What is hreflang and what problem does it solve?

hreflang is an annotation that tells Google which URL serves which language or region, so a searcher in France sees your French page and a searcher in Mexico sees your Spanish one rather than a mismatched version. Without it Google may index only one variant, show the wrong language in results, or treat your translations as duplicate content. The annotation lives in one of three places: a link tag in the head, an HTTP Link header, or an XML sitemap.

What format does a language code take, like en-US?

The value is an ISO 639-1 language code, optionally followed by a dash and an ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 region. So `en` targets English everywhere, `en-US` targets English in the United States, and `en-GB` targets English in the United Kingdom. Region alone is never valid: `US` by itself is rejected. You can also add a script subtag such as `zh-Hant` for Traditional Chinese. This tool flags any code that does not fit that shape.

What does x-default do?

x-default names the page to show when no other entry matches the user's language or region, for example a language picker or a global English home page. If you target `en-US`, `fr-FR` and `ja-JP` but a visitor's browser is set to German, x-default catches them. It is optional but strongly recommended for a clean fallback. Toggle it on here and point it at your chosen URL, or leave the field blank to default to your first entry.

Why does hreflang have to be bidirectional?

Each page in a language set must list every version, including a self-reference back to itself. If your English page points to the French page but the French page does not point back, Google treats the annotation as unconfirmed and ignores it. Practically that means the same block of link tags appears on every localized URL, each one listing all the alternates. The sitemap output here is built so the same block can be reused for every URL in the cluster.

Should I put hreflang in the head, the sitemap, or an HTTP header?

Pick one place per page; do not mix them or you risk conflicting signals. Link tags in the head are the most common and easiest to inspect. The XML sitemap form scales best for very large sites because you maintain the mapping in one file. The HTTP Link header is the only option for non-HTML resources such as PDFs, where you cannot add a tag. This tool gives you all three so you can choose what fits your stack.

Launch a localized site without losing rankings

You just shipped French, German and Japanese versions of an existing English site. Paste all four `lang|url` lines, turn on x-default pointing at a language picker, and copy the link block into every page's head. Google now maps each searcher to their language instead of guessing, so the new locales inherit relevance instead of competing with the English page as duplicates.

Fix a cluster Google is ignoring

Search Console shows your hreflang annotations as "no return tags." That almost always means the references are not bidirectional. List every URL in the set here, including the page you are editing, and paste the identical block onto each one so every page points to every other plus itself. The validator also catches a mistyped code that quietly broke the whole cluster.

Add hreflang to PDFs and other non-HTML files

A multilingual whitepaper exists as separate French and English PDFs. You cannot add a link tag to a PDF, so copy the HTTP Link header output and set it on the file's response in your server config or CDN. Both PDFs now declare each other as language alternates, which is the only supported way to annotate non-HTML resources.

Maintain hreflang at scale from one sitemap

A thousand-page catalog in five languages would be painful to annotate page by page. Generate the ` ` block here, wire it into your sitemap generator so each ` ` carries the full set of alternates, and remember to declare the xhtml namespace on the root. One file now holds the entire language map.

Hreflang Tag Generator for Multilingual SEO

Paste lang|url pairs, get hreflang link tags, HTTP Link header and sitemap XML with x-default and code validation, browser-only

Runs locally
Category Developer & DevOps
Best for Formatting, validating, shrinking, or inspecting code-adjacent text.

Language / region → URL (one per line)

Format: en-US|https://example.com/en · zh-CN|https://example.com/zh

Add x-default row

x-default URL (fallback for untargeted languages)

hreflang must be bidirectional: every page in the set has to list ALL versions including itself, or Google ignores the whole cluster.

HTML <link> tags (paste into <head>)

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-US" href="https://example.com/en" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="zh-CN" href="https://example.com/zh" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es-ES" href="https://example.com/es" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/" />

HTTP Link header (for non-HTML files)

Link: <https://example.com/en>; rel="alternate"; hreflang="en-US", <https://example.com/zh>; rel="alternate"; hreflang="zh-CN", <https://example.com/es>; rel="alternate"; hreflang="es-ES", <https://example.com/>; rel="alternate"; hreflang="x-default"

Sitemap XML (<url> block)

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/en</loc>
  <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-US" href="https://example.com/en" />
  <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="zh-CN" href="https://example.com/zh" />
  <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es-ES" href="https://example.com/es" />
  <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/" />
</url>

What this tool does

A free hreflang generator for multilingual and multi-region SEO. Enter one `lang|url` pair per line, for example `en-US|https://example.com/en` and `zh-CN|https://example.com/zh`, and the tool emits the three forms Google accepts: ready-to-paste `<link rel="alternate" hreflang="...">` tags for the page head, an HTTP `Link:` response header for non-HTML files like PDFs, and the `<xhtml:link>` block for an XML sitemap. It validates every language code against the ISO 639 language plus optional ISO 3166 region shape, flags duplicates, HTML-escapes ampersands and quotes in URLs so a query string never breaks the markup, and can append an x-default row pointing at your fallback page. The tool spells out the rule that trips up most sites: hreflang must be bidirectional, so every page in the language set has to list all versions including itself or Google drops the whole cluster. One-click copy on each output, and a shareable URL that reproduces your exact list. 100% client-side, no upload, no API.

Tool details

Input: Files + Text; The page exposes text boxes, numeric controls, file pickers, or structured inputs depending on the tool.
Output: Live result + Copy; The result area focuses on usable output, with copy, download, or preview actions when supported.
Privacy: Browser-side processing; The main tool logic does not call an external API, so inputs normally stay in the current tab.
Save / share: Shareable URL state; Key settings are encoded in the URL so another person can reopen the same setup.
Performance budget: Initial JS <= 9 KB; No WASM budget is declared, keeping the tool quick to open on mobile.
Best fit: Developer & DevOps · Marketer; Category and role tags drive related tools, internal links, and quick fit checks.

How to use

1. Input

Paste or drop your content into the tool panel.
2. Process

Click the button. All processing is local in your browser.
3. Copy / Download

Copy the result or download to disk in one click.

How Hreflang Tag Generator fits into your work

Use it in the small gaps between coding, reviewing, debugging, and shipping.

Developer jobs

Formatting, validating, shrinking, or inspecting code-adjacent text.
Preparing snippets for documentation, tickets, commits, or handoff.
Checking a small payload quickly without switching tools.

Developer checks

Run irreversible transforms like minify or obfuscate on a copy.
Keep secrets out of pasted snippets unless the tool explicitly stays local.
Use your normal tests or linter before shipping transformed code.

Good next steps

These links move the current task into a more complete workflow.

Real-world use cases

Launch a localized site without losing rankings
You just shipped French, German and Japanese versions of an existing English site. Paste all four `lang|url` lines, turn on x-default pointing at a language picker, and copy the link block into every page's head. Google now maps each searcher to their language instead of guessing, so the new locales inherit relevance instead of competing with the English page as duplicates.
Fix a cluster Google is ignoring
Search Console shows your hreflang annotations as "no return tags." That almost always means the references are not bidirectional. List every URL in the set here, including the page you are editing, and paste the identical block onto each one so every page points to every other plus itself. The validator also catches a mistyped code that quietly broke the whole cluster.
Add hreflang to PDFs and other non-HTML files
A multilingual whitepaper exists as separate French and English PDFs. You cannot add a link tag to a PDF, so copy the HTTP Link header output and set it on the file's response in your server config or CDN. Both PDFs now declare each other as language alternates, which is the only supported way to annotate non-HTML resources.
Maintain hreflang at scale from one sitemap
A thousand-page catalog in five languages would be painful to annotate page by page. Generate the `<xhtml:link>` block here, wire it into your sitemap generator so each `<url>` carries the full set of alternates, and remember to declare the xhtml namespace on the root. One file now holds the entire language map.

Common pitfalls

Forgetting the self-reference. Each page must list itself among the alternates. A French page that lists English and Spanish but not French breaks the cluster, because Google needs every page to confirm it belongs to the set.
Using a region code where a language code belongs. An hreflang value starts with a language, so en-US is valid but US alone is not, and UK is never a valid language or region at all (the country code for the United Kingdom is GB). The validator here flags these before they reach production.
Mixing placement methods on the same page. Putting hreflang in both the head and the sitemap with different values sends conflicting signals. Choose one method per page and keep the URLs absolute, with the protocol and host, never relative paths.

Privacy

Every step runs as plain JavaScript in your browser tab: parsing the lines, validating the codes, escaping the URLs and building the three output formats. No URL, language map or domain ever leaves the page, and nothing is logged. The one caveat: the shareable link encodes your entry list in the query string, so a "share link" pasted into chat records those URLs in the recipient server's access log. For an unreleased site map, use the copy button and paste the text instead of sharing the URL.

FAQ

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Hreflang Tag Generator for Multilingual SEO

What this tool does

Tool details

How to use

1. Input

2. Process

3. Copy / Download

How Hreflang Tag Generator fits into your work

Developer jobs

Developer checks

Good next steps

Real-world use cases

Launch a localized site without losing rankings

Fix a cluster Google is ignoring

Add hreflang to PDFs and other non-HTML files

Maintain hreflang at scale from one sitemap

Common pitfalls

Privacy

FAQ

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