You should ONLY disavow links if your website has received a “manual” action from Google.
In other words, a penalty.
If this applies to you, keep reading.
If you never received a penalty, you should still keep reading to learn more about:
- What “Disavow” even means in Google
- Instances in which you should or should NOT disavow backlinks
- How to disavow links in 3 steps
- How to remove disavows
Let’s get started.
Link building cheat sheet
What Does “Disavow” Mean?
According to the dictionary, the word “disavow” means to refuse to take responsibility.
I think it’s a pretty accurate description – in terms of SEO, disavowing a link means telling Google “Hey, I never asked for this” with the goal of them removing it from your backlink index.
But more links = more rankings, right? Why would you want to remove them from your profile?
Well, what would you think if one day you checked your links and found one of these?
Probably “What the hell?” – you never asked for it, and it’s coming from a random site.
However, in 2025, Google’s algorithm has become very good at spotting these and disavowing them automatically.
So, is it even worth the effort to manually disavow backlinks?
Do You Actually Need to Disavow Links?
No, you don’t actually need to disavow links manually – Google will do it for you.
Unless your website has – or is probably going to – receive a manual action/penalty.
So, for example, if you have been buying a bunch of links from low-quality sites or using another black-hat link building method.
If you disavow them timely, you may just avoid a penalty.
Or, if you have already received one, disavowing all spammy links is one of the first steps to restore your rankings.
If your website has never gotten penalized, and you’re not taking part in any black-hat activities, disavowing links can actually hurt you rather than help, so you don’t usually have to worry about it.
Even Google warns: “This is an advanced feature and should only be used with caution!”
For example, if you’ve been doing the occasional direct link exchange but otherwise your link profile is natural, don’t jump the gun in panic and disavow all “illegal” direct links from your partners.
Instead of making you safer, your list of requested disavows might actually do the complete opposite – and let Google know exactly which links were built as part of a “link scheme”.
Don’t shoot yourself in the foot.
The next section is for those of you looking to recover from a penalty, trying to dodge an incoming one, or victims of a negative SEO attack.
How to Disavow Backlinks in 3 Steps
Step 1: Find Toxic Backinks
First up, you’ll need to identify the links you want to disavow.
If you got hit with a penalty for taking part in bad link schemes (such as paid links), you will need every single referring page’s URL.
If you want to do a backlink audit for toxic link presence (like gambling or adult sites), we recommend using a backlink checker like Ahrefs or Semrush.
Put your website into the search bar, and navigate to Site Explorer > Backlinks.
You can use filters like domain traffic and domain rating to check for harmful backlinks.
Setting them to “up to 0” or a very low number will usually delight you with gems such as “The Ultimate Guide to The Islamic Antichrist” as the anchor text and a spammy link to your site.
You can then either select links one-by-one or bulk export.
We recommending using the UTF-8 format you’ll need to create a UTF-8 TXT file later on.
Step 2: Put Them in a .txt File
Next, you’ll have to put every bad backlink you want to disavow into a text file encoded in either UTF-8 or 7-bit ASCII.
It should look like this:
According to Google, the max URL length is 2048 characters, and the max file size is 100,000 rows and 2mb.
Rows starting with # will be ignored, so you can use them to leave comments or separate URLs from domains.
Once your list is ready, it’s time to move on to the final step.
Step 3: Upload Your List to Google
First, navigate to the Google Disavow Tool and select your property.
If you already have a previous disavow file, you’ll see it here.
Click “Replace” (or “Upload” if this is your first disavow file) and select your new file from computer storage.
Note: You must be the property owner to upload a disavow file.
If your list is formatted incorrectly or has any errors, you’ll see them here as well.
If your file was uploaded with no issue, all you have to do now is wait a few weeks for Google to re-crawl and re-index your website.
How to Remove Disavowals?
To remove disavowals, simply go to the Google disavow tool, select your property, and click “Cancel Disavowals”.
Link building cheat sheet
Now Over to You
Reminder: only disavow bad backlinks if you’re trying to recover from a Google penalty or are certain you will receive one.
Otherwise, just let Google do its thing and filter out spammy links from the algorithm for you.
Need help getting more high-quality backlinks?
Don’t hesitate to start your 14-day free trial with Respona to see how we can help.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
When should I use the disavow tool?
You should only use the disavow tool if you have received a manual penalty from Google for unnatural links, or if you are certain you are about to receive one due to manipulative link-building practices.
Otherwise, Google’s algorithms are usually sufficient to handle link spam.
What file format should my disavow list be in?
Your disavow list must be a plain text (.txt) file encoded in UTF-8 or 7-bit ASCII.
Each URL or domain you want to disavow should be on a separate line. You can use “#” to add comments within the file.
How long does it take for Google to process a disavow file?
It can take several weeks for Google to process a disavow file and for the changes to be reflected in your website’s rankings.
There’s no guaranteed timeframe, as it depends on Google’s crawling and re-indexing schedule.
What’s the difference between disavowing spammy backlinks and a domain?
Disavowing a URL tells Google to ignore a specific page’s link to your site.
Disavowing a domain tells Google to ignore all links from that entire website to your site.
It’s generally recommended to disavow domains only if there are a large number of bad links from that site.
Can disavowing links hurt my website?
Yes, incorrectly using the disavow tool can potentially harm your website’s rankings.
If you disavow legitimate, high-quality links, you could negatively impact your backlink profile. Therefore, it’s crucial to be cautious and only disavow truly harmful links.
