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Meta Robots Tag Generator

Generate the meta robots tag and X-Robots-Tag header — control index/noindex, follow/nofollow, snippets, image/video previews, and expiry. Copy-ready. Free.

All tools

Indexing

Link following

Additional directives

💡 How to use

  • Put the meta tag in the <head> of your HTML page.
  • Use the X-Robots-Tag header to control non-HTML files (PDFs, images) at the server level.
  • noindex only works if the page is crawlable — don't also block it in robots.txt.

Free Meta Robots Tag Generator

Generate the meta robots tag and the equivalent X-Robots-Tag header in seconds. Control indexing, link following, snippets, image and video previews, caching, and expiry — then copy a ready-to-paste tag. Free, runs in your browser, no sign-up.

What is the meta robots tag?

The meta robots tag is a snippet you place in a page's HTML head to tell search engines how to treat that specific page. It controls whether the page can appear in search results (index or noindex), whether links on it should be followed (follow or nofollow), and finer details like snippet length and image previews. It is the standard, page-level way to keep individual pages in or out of the index.

How to use the generator

It is instant:

  • Choose index or noindex, and follow or nofollow.
  • Add optional directives like noarchive, nosnippet, or max-image-preview.
  • Optionally target Googlebot specifically, or set an unavailable_after date.
  • Copy the meta tag for your HTML, or the X-Robots-Tag header for non-HTML files.

The directives explained

Each token controls one behaviour:

  • index / noindex — allow or prevent the page appearing in search results.
  • follow / nofollow — follow or ignore the links on the page.
  • noarchive — do not show a cached copy.
  • nosnippet — do not show a text snippet; max-snippet sets a character limit instead.
  • noimageindex — do not index images on the page.
  • max-image-preview and max-video-preview — control preview size and length.
  • unavailable_after — drop the page from results after a given date.

Meta tag vs X-Robots-Tag header

The meta robots tag only works for HTML pages, because it lives in the page's markup. To apply the same rules to non-HTML resources — PDFs, images, or other files — use the X-Robots-Tag HTTP response header, which carries identical directives at the server level. This tool generates both, so you can noindex a PDF or restrict image previews for a whole directory through your server config, not just individual pages.

The most common mistake: noindex plus robots.txt

A frequent error is adding noindex to a page while also blocking it in robots.txt. If the page is disallowed in robots.txt, search engines cannot crawl it, which means they never see the noindex directive — so the URL can still appear in results. For noindex to work, the page must remain crawlable. Use robots.txt to control crawling and the meta robots tag to control indexing, but do not block a page you are trying to deindex.

Pro tip

The default state (index, follow) needs no tag at all, so only add a robots tag when you want to change that behaviour. Reserve noindex for genuinely low-value pages — thank-you pages, internal search results, staging URLs — rather than content you want to rank. To manage crawling at the site level, pair this with our robots.txt Generator.

FAQ

Is this meta robots tag generator free?
Yes. It is completely free, runs in your browser, and requires no account or sign-up.
Where do I put the meta robots tag?
Place it inside the <head> section of the HTML page you want to control. It only affects that single page.
What is the difference between noindex and nofollow?
noindex keeps the page out of search results. nofollow tells search engines not to follow the links on the page. They are independent and can be combined.
When should I use the X-Robots-Tag header instead?
Use the X-Robots-Tag HTTP header to apply robots directives to non-HTML files like PDFs and images, or to whole directories via your server configuration, where a meta tag cannot be added.
Why is my noindex page still showing in Google?
Usually because the page is also blocked in robots.txt, so search engines cannot crawl it to see the noindex. Remove the robots.txt block so the page can be crawled and the noindex honoured.
Do I need a robots tag on every page?
No. The default is index, follow, which needs no tag. Only add a tag when you want to change the default behaviour for a specific page.
How do I stop Google from showing a cached copy or snippet?
Use noarchive to prevent a cached copy and nosnippet to prevent a text snippet, or max-snippet to limit its length. This generator adds these directives for you.

Related tools

Pro tip: pair this tool with Trailing Slash Consistency Checker and UTM Builder for a faster SEO workflow.