A disavow file is a plain-text file submitted to Google via the Disavow Links Tool that tells Google to ignore specific backlinks when assessing your site. It's the only official remedy for a manual action caused by unnatural links — and using it incorrectly can make things significantly worse.
When should you use the disavow tool?
The disavow tool should only be used in two situations: (1) you've received a manual action notification in Google Search Console stating 'Unnatural links to your site,' or (2) you have strong evidence of a negative SEO attack — an automated, external campaign to damage your rankings by pointing toxic links at your domain. Outside of these scenarios, most SEOs recommend leaving the disavow tool alone. Google's Penguin algorithm is already sophisticated at discounting low-quality links algorithmically.
⚠️ Warning
Using the disavow tool on a site that doesn't have a manual action and hasn't been hit by negative SEO is unnecessary and potentially harmful. Disavowing legitimate links by mistake can damage your authority. When in doubt, don't.
How to identify toxic backlinks
Before building a disavow file, you need to audit your backlink profile. Use Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Majestic to export your full backlink list. Then filter for signals that indicate low quality or manipulation:
- Domains with zero real traffic (DR/DA near zero, no organic keywords)
- Exact-match commercial anchor text at abnormal ratios (>5% exact-match is a warning sign)
- Domains with irrelevant content (casino, pharma, adult content pointing to an unrelated site)
- Private Blog Networks: large numbers of links from sites on the same IP block or with identical footprints
- Domains registered within the last 90 days pointing to your site at high volume
- Comment spam or forum injection patterns (same anchor, same linking domain structure across hundreds of URLs)
How to write a disavow file
A disavow file is a plain text (.txt) file. Each line contains either a full URL to disavow (a single bad link) or a domain: prefix to disavow all links from an entire domain. In practice, you almost always want to disavow at the domain level — it's safer, covers all link variants from the same source, and is what Google recommends for PBN or bulk spam situations.
# Disavow file — example format
# Lines starting with # are comments (ignored by Google)
# Disavow entire domains (recommended for PBNs and spam networks)
domain:spammy-casino-links.xyz
domain:fake-pr-newswire-clone.com
domain:pbn-network-site-001.net
# Disavow a specific URL (only use if the domain has some legitimate links)
https://mixed-site.com/spammy-page-with-bad-link.html💡 Tip
Always use domain-level disavow for PBN backlinks and spam networks. Disavowing individual URLs from these sources still leaves every other URL from the same domain pointing at you. Use URL-level disavow only when a site has a mix of legitimate and toxic links to your domain.
How to submit your disavow file
Google's Disavow Tool is accessed at search.google.com/search-console/disavow-links — not from within the main Search Console interface. Select your property, upload the .txt file, and confirm submission. After submission, you must file a Reconsideration Request in Search Console explaining the cleanup you've done if you're addressing a manual action. The disavow file alone does not lift the penalty — the human review team needs a reconsideration request.
What happens after submission
After submitting the disavow file and reconsideration request, Google's manual review team will assess the cleanup within 4–12 weeks. Common reasons for rejection: incomplete disavow (you missed a significant portion of the toxic links), the disavow file has syntax errors, or the reconsideration request doesn't demonstrate genuine cleanup effort. If rejected, fix the identified gaps and resubmit.
✦ Insight
Insight: The disavow file is read and applied by Google on its next crawl of your site. The effect on rankings only shows after the manual action is lifted AND Google recrawls the previously-penalized pages. Expect 6–16 weeks from submission to visible recovery.
What NOT to do
- Don't disavow without a manual action — Penguin handles algorithmic spam automatically
- Don't disavow high-DA links that happen to look slightly irrelevant — you'll damage your authority
- Don't rely on link removal outreach for PBN domains — the operators don't respond, and you waste weeks
- Don't submit the disavow file without a reconsideration request — the disavow alone doesn't lift the manual penalty
- Don't stop maintaining the disavow file — if you're under a negative SEO attack, the file needs updating on a rolling basis
💡 Tip
Practice this in the game: Chapter 2-1 (The Toxic Portfolio) walks you through building a disavow file under a live manual action, diagnosing the toxic link profile, and deciding between disavow strategies.