Can Hackers Edit Your Disavow File? How to Check and Protect It
Could a hacker quietly damage your rankings by editing your disavow file? In 2013 I helped a friend clean up a hacked site. The hacker had got into his email, used it to reach his hosting and Google accounts, and, besides deleting files, uploaded a disavow file listing every backlink the site had. Restoring the server would never have fixed that. We caught it in time. Here’s why it still matters in 2026 and how to check and protect your disavow file.
Quick answer: Open Google’s Disavow links tool (it isn’t in the Search Console menu; search for “disavow links tool”), select your property and download the current file. If you never uploaded one, it should say there’s no file. If it contains domains you didn’t add, remove the file or upload a corrected one. Then secure the Google account with 2-Step Verification and remove unknown users under Search Console > Settings > Users and permissions.
Table of Contents
What the disavow file does
The disavow file tells Google to ignore specific links or whole domains when assessing your site. Google says most sites never need it, because its systems already ignore most spammy links. Used wrongly, for example disavowing all your good backlinks, it can remove the benefit of links that help you rank, and Google may take weeks or months to process changes.
How a hacker can abuse it
- Anyone with owner access to your Search Console property can upload a disavow file.
- Nothing on your server changes, so malware scans and backups won’t show it.
- Google doesn’t send an email alert when the file changes, and the tool is hidden from the main menu.
That’s what made our 2013 case so sneaky: the site could look fully restored while its rankings slowly drained away.
How to check your disavow file
- Go to Google’s Disavow links tool while signed in to the Google account that owns the property.
- Choose your property (the tool works with URL-prefix and domain properties).
- If a file exists, download it and read it. Every line should be a domain or URL you chose to disavow.
- If it’s wrong, upload a corrected file, or remove it entirely if you don’t need one.
How to protect your Search Console account
- Turn on 2-Step Verification for your Google account, preferably with a passkey or security key.
- In Search Console, check Settings > Users and permissions and remove anyone you don’t recognise; also check unverified owner tokens.
- Don’t store hosting or FTP passwords in your email. Use a password manager.
- Check the disavow file after any hack, and include it in your website security checks.
Do you need a disavow file at all?
Usually not. Use it only if you have a manual action for unnatural links or you knowingly built spammy links you can’t remove. See how to check for a manual action and when to worry about toxic backlinks. For more free tools from Google, see our list of free Google SEO tools.
FAQ
Where is the disavow tool in Search Console?
It isn’t in the main menu. Open it directly from Google’s help pages or the link above.
Does Google notify me when the disavow file changes?
No, so check it yourself after any security incident.
How long does it take to undo a bad disavow file?
Google needs to recrawl the affected links, which can take weeks or months.
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Most of our clients use one Google passwords so if email is hacked, for example, they can access everything from Adwords to Webmaster Tools. Hopefully people spiteful enough to do this kind of thing are few and far between but it is a good cautionary tale of the importance of good password security as you just never know.
This is brutal…
What a creative way to kill a website.
Wow, I’ve never heard of this before in the SEO field. Unreal article, this needs to be shared out to more of the industry. I’ll link in soon.
Hackers are giving hard time webmasters especially when important information of their clients is stolen. The irreparable loss of search engine traffic makes me to worry a lot.
A great way to get rid of those links that you have not been able to remove up until now and allow us webmasters to focus on acquiring those high-quality links that Google is looking for.
Recommended for experienced and well informed webmasters. Please use it carefully for your sites because if hacked everything is lost…
Nice data to see! I’ve never thought about the damage a hacker can cause if he gets access to the disavow file.There needs to be some way to secure it.
I use Google Webmaster tools, but I have never used their disavow links file because I’m hoping that the Google algorithms will be enough to protect my site.
How do you create the disavow links file?
Nice data to see! (that people’s priorities are wacked.. SEO sure but at the top?) Not the best use of the infographic medium though :p It’s a nice but unnecessarily decorated list that is now inaccessible and has no hyperlinks
That’s a scary situation.I’ve never thought about the damage a hacker can cause if he gets access to the disavow file.There needs to be some way to secure it.