How to Check and Revoke Token Approvals
When you use a decentralised app, you often approve a contract to spend your tokens. Those permissions stay active until you revoke them.
Updated October 14, 2026 • Dust Sweeper Team
What a token approval is
An approval lets a smart contract spend a specified amount of one of your tokens. Many apps request an unlimited amount for convenience. If that contract is later exploited, or you approved a malicious one, the permission can be abused without another signature from you.
How to check approvals
- Pick a network. Approvals are separate on each network.
- Open an approval checker, either your block explorer’s token approvals page or a dedicated tool such as Revoke.cash, and enter your public address.
- Sort by value at risk or by unlimited allowances.
- Identify apps you still use and contracts you do not recognise.
How to revoke
- Connect your wallet to the approval tool on the right network.
- Choose the approval to revoke and confirm the transaction. Revoking costs a small network fee.
- Repeat for each unrecognised or unused approval, prioritising unlimited ones on valuable tokens.
What revoking does not do
Revoking removes a contract’s permission. It does not recover funds already stolen or fix a compromised seed phrase. If your keys are exposed, move assets to a new wallet instead.
Approvals and dust cleanup
Review approvals before consolidating dust. Tokens that you cannot sell, or that arrived unsolicited, are a common source of approval requests you should decline.
Frequently asked questions
Do approvals expire?
Most do not. They stay active until you revoke them or the amount is used up.
Is approving a token the same as sending it?
No. An approval grants permission to spend. Funds only move when the contract uses it.
How often should I review approvals?
Monthly or after using a new app is a sensible routine.
Dust Sweeper is a non-custodial tool: it reads your public address and every swap or bridge is a transaction you review and sign yourself. It never needs your seed phrase.
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