how do you remove a link?

Depends where the link is. In your own content, WordPress, Google Docs and Word all have an unlink button (looks like a broken chain). Click inside the link, hit it, the text stays and the link goes. If it's a link to your site sitting on someone else's site, you email that site and ask. If it's spammy and they ignore you, the disavow tool in Search Console is the last resort, and most of the time you don't need it.