RSS Feed Not Working? 7 Common Issues and How to Fix Them

Your RSS feed worked yesterday. Today it doesn't. Your readers are missing updates and you have no idea why.

RSS feeds break for predictable reasons. Website redesigns. URL changes. Server hiccups. Most issues take 5 minutes to fix once you know what to look for.

Here are the 7 most common problems and exactly how to fix them.

1. Feed URL Changed (404 Error)

The problem: Your feed URL returns a 404. Maybe the site migrated to a new domain, changed their CMS, or restructured their URLs.

How to fix it:

Try these common RSS URL patterns on the site:

example.com/feed
example.com/rss
example.com/atom.xml
example.com/blog/feed

If none work, check the site's footer or sidebar for an RSS icon. Still nothing? Right-click the page, view source, and search for "rss" or "feed" in the code.

Can't find a feed anywhere? Generate a new one with FeedLake. Paste the blog URL, get a permanent RSS feed that won't break when the site changes structure.

2. Website Redesigned

The problem: The feed exists but shows no content, or articles look broken. This happens when websites redesign and change their HTML structure.

How to fix it:

First, visit the actual website. If you can see posts there but not in your RSS feed, the feed broke during the redesign.

Check the feed in a validator like validator.w3.org/feed. If it shows errors, the feed needs to be regenerated.

Easiest solution? Regenerate with FeedLake. It uses smart parsing that adapts to layout changes automatically. No manual configuration needed.

3. Feed Not Updating

The problem: The feed works but only shows old articles. New content doesn't appear.

Why it happens:

Usually caching. Either your browser cached the feed, your RSS reader cached it, or the feed generator only checks for updates once per day.

How to fix it:

1. Visit the website directly. Confirm new content actually exists.
2. Force refresh in your RSS reader (look for a refresh button or reload option).
3. Check how often the feed updates:
   • Free RSS services: Usually 24 hours
   • Pro services: Often 1 hour
   • Native WordPress/Ghost: Updates when new content publishes

If you need faster updates, upgrade to a service with hourly refresh rates.

4. Invalid XML

The problem: Feed won't load anywhere. RSS readers show "invalid feed" or "parsing error."

Why it happens:

XML is picky. One unescaped character breaks everything. Common culprits:

• & instead of &
• Missing closing tags
• Special characters not properly encoded
• No XML declaration at the top

How to fix it:

Validate at validator.w3.org/feed. The validator shows exactly what's broken.

If you're generating the feed manually, check for:

• Unescaped &, <, > characters
• Unclosed <item> or <entry> tags
• Missing <?xml version="1.0"?> at the start

Or just regenerate with FeedLake. It handles all the encoding automatically and produces clean RSS 2.0 XML.

5. robots.txt Blocking

The problem: Feed works in your browser but not in RSS readers. Or works in some readers but not others.

Why it happens:

The website's robots.txt file might block certain user agents. Some aggressive bot protection tools (Cloudflare, security middleware) block RSS reader requests.

How to fix it:

Check example.com/robots.txt. Look for lines like:

Disallow: /feed
Disallow: /rss

If you control the website, update robots.txt to allow RSS:

User-agent: *
Allow: /feed
Allow: /rss

If you don't control it, try FeedLake. It respects robots.txt while providing legitimate feed access.

6. Paywalled Content

The problem: Feed only shows excerpts. "Read more" links required for full articles.

Here's the thing: This isn't a bug. Many sites intentionally publish partial feeds to drive traffic. If content is behind a paywall or membership, the RSS feed will reflect that.

Solution: Subscribe to the site if you want full access. No RSS generator can ethically bypass paywalls.

7. CORS Errors

The problem: Feed works in RSS reader apps but not in web browsers. Console shows "Blocked by CORS policy."

Why it happens:

Browser security prevents JavaScript from fetching resources across domains. This is normal and expected.

Solution:

Don't open RSS feeds directly in browsers. Use actual RSS reader apps:

• Desktop: NetNewsWire, Fluent Reader, Liferea
• Mobile: Reeder, News+, FeedMe
• Web-based: Feedly, Inoreader (they handle CORS server-side)

CORS errors are browser-specific. If your feed works in Feedly or NetNewsWire, it's fine.

Quick Diagnostic Checklist

Troubleshoot any RSS feed issue:

1. Visit source website → Does new content exist?
2. Try feed URL in browser → Does XML load?
3. Validate at validator.w3.org/feed → Is XML valid?
4. Check example.com/robots.txt → Is feed blocked?
5. Test in 2-3 different readers → Works anywhere?
6. Check last update time → Is feed stale?
7. Force refresh in reader → Does that help?

If everything fails, regenerate the feed with FeedLake.

Frequently Asked Questions

Next Steps

Related guides:

• RSS Feed Generator Guide – Learn the basics of RSS feed generation
• RSS vs Email Newsletters – Compare distribution methods

Get started:

• Generate your first RSS feed – Free tier includes 3 feeds with 24-hour updates