Google Disavow File: What It Is and How to Use It

Have you found suspicious backlinks that threaten your website?
The Google Disavow Tool is the feature that allows you to protect your site from toxic links, spam, or negative SEO attacks.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to create and submit a disavow file, when to use it, and why it can make a significant difference in your search engine rankings.

Table of Contents

• What is the Google Disavow File?
• When to Use the Disavow Tool
• 1. Analyze Your Backlink Profile: How to Identify Toxic Links
  • What is a backlink profile?
  • Which tools should you use for analysis?
  • How to detect toxic links?
  • Organize your data
• 2. Create a Disavow File
• 3. Submit the Disavow File to Google via Search Console
• 4. Submit the Disavow File via Ahrefs
  • Steps to submit via Ahrefs:
• 5. Update and Monitor Regularly
• Google Disavow: Practical Example
• Disavow Tool: Benefits and Risks
  • Benefits:
  • Risks:
• Dopstart Can Help: Free Consultation
• FAQ

What is the Google Disavow File?

The disavow file is a simple text file, in UTF-8 or 7-bit ASCII format, that you upload to the Google Search Consoleusing the Disavow Links Tool. It tells Google: “Ignore these low-quality links.”

These links — also known as bad links, spam links, or toxic backlinks — can damage your backlink profile and lead to algorithmic penalties. Bombarding a site with such links to lower its ranking is known as a negative SEO attack.

When to Use the Disavow Tool

The Google Disavow Tool should not be used lightly. While Google can automatically ignore suspicious links, there are situations where manually disavowing links is the best option, for example:

• If you’ve received a manual penalty
• If you’ve been targeted by a negative SEO attack
• If there’s a sudden spike in backlinks from spam sites
• If your backlink profile contains too many unnatural links

1. Analyze Your Backlink Profile: How to Identify Toxic Links

Before you create and submit the disavow file, it’s essential to deeply analyze your backlink profile. This step is crucial to differentiate quality links from bad ones, avoiding mistakes that could harm your SEO.

What is a backlink profile?

Your backlink profile is the collection of all external links pointing to your site. Each link is a signal of trust to Google — but not all links are good. Links from unreliable, spammy, or penalized sources can be interpreted as manipulative.

Which tools should you use for analysis?

To get a clear and detailed view, use professional tools such as:

• Ahrefs: Shows quantity and quality of backlinks, anchor text, spam scores, and suspicious domains.
• SEMrush: Offers toxic score ratings and automated low-quality link alerts.
• Moz: Highlights risky links and low-authority domains.
• Google Search Console: Free and reliable, lets you download a complete list of links Google sees.

How to detect toxic links?

Look for these red flags:

• Links from unrelated or nonsensical sites
• Links from penalized domains (as flagged by Ahrefs or SEMrush)
• Over-optimized or irrelevant anchor texts
• Links from link farms, automated directories, spam comments, or black-hat SEO sites
• Sudden increases in links from unknown or foreign sites, especially without any marketing effort (possible negative SEO)

Organize your data

Create a working file (Excel or Google Sheets) to log:

• Source URL
• Link type (dofollow/nofollow)
• Anchor text
• Quality assessment
• Recommended action (keep / disavow)

This helps you build a clean, precise disavow file, avoiding the removal of helpful backlinks.

2. Create a Disavow File

Once you’ve identified bad backlinks, it’s time to create the disavow file. Open a .txt file and list the URLs or domains you want Google to ignore.

Example:

# Disavow file - www.mywebsite.com
domain:linkspam.com
https://toxic-site.com/spam-page

You can disavow full domains using domain:, or individual URLs. One link per line.

3. Submit the Disavow File to Google via Search Console

Once your file is ready, go to the Disavow Links Tool in Google Search Console, select your domain, and upload the file.

Once submitted, Google will begin to ignore the listed links. Don’t expect instant results — it may take weeks for Google to process and update your backlink profile.

4. Submit the Disavow File via Ahrefs

If you’re using Ahrefs, you can send the disavow file directly to Google through native integration with Google Search Console.

Steps to submit via Ahrefs:

1. Connect Ahrefs to your Google Search Console
2. Go to Site Explorer → Disavow Links
3. Select the toxic links you want to disavow
4. Generate or export your file
5. Review and confirm submission

Ahrefs will send the file through Google’s interface, streamlining the entire process.

Important: Even when using Ahrefs, Google still needs time to recognize the changes. Crawling and processing may take several weeks or months.

5. Update and Monitor Regularly

Your job doesn’t end after submission. Keep monitoring your backlink profile and, when new toxic links emerge, update and reupload your file using the disavow tool.

Google Disavow: Practical Example

Here’s a real-life disavow file example:

# Low-quality links
domain:spamblog.net
https://example.com/virus-page

# Links from penalized domains
domain:linkfarm.xyz
https://blackhatlinks.org/bad-backlink

Make sure to save the file in .txt format, encoded in UTF-8 or 7-bit ASCII.

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Disavow Tool: Benefits and Risks

Benefits:

• Clean up your backlink profile
• Protect against spam links and negative SEO
• Maintain or improve your site’s reputation with Google

Risks:

• Accidentally disavowing quality links
• Loss of authority and rankings

Use the tool with caution — and always after a thorough audit.

Dopstart Can Help: Free Consultation

Not sure if your site needs disavowing? Need help analyzing backlinks and submitting the disavow file correctly?

Dopstart offers a free initial consultation to assess your situation and, if needed, guide you through the entire process. Contact us today!

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FAQ

What is a disavow file?
A text file that tells Google to ignore harmful backlinks.

What is the disavow tool for?
To manually reject suspicious links that may hurt your site.

How can I create a disavow file?
Analyze backlinks, find dangerous ones, and create a .txt file.

How do I upload the disavow file?
Via the Disavow Links Tool in Search Console.

Can I disavow an entire domain?
Yes, using domain:example.com.

What happens after submission?
Google will start ignoring those links — but it takes time.

Should I update the disavow file?
Yes, whenever new toxic links are discovered.

What format should the file be in?
.txt in UTF-8 or 7-bit ASCII.

Does Google automatically ignore spam links?
Partially, but serious cases require manual disavowal.

Is the disavow tool for everyone?
It should only be used when truly necessary and after expert analysis.