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Bad links and the disavow tool

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Short answer: Google says most sites do not need to disavow links: the tool is advanced, can harm performance if misused, and is meant for sites with a considerable number of spammy or low-quality links that have caused or are likely to cause a manual action. [1]

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Do I need to disavow anything?

Google’s help page says to disavow only if both conditions are met: a considerable number of spammy, artificial or low-quality links point to the site, and those links have caused or likely will cause a manual action.[1] It also says Google can assess which links to trust without additional guidance in most cases and works to make sure actions on third-party sites do not negatively affect a website.[1] A traffic drop on its own is not that evidence; see diagnosis.

What should be tried first?

Removing the links. Google says to remove as many spammy or low-quality links as possible from the web first, and to disavow the ones that cannot be removed.[1] This matters most when there is an unnatural-links manual action.

How is a disavow file made?

  • It is a UTF-8 or 7-bit ASCII text file whose name ends in .txt, with one URL or domain per line.[1]
  • To disavow a whole domain or subdomain, prefix it with domain:. You cannot disavow a subpath.[1]
  • Lines starting with # are comments and are ignored.[1]
  • The limits are 100,000 lines including blanks and comments, and 2MB, with URLs up to 2,048 characters.[1]

How is it uploaded, and what happens next?

You must own the property. One list can be posted per property and a new upload replaces the old list. Disavowed links continue to show in the Links report, and it can take a few weeks for Google to incorporate the list as it recrawls the web.[1] The tool does not support Domain properties.[1] The expected time before any effect is on recovery timelines.

Where do paid and exchanged links fit?

Google’s link spam policy covers links exchanged for goods or services, low-quality directory links, widely distributed footer or widget links and similar. Qualified paid links are allowed.[2] See spam policies.

Frequently asked questions

Can disavowing hurt a site?

Yes. Google warns that used incorrectly the tool can potentially harm the site’s performance in search. [1]

Does uploading a new list add to the old one?

No. A new list replaces the existing list for that property. [1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l “Disavow links to your site”. Google Search Console Help. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
  2. ^ “Spam policies for Google web search”. Google Search Central. Retrieved 31 October 2026.