How to Remove Negative Keywords from AdWords: A Step-by-Step Guide

Removing negative keywords from Google Ads (formerly AdWords) takes about 30 seconds once you know where to look. You can delete them at the campaign level, ad group level, or from shared negative keyword lists—each location requires a slightly different path. This guide walks you through every method with exact click-by-click instructions.

Negative keywords are supposed to save you money by blocking irrelevant searches. But here's the thing—your business changes, search behavior evolves, and sometimes you accidentally block terms that are actually bringing in qualified traffic.

Maybe you added 'free' as a negative six months ago, but now you're running a free trial promotion. Or perhaps you were too aggressive with broad match negatives and you're inadvertently blocking valuable long-tail queries that could convert beautifully.

Whatever the reason, knowing how to remove negative keywords from AdWords is just as important as knowing how to add them. This guide covers every scenario: removing negatives from individual campaigns, ad groups, and shared lists. We'll also cover how to identify which negatives might be hurting your performance in the first place.

Let's get into it.

Step 1: Access Your Negative Keywords Panel in Google Ads

First things first—you need to navigate to where Google Ads actually stores your negative keywords. The interface has changed over the years, but the current setup makes this pretty straightforward.

Open your Google Ads account and look at the left sidebar. Click on "Keywords" in the navigation menu. You'll see a dropdown or submenu appear—click on "Negative Keywords." This takes you to the dedicated negative keywords dashboard where all your blocking terms live.

Here's where it gets interesting: Google Ads shows you negatives in different views depending on what you need. By default, you'll see a campaign-level view that displays all negative keywords organized by which campaign they belong to.

But you can also switch to an ad group view by using the filter options at the top of the page. This is crucial because negative keywords can exist at both the campaign level (blocking searches across all ad groups in that campaign) and at the ad group level (blocking searches only within that specific ad group). Understanding what negative keywords are in Google Ads helps you manage these different levels effectively.

Use the filter dropdown to narrow down your view. If you're managing dozens of campaigns, searching for a specific negative keyword becomes way easier when you use the search bar at the top. Just type in the term you're looking for, and Google Ads will show you every instance of that negative across all campaigns and ad groups.

Pro tip: If you're not seeing the negative keyword you expected, make sure you're viewing the right level. Toggle between "Campaign negative keywords" and "Ad group negative keywords" using the tabs or filters. Many advertisers waste time searching in the wrong view.

The interface also shows you the match type for each negative—exact match, phrase match, or broad match. This matters because when you remove a negative keyword, you're removing that specific match type version. If you had both broad match and exact match versions of the same negative, you'd need to remove each one separately.

Once you've located the negative keyword you want to remove, you're ready for the next step.

Step 2: Remove Negative Keywords at the Campaign Level

Campaign-level negatives are the heavy hitters. They block searches across every ad group within that campaign, making them powerful but also risky if you're blocking something you shouldn't be.

To remove a campaign-level negative, start by selecting the specific campaign from your negative keywords view. You can do this by clicking on the campaign name or using the campaign filter dropdown to isolate just that campaign's negatives.

Once you're viewing the campaign's negative keywords, you'll see a list of all the terms currently blocking traffic. Each negative keyword has a checkbox next to it. Click the checkbox for the keyword you want to remove. You can select multiple keywords at once if you need to clean up several at the same time.

After selecting your keywords, look for the "Remove" button. In most Google Ads interfaces, this appears as a trash can icon or a text button labeled "Remove" near the top of the table. Click it.

Google Ads will ask you to confirm the deletion. This is your last chance to double-check that you're removing the right keywords. The confirmation dialog usually shows you which keywords you're about to delete and which campaign they're in. Review it carefully—there's no undo button in Google Ads.

Click "Remove" or "Confirm" in the dialog box. The keyword disappears from your list immediately. But here's an important detail: changes in Google Ads don't always reflect instantly in the interface. Refresh your browser or navigate away and back to verify the negative keyword is actually gone.

Within a few minutes, your ads will start being eligible for searches that were previously blocked by that negative keyword. Depending on your traffic volume, you might see impressions start coming in for those terms within hours.

One thing to watch out for: if you're removing a broad match negative keyword, you're potentially opening the floodgates to a lot of search queries. Broad match negatives block variations and close matches, so removing one can suddenly make your ads eligible for dozens of related searches. Monitor your Search Terms Report closely after removing broad match negatives to make sure you're not letting in junk traffic.

Step 3: Remove Negative Keywords at the Ad Group Level

Ad group negatives work differently than campaign negatives, and understanding the distinction matters when you're trying to remove them.

Campaign-level negatives block searches across all ad groups in that campaign. Ad group negatives only block searches within that specific ad group. This gives you surgical precision—you can block a term in one ad group while still allowing it in another ad group within the same campaign.

To remove an ad group negative, you need to navigate to the specific ad group first. From your main Google Ads dashboard, click "Ad groups" in the left sidebar. Find and click on the ad group that contains the negative keyword you want to remove.

Once you're inside that ad group, look for the "Keywords" section and then click on "Negative Keywords." This shows you only the negatives that apply to this specific ad group. It won't show campaign-level negatives—those live at a different level.

Select the negative keyword you want to remove by clicking its checkbox. Then click the "Remove" button, just like you did at the campaign level. Confirm the deletion when prompted.

Here's a strategic question you should ask yourself before removing an ad group negative: Should this negative exist at the campaign level instead? If you're finding that a term needs to be blocked in multiple ad groups, it's more efficient to add negative keywords to all campaigns rather than maintaining it separately in each ad group.

Conversely, if you're removing an ad group negative because it's blocking good traffic in that ad group but you still want it blocked elsewhere in the campaign, leave it alone and focus on refining your ad group targeting instead.

The ad group negative removal process is identical to campaign-level removal in terms of mechanics—select, click remove, confirm. But the strategic thinking behind when and why to remove at this level requires more nuance.

After removing an ad group negative, that ad group's keywords become eligible for searches that were previously blocked. Your other ad groups remain unaffected. This is useful when you're running different offers or targeting different audience segments within the same campaign and need different negative keyword strategies for each.

Step 4: Edit or Delete Keywords from Shared Negative Keyword Lists

Shared negative keyword lists are one of Google Ads' most powerful features, especially if you're managing multiple campaigns or working at an agency. But they're also where things can get tricky when you need to remove keywords.

A shared list is a collection of negative keywords that you can apply to multiple campaigns at once. Instead of adding the same 50 negative keywords to 10 different campaigns individually, you create one shared list and link it to all 10 campaigns. Update the list once, and all linked campaigns update automatically.

To access shared lists, click on "Tools & Settings" in the top right corner of Google Ads. Under the "Shared Library" section, click "Negative keyword lists." This shows you all the shared lists you've created, along with how many campaigns each list is applied to.

Click on the name of the list that contains the negative keyword you want to remove. This opens the list and shows you all the keywords inside it. You'll see a table similar to the campaign-level negative keywords view, with checkboxes next to each term.

Here's the critical thing to understand: When you remove a keyword from a shared list, you're removing it from every single campaign that uses that list. If the list is applied to 20 campaigns, all 20 campaigns will immediately stop blocking that search term.

This is incredibly powerful for bulk management, but it can also cause problems if you're not careful. Before removing a keyword from a shared list, ask yourself: Do I want this change to affect all campaigns using this list, or just some of them?

If you only want to remove the negative from specific campaigns, you have two options. Option one: Unlink the shared list from those specific campaigns and manage their negatives separately. To do this, go to the campaign settings, find the "Negative keywords" section, and remove the association with the shared list.

Option two: Create a new shared list without the problematic keyword, and apply that new list to the campaigns where you want different negative keyword rules. This keeps your management centralized while allowing for variations. If you need help building effective lists, check out this guide on negative keywords lists for Google Ads.

To actually remove a keyword from the shared list, select it using the checkbox and click "Remove." Confirm the deletion. The change takes effect immediately across all linked campaigns.

One more thing: Shared lists are especially useful for blocking brand terms (if you're not the brand owner), adult content terms, or industry-standard junk queries. Many agencies maintain a master shared list of universal negatives that gets applied to every client campaign. Removing something from that master list is a big decision that affects everyone, so document your reasoning and communicate the change to your team.

Step 5: Identify Which Negative Keywords Are Blocking Good Traffic

Removing negative keywords is easy once you know where they are. The harder question is: How do you know which negatives are actually hurting your performance?

Your best tool for this is the Search Terms Report. Access it by clicking "Search terms" under the Keywords section in the left sidebar. This report shows you the actual queries people typed into Google that triggered your ads. But here's the thing—it only shows searches that got through your negative keyword filters.

What it doesn't show is all the searches your negative keywords blocked. Google Ads doesn't provide a direct report of "blocked queries," which makes troubleshooting more detective work than data analysis.

Start by looking for patterns in what's missing. If you're advertising running shoes but you're getting zero impressions for queries containing "marathon," check your negative keyword list. You might have accidentally added "marathon" as a negative when you meant to block "marathon photos" or "marathon streaming."

Low impression volume on keywords that should be performing well is another red flag. If you're bidding on "affordable web design" but getting barely any impressions, a broad match negative like "cheap" might be blocking variations like "affordable" because Google interprets them as similar. Learning how match types work for negative keywords helps you avoid these conflicts.

Here's a practical exercise: Export your target keywords and your negative keywords to separate spreadsheets. Cross-reference them manually. Look for conflicts where a negative keyword could logically block a target keyword, especially with phrase match and broad match negatives.

For example, if you have "free" as a broad match negative but "free consultation" as a target keyword, the negative will win. Your ads won't show for "free consultation" queries because the negative keyword blocks them before your target keyword even gets a chance.

Broad match negatives are the most common culprits for over-blocking. A broad match negative for "jobs" doesn't just block the word "jobs"—it blocks "careers," "employment," "hiring," and other variations Google considers related. If you're seeing low impression volume across multiple related terms, a broad match negative might be too aggressive.

Another diagnostic approach: Temporarily pause your negative keywords (or specific ones you suspect) and monitor what happens. This is risky because you might let in junk traffic, but it's sometimes the only way to confirm that a negative is blocking valuable searches. Run this test for a day or two with a close eye on your Search Terms Report, then re-enable your negatives and remove only the problematic ones.

Pay attention to seasonal changes too. That "Christmas" negative you added in January made sense then, but if you're still blocking it in November when you're trying to run holiday promotions, you're shooting yourself in the foot. Reviewing mistakes to avoid when managing negative keywords can help you catch these oversights.

Finally, talk to your sales or customer service team. They hear the language real customers use. If they're telling you people frequently ask about "budget-friendly options" but you're not seeing those searches in your reports, check if "budget" is on your negative keyword list.

Step 6: Bulk Remove Multiple Negative Keywords at Once

When you need to remove dozens or hundreds of negative keywords, clicking through them one by one isn't practical. Google Ads offers bulk management tools, and understanding how to use them saves massive amounts of time.

The simplest bulk removal method is right in the Google Ads interface. From your negative keywords view, select multiple keywords by clicking their checkboxes. You can select all keywords on the current page by clicking the checkbox in the table header, or use Ctrl+click (Cmd+click on Mac) to select specific keywords scattered throughout the list.

Once you've selected multiple keywords, the "Remove" button works the same way it does for single keywords. Click it, confirm the bulk deletion, and all selected negatives disappear at once. This works well for removing up to a few dozen keywords, but the interface can get clunky with larger selections.

For serious bulk operations, Google Ads Editor is your friend. This is a free desktop application from Google that lets you manage campaigns offline and then upload changes in bulk. Download it from the Google Ads website if you don't already have it installed.

Open Google Ads Editor and download your account data. Navigate to the "Keywords and targeting" section, then click "Campaign negative keywords" or "Ad group negative keywords" depending on what you need to edit. You'll see all your negatives in a spreadsheet-like interface.

In Google Ads Editor, you can filter, sort, and select negative keywords with much more flexibility than the web interface. Select the negatives you want to remove and press the Delete key. The changes stay local until you click "Post" to upload them to Google Ads.

Before you post bulk changes, use the "Review changes" feature in Google Ads Editor. This shows you exactly what you're about to change, giving you one last chance to catch mistakes before they go live.

Another powerful technique: Export your negative keywords to a CSV file. In the Google Ads web interface, look for the download icon (usually looks like a downward arrow) above your negative keywords table. Export the data, open it in Excel or Google Sheets, and review your entire negative keyword list in a format that's easy to analyze.

You can delete rows in the spreadsheet, clean up duplicates, fix typos, and reorganize your negatives. When you're done, save the file and re-upload it using Google Ads Editor or the bulk upload tool in the web interface. This is especially useful when you're inheriting a messy account or doing a major audit.

Here's a best practice that will save you from disaster: Before you bulk delete anything, document what you're removing and why. Create a simple spreadsheet with columns for the keyword, which campaign/ad group it was in, the date you removed it, and your reasoning. If performance tanks after your changes, you'll know exactly what to restore.

Some advertisers take this a step further and keep a "negative keyword graveyard"—a separate shared list where they move negatives before permanently deleting them. This gives you a safety net. If you realize you made a mistake, you can quickly restore the negatives from the graveyard list instead of trying to remember what you deleted.

Putting It All Together

Quick Reference Checklist:

□ Access negative keywords via Keywords > Negative Keywords

□ Check both campaign-level and ad group-level negatives

□ Review shared negative keyword lists in Tools & Settings

□ Use Search Terms Report to identify blocking issues

□ Document changes before bulk deletions

□ Verify removals took effect by refreshing your view

Removing negative keywords is straightforward once you understand Google Ads' structure. The key is knowing that negatives can live in three places—campaigns, ad groups, and shared lists—and checking all three when troubleshooting.

Make it a habit to audit your negative keyword lists quarterly to ensure they're still aligned with your current marketing goals. Your business evolves, your offers change, and your negative keywords should evolve with them. What made sense to block six months ago might be costing you valuable traffic today. If you need to rebuild your strategy, learn how to find negative keywords that actually protect your budget.

The most common mistake advertisers make isn't adding too many negatives—it's forgetting to remove them when circumstances change. Set a recurring calendar reminder to review your negatives. Look for overly aggressive broad match negatives, seasonal terms that are no longer relevant, and conflicts with your current target keywords.

And remember: there's no undo button in Google Ads. Export your negative keyword list before making major changes, document what you remove and why, and monitor your Search Terms Report closely after making changes. This gives you the data you need to optimize confidently without accidentally sabotaging your own campaigns.

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