirects, and what XML it returns. The HTTP status alone does not tell you which plugin created the sitemap. The replacement plugin can use the same URL. A static file or cached response can also determine what you see.

Check the child sitemap URLs in the XML and compare them with the replacement plugin’s settings. For example, Rank Math also documents sitemap_index.xml, so a working response at that path does not prove Yoast still serves it. Compare the response contents with the Yoast setting and the replacement plugin’s configuration. No single detail in the response proves which plugin created the XML.

Test the replacement index and its child sitemaps separately. Check that they load and include the types of content the replacement plugin is set up to cover. A 404 at the old index means that URL did not return a sitemap. It does not show whether the replacement works.

Look for other sitemap sources

Turning off Yoast does not turn off WordPress’s built-in sitemap. WordPress core provides a separate sitemap, commonly at wp-sitemap.xml. Yoast says that turning on its sitemap feature disables the WordPress core sitemap. When you turn off Yoast’s feature, disabling Yoast’s feature leaves core sitemap output available. Check the core URL and decide whether that output belongs in your setup.

Check your active plugins for another sitemap generator. Check the web root, the directory that holds your website’s files, for physical sitemap files. You can also look in your hosting file manager. A physical file can conflict with XML that a plugin creates when requested. Yoast explains this in its guidance on files that block XML sitemaps. Establish whether a file is still needed before removing it. If a URL shows unexpected content, check for redirects and stale cache output as well.

Finally, check the sitemap URLs listed in robots.txt and the sitemap entries you submitted in Google Search Console. Update any references to an old or unintended index. Then check the Sitemaps report for Google’s latest fetch status. Google accepts multiple sitemap submissions. Keep the references current and working; they do not have to point to a single XML file. Submitting a sitemap helps Google find its URLs, but does not guarantee that Google will crawl or index them, as Google’s sitemap guidance explains.

What I'm building

Delegate tasks. Get software.

Give Vroni a GitHub issue, bug report, spec, or rough idea. It reads the repo, plans the change, writes code, runs checks, and works toward a review-ready pull request.

Take a look at vroni.com