Disavow File Generator

A disavow file is a plain text file you upload to Google Search Console that lists the backlinks you want Google to ignore. It's basically you telling Google "don't count these links when you're evaluating my site."

The file uses a specific format that Google can read. Each line contains either a URL or a domain (prefixed with "domain:"), and you can add comments with the # symbol. This tool generates that format automatically so you don't have to worry about syntax.

You should only use the disavow tool in specific situations.

• Manual penalty recovery. If you've received a manual action from Google for unnatural links, disavowing is often necessary to recover.
• Negative SEO attacks. If someone has built thousands of spammy links to your site to hurt your rankings, disavowing can help.
• Past link building mistakes. If you or a previous SEO company built low-quality links that could be hurting you, disavowing makes sense.
• Cleaning up after a site migration. Sometimes you inherit bad links when acquiring a domain or business.

Google's algorithms are pretty good at ignoring spam links on their own these days. If you haven't received a manual penalty and don't see obvious signs of negative SEO, you probably don't need to disavow anything.

Finding bad backlinks takes some detective work. Here's how most SEOs approach it.

• Export your backlink data. Use Google Search Console, Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz to get a full list of sites linking to you.
• Look for obvious spam patterns. Links from foreign language sites unrelated to your niche, sites with gibberish domain names, link farms, or adult/gambling sites you have no connection to.
• Check for paid link networks. If you see lots of links from sites that exist purely to sell links (often with "sponsored" or "guest post" in the URL), those are risky.
• Watch for anchor text manipulation. If you see hundreds of links with exact-match commercial anchor text, that's a red flag.
• Use spam score tools. Tools like Moz's Spam Score can help identify potentially toxic domains.

When in doubt, err on the side of caution. It's better to leave a questionable link alone than to disavow something that was actually helping you.

Once you've generated your disavow file, here's how to submit it.

• Go to the Disavow Links tool. Visit search.google.com/search-console/disavow-links and select your property.
• Upload your file. Click the upload button and select your .txt file. Google only accepts plain text files.
• Confirm the upload. Google will show you how many domains and URLs are in your file. Double-check the numbers look right.
• Wait for processing. It can take several weeks for Google to process your disavow file and for you to see any impact.

Keep a copy of every disavow file you upload. If you need to update it later, you'll upload a new file that completely replaces the old one - not adds to it.

The choice between disavowing a domain or a URL depends on the situation.

• Use domain when the entire site is spammy. If every link from a site is bad (like a link farm or spam blog), disavow the whole domain. This also catches any future links from that site.
• Use URL when only specific pages are problematic. If a legitimate site has one bad page linking to you (like a hacked page or a single spammy guest post), just disavow that URL.
• Domain is more thorough. Disavowing a domain covers all subdomains and pages, so you won't miss anything.
• URL is more precise. If you're not sure about a site, disavowing specific URLs lets you be surgical about it.

Most of the time, if a site is bad enough to disavow, the whole domain is probably bad. Domain-level disavows are more common in practice.