How To Turn Off Comments On YouTube In 2024

Aug 13, 2023 18 min read

Agree with the fact that YouTube comments are worthwhile.

Unfortunately, most people are NOT commenting to contribute or to forge a sense of community. They're simply using the comments section as their personal stage for a private & selfish agenda.

This enables them to hijack your audience's attention (which should rather be on your content). And as a creator, you are entitled to free yourself of any annoying commercial communications as well as selfish, useless, & spam stick in the YouTube comments section by turning it off.

YouTube has made it easier to wipe out inappropriate, irrelevant, and offensive comments so you can spend time engaging with the people who matter most. But if you don't want to deal with comments at all and avoid inappropriate comments completely, you can simply turn them off.

This guide will help you better deal with such unhelpful & unfriendly YouTube comments by providing answers to several questions such as the ones listed below.

You can directly jump to a section of your choice or keep scrolling

Why Are Comments Turned Off On YouTube?

YouTube comments are as fun as the videos. Viewers get an opportunity to share their views and opinions in this interactive space. But not all comments are kind and positive. Sometimes you might receive some rude YouTube comments or the comments section holds inappropriate stuff.

If your YouTube comments section gets seized by spammers who tend to promote their own services, it dilutes the message you wish to convey to your audience as well as disrupts the quality of your YouTube videos.

Allowing such trolling results in their own defamation, which is not a situation any company would like to find themselves in, least of all Apple, which has over time, accumulated quite a few haters. To avoid having a flame war start-up in their YouTube comments section, Apple has turned off comments on the YouTube page.

Apple YouTube

Image Source: Apple YouTube

By turning off YouTube comments, every user can view your video, like, share or dislike it, but they won't be able to drop a comment on your video.

YouTube has implemented this system in compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Every YouTube creator, regardless of their location, is legally required to comply with them.

YouTube comments are automatically made unavailable when a video is private, or the channel or video's audience has been made for kids.

YouTube already has some automatic spam moderation features, but they aren’t entirely reliable. Some users and their spam YouTube comments on your video can still slip through. In such scenarios, to turn off comments on YouTube is a favorable option. This will eventually minimize the damage such unfavorable and opposing people can do to you and your YouTube community.

Where To Find YouTube Creator Studio?

Method #1: Locate to YouTube Creator Studio and log in to your account (if you aren't already logged in).

Method #2: Navigate to YouTube. Click on your profile icon located at the very top right-hand corner of the page. From the menu opened, click on “YouTube Studio.”

How To Turn Off Comments On YouTube?

Step 1: Visit your YouTube Creator Studio.

Step 2: From the left side of the dashboard panel, select the “Content” option. All the videos that you have uploaded on your YouTube channel will appear on your screen.

How To Turn Off Comments On YouTube

Step 3: Move to the video whose comment you wish to turn off. Click on the pencil-shaped icon located next to the video thumbnail.

How To Turn Off Comments On YouTube

Step 4: Under the “Audience” section, select “No, it's not made for kids.”

How To Turn Off Comments On YouTube

Step 5: Scroll down until you see “SHOW MORE” & click on it.

Step 6: Navigate to the “Comments and ratings” section. Click the drop-down icon next to the “Comment visibility” section & select the “Disable comments” option to turn off comments on YouTube.

How To Turn Off Comments On YouTube

How To Turn Off Comments On YouTube

Step 7: After you have made all required changes, choose “Save” from the top right corner of the dashboard panel to save the changes.

How To Turn Off Comments On YouTube

Note: In Step 4, if you select “Yes, it's made for kids.”, the comment visibility will automatically be set to “Disable comments,” and you won’t be able to change it either.

How To Turn Off Comments On YouTube

Read more about how to turn off comments on Facebook post

How To Disable Comments On My YouTube Channel?

Step 1: Navigate to your YouTube Creator Studio and select “Settings” from the left side of the dashboard panel.

How To Disable Comments On My YouTube Channel

Step 2: From the Settings box that comes up, click “Channel.” Then select “Advanced settings” from the top of the box.

How To Disable Comments On My YouTube Channel

Step 3: From the “Audience” section, select “No, set this channel as not made for kids. I never upload content that's made for kids.” Select “Upload defaults” from the left panel, then select “Advanced settings” from the top.

Step 4: Navigate to the “Comments” section, click on the drop-down menu and select “Disabled comments.” Click “Save” from the bottom right corner to apply the changes made.

How To Disable Comments On My YouTube Channel

Note: In Step 3, if you select “Yes, set this channel as made for kids. I always upload content that's made for kids.”, you won't be able to proceed further as the comment visibility will automatically be set to “Disable comments” in the “Upload defaults” section and you won’t be able to change it either.

How To Disable Comments On My YouTube Channel

How To Enable Comments On YouTube?

Suppose you change your mind after you have turned off comments on YouTube videos. Now, you wish to know how to enable comments on YouTube. Follow the below steps to enable comments on YouTube.

Step 1: Open your YouTube Creator Studio. Select “Settings” from the left side of the dashboard panel.
Step 2: Click “Channel” from the settings box. Select the “Advanced settings” tab from the top.
Step 3: From the “Audience” section, choose “No, set this channel as not made for kids. I never upload content that’s made for kids.”
Step 4: Click on “Upload defaults” from the left panel & then select the “Advanced settings” tab from the top.
Step 5: Navigate to the “Comments” section, click on the drop-down menu & select “Allow all comments.” Click “Save” from the bottom right corner to apply the changes.

While you learn how to enable comments on YouTube, remember that you can adjust your preferences if you would like to hold some inappropriate YouTube comments for review or if you would like to hold all comments for review.

Note that the setting of how to enable comments on YouTube applies to all videos of your channel.

How To Turn On Comments On YouTube?

To know how to turn on comments on YouTube, follow the steps given below:

Step 1: Visit your YouTube Creator Studio.
Step 2: Select the “Content” option from the left side of the dashboard panel.
Step 3: Move to the video whose comment you wish to enable. Click on the pencil-shaped icon located next to the video thumbnail.
Step 4: Under the “Audience” section, select “No, it’s not made for kids.”
Step 5: Navigate to the “Comments and ratings” section at the bottom. Click the drop-down icon located next to the “Comment visibility” section.
Step 6: From the menu opened up, select the “Allow all comments” option.
Step 7: Choose “Save” from the top right corner of the dashboard panel to save the changes.

The setting of how to turn on comments on YouTube applies to specific videos of your YouTube channel.

Can You Delete Comments On YouTube?

Short Answer: Yes.

Long Answer: Mainly, there are two reasons why anyone would want to know “Can you delete comments on YouTube?”

Can you delete comments on YouTube reason #1: As a creator, if you feel that you have been getting rude, spam, unwanted, or troll YouTube comments on your channel, you can choose to delete them.

Can you delete comments on YouTube reason #2: Alternatively, if you made a mistake while commenting on your or someone else’s video, you can delete those YouTube comments as well.

Note that you cannot delete comments made on others on someone else’s YouTube video.

How To Delete YouTube Comments?

This section talks about how you can delete any comment on your YouTube videos and how to delete the comment that you left on someone's video.

How To Delete YouTube Comments On Your Video?

If you are confident enough that some of the YouTube comments on your video are against the guidelines, YouTube gives you the right to delete them on your own using these steps.

Step 1: Navigate to your desired YouTube video whose comment you want to delete.

Step 2: Navigate to the comment section and locate the particular comment you wish to delete.

Step 3: Click the three vertical dots on the right-hand side of the comment.

Step 4: From the menu opened, select “Remove.”

How To Delete Your YouTube Comments On Other’s Video

Step 5: Once you click, an on-screen notification will appear showing “Comment removed.”

How To Delete Your YouTube Comments On Other’s Video

Note: This action will erase the comment along with the YouTube comment replies on your channel. A big advantage here is that if the comment replies are from spam or troll replies, they automatically get deleted when you delete your YouTube comments.

How To Delete Your YouTube Comments On Other’s Video?

YouTube provides you with an option to take down your comment on your own that you deem rude, disrespectful, or offensive towards other users. Alternatively, you can delete those YouTube comments which you think are no longer relevant.

Step 1: Go to YouTube. Search for the video on which you had commented. If you cannot find the video, you can go to Comment history, where you will find a list of all comments you have made until now.

Step 2: Navigate to the comment section and find the comment which you would like to delete.

Step 3: Click the three vertical dots on the right-hand side of the comment.

How To Delete YouTube Comments On Your Video

Step 4: From the menu opened, select “Delete.” Once you click, YouTube will ask to confirm if you would delete the comment permanently or cancel the action. Tap on “Delete” to confirm the action.

How To Delete YouTube Comments On Your Video

Step 5: An on-screen notification will appear showing “Comment Deleted,” which means your comment from the video has been deleted permanently. Make a note here that all replies to the comment will also be deleted if you delete your comment.

How To Delete YouTube Comments On Your Video

How To Delete All YouTube Comments?

Unfortunately, YouTube does not have an option to bulk delete all the YouTube comments you have made from your account on different channels. If you desire to get rid of everything you have ever said on this platform, you can choose to delete each comment individually by finding them from your comment history.

How To Hide YouTube Channel?

Since YouTube does not provide an option to bulk delete all comments made by others on your YouTube channel or a specific video, hiding your YouTube channel is one trick that helps you achieve the same goal.

To delete all the YouTube comments made until now on your channel in one go, hide your channel temporarily. This will delete all YouTube comments and your replies in the process. Once comments are deleted, you can activate your channel again, and the deleted comments will not be restored.

Note: Your subscribers count and likes will be temporarily hidden by performing this action.

Learn how to hide YouTube channel using these steps.

Step 1: Click on YouTube account advanced settings.

Step 2: Click on “Delete channel.”

How To Hide YouTube Channel

Step 3: You will have to sign in to your Google Account again for security purposes. After you enter your password, you will be displayed two options.

How To Hide YouTube Channel

Step 4: Once you click on “I want to hide my channel,” YouTube will show you what you can expect from this action.

How To Hide YouTube Channel

Step 5: Tick on all three checkboxes and select “HIDE MY CHANNEL.” A dialog box will appear asking for final confirmation. Once you click on “HIDE MY CONTENT,” the action will be completed.

How To Hide YouTube Channel

Step 6: It might take some time to delete all YouTube comments from your channel, so to be on the safer side, you should activate your channel after at least an hour.

How To Hide YouTube Channel

How To Unhide YouTube Channel?

Step 1: Go to YouTube. Click on your profile icon at the top right-hand side and select “YouTube Studio.”

OR

You can simply click on Create Channel.

Step 2: Enter your name (and upload your profile picture if you want) and click on “CREATE CHANNEL.” Now, you have successfully made your channel visible again.

How To Unhide YouTube Channel

How To Edit YouTube Comments?

If you are an avid consumer of YouTube content, you would probably have left thousands of comments on several different channels. However, there might have been typos in your comment especially if you had written them in a hurry. Or you might desire to include some relevant information to update your comment. In such scenarios, it is advisable to edit your YouTube comments using these steps.

Step 1: Go to Comment history, where you will find a list of all comments you have made until now.

Step 2: Locate the comment that you would like to edit. Open the video and scroll down to your comment.

Step 3: Click the three vertical dots on the right-hand side of the comment. From the menu opened, select “Edit.”

How To Edit YouTube Comments

Step 4: Once you click, you would be able to edit your comment. After you are done, you can click on “SAVE” from the right-hand side to save update your YouTube comment.

How To Edit YouTube Comments

Note: When you edit your YouTube comments, it does not rewrite the date on which you had posted the comment. But after you have saved changes, your comment will be visible with the word “edited” besides the date of posting, indicating that the original comment has been altered in some way.

How To Block Comments On YouTube?

YouTube trolls are produced at an alarming rate today. You might find certain users deliberately posting spam or offensive comments on your YouTube videos. YouTube provides you with an opportunity to block certain users from leaving their hateful YouTube comments. Before they get out of hand, use the below steps to block users from commenting on your videos.

Step 1: Navigate to YouTube Creator Studio and select “Comments” from the left side of the dashboard panel.

How To Block Comments On YouTube

Step 2: You will see a list of all public comments made until now on your YouTube channel. Navigate to any comment by the user who you wish to block. Click on their name to open their YouTube homepage.

Step 3: From the user’s homepage top menu, select “ABOUT.”

How To Block Comments On YouTube

Step 4: From the right-hand side, click on the Flag icon and select the “Block User” option from the drop-down list.

How To Block Comments On YouTube

Step 5: A dialog box will appear asking for the confirmation of the action. Click on “SUBMIT” to complete your action. That troll won't be bothering you anymore.

How To Block Comments On YouTube

How To Set YouTube Filters?

Instead of wasting your time reviewing the spam and troll comments and removing them individually, you can set up keyword filters that block YouTube comments with specific words.

Here’s how to set YouTube filters:

Step 1: Navigate to YouTube Creator Studio and select “Settings” from the left side of the dashboard.

Step 2: From the Settings box opened, select “Community” from the left side.

Step 3: Add the words you wish to block into the “Blocked words” box. Separate the words or group of words in the box by a comma. Click on “SAVE” once done.

How To Set YouTube Filters

Include words in the box that really have no reason to be said on your channel at all or anything else you don’t want to be said on your YouTube channel. Now every word you have added to the YouTube block list will be thrown into a filter that you can review.

How To Search Comments On YouTube?

Ctrl+f (on Windows) or cmd+f (on Mac) would be the traditional method for searching YouTube comments, but it's not a productive one. Learn how to search comments on YouTube using YouTube’s built-in feature by following these steps.

Step 1: Navigate to YouTube Creator Studio and select “Comments” from the left side of the dashboard panel.

Step 2: Click on the Filter icon. From the menu opened up, select “Search.”

How To Search Comments On YouTube

Step 3: The Search box will open up where you need to enter the keywords you would like to search for. Once you have entered keywords, click on the “APPLY'' option and YouTube filter will load the comments you are searching.

How To Search Comments On YouTube

How To Hide YouTube Comments?

When you hide someone on your YouTube channel, their comments will disappear from your YouTube videos. Hiding and blocking users are used for the same purpose. They will also be blocked from posting YouTube comments on any of your videos.

Note that both these actions (hiding or blocking users) won't prevent them from viewing YouTube comments on your videos. It will only stop them from engaging through comments, including live chats.

Method 1

Step 1: Navigate to YouTube Creator Studio and select “Settings” from the left side of the dashboard.

Step 2: From the Settings box opened, select “Community” from the left side.

Step 3: In the “Automated Filters” tab, you’ll find “Hidden users.” In the box below, you have to paste the channel URL of the user you wish to hide.

How To Hide YouTube Comments

Method 2

Step 1: Select “Comments” from the left side of the dashboard in YouTube Creator Studio.

Step 2: Click the three vertical dots beside the comment from a user whose comment you wish to hide.

Step 3: From the menu opened up, select “Hide user from channel.”

How To Hide YouTube Comments

How To Unhide YouTube Comments?

Once you unhide a user, they will be allowed to comment and engage with your YouTube videos (if you have not turned off YouTube comments on your video). However, previous comments from that user on your videos will still be hidden.

After you unhide the user, they will view their previous YouTube comments made on your video. However, any other viewer won’t be able to see their comments on your videos. Also, the particular user's comment will disappear from your YouTube Creator Studio’s comment section.

Method 1

Step 1: Navigate to YouTube Creator Studio and select “Settings” from the left side of the dashboard.

Step 2: From the settings box opened, select “Community” from the left side.

Step 3: In the “Automated Filters” tab, you’ll find “Hidden users.” In the box below, you will find the username of those whom you have hidden from your channel.

Step 4: If you want to unhide users, you will have to click on the cancel sign (X) next to their name.

Method 2

Step 1: Open the YouTube homepage of the user who you wish to unhide.

Step 2: Locate the “ABOUT” tab and click on the flag icon from the right side.

Step 3: Select the “Unblock user” option from the drop-down list.

How To Unhide YouTube Comments

Step 4: A dialog box will appear asking for the confirmation of the action. Click on “SUBMIT” to complete your action.

How To Unhide YouTube Comments

How To See YouTube Comment History?

Here are the steps to know your YouTube comment history through YouTube comment search.

Method 1

Step 1: Open YouTube. From the left-hand side of the screen, click on “History.”

Step 2: From the menu opened on the right-hand side, select “Comments” under "MANAGE ALL HISTORY" to see your YouTube comment history.

Your YouTube comment history will get displayed in chronological order, with your most recent comments appearing first.

How To See YouTube Comment History

Method 2

Click on YouTube Comment History, and you will directly land on the web page, which lists your YouTube comments in chronological order.

How To Report A YouTube Comment?

YouTube’s Community Guidelines are pretty vague. These guidelines authorize Google to determine what type of content should be allowed on the platform.

If you see any comment that goes against these guidelines, you can report it. The comment will go for review, and necessary actions will be taken. YouTube allows you to report comments made on someone else's video as well as your own videos.

Here’s how you can report a YouTube comment.

Method 1

Step 1: Go to the YouTube video whose comment you wish to report (it can be your video or someone else’s video).

Step 2: Scroll down to the comment section and locate the comment you want to report.

Step 3: Click the three vertical dots on the right-hand side of the video.

Step 4: From the menu opened up, click “Report.”

How To Report A YouTube Comment

Step 5: From the dialog opened, select the appropriate reason to report the comment. Once you have selected a proper reason, you need to click on “REPORT” to complete the action.

How To Report A YouTube Comment

Method 2

Step 1: Select “Comments” from the left side of the dashboard in YouTube Creator Studio.

Step 2: Click the three vertical dots beside the comment you wish to report. Click on a dialog will open, asking you to select the appropriate reason to report the comment.

Step 3: After you have selected an appropriate reason to report the comment, click on “REPORT” to complete the action.

Note:

  1. You can select only one reason for reporting the comment.

  2. If you choose “Harassment or bullying,” you would also be asked to choose amongst the two options.

How To Report A YouTube Comment

YouTube Comments Not Showing

Youtube comments do malfunction sometimes. So, if you are getting the “YouTube comments not showing” problem, you might try out the below-given remedies.

Sometimes the YouTube comments not showing problem can be with the Google account you are trying to sign in with. In such cases, play the video in YouTube’s incognito mode or an incognito window on your browser. Try using a different Google account to see if youtube comments show up.

Otherwise, you might face the YouTube comments not showing problems due to the accumulated cookies on your browser or phone. Try clearing website cookies & cached data from the YouTube app to see if it works for you.

What Does Highlighted Comment Mean On YouTube?

You might have seen a YouTube comment labeled as a "Highlighted comment." But, what does a highlighted comment mean on YouTube? What is a highlighted comment on YouTube?

YouTube also highlights comment replies, with different wording: Highlighted reply.

Highlighted comments are surely not a show of approval by the creator, nor are they voted by other users. YouTube highlighted comments are little more than a bookmarking feature.

Highlighting, an automated YouTube feature tries to simplify your browsing experience.

Highlighted comments take precedence over pinned YouTube comments. This means that they appear even above pinned comments. Highlighted comments are only aimed to simplify your browsing experience on YouTube and nothing else.

Highlighted YouTube comments

Image Source: Nerdschalk

How To Moderate Comments On YouTube?

As you grow your YouTube channel, engagements will increase. But your comment section would be a mix of positive YouTube comments from your genuine followers and unhelpful and harmful comments from spam, trolls, and bot.

As a creator, it's essential to filter and remove all such negative comments for the betterment of your YouTube channel. Moderating YouTube comments will allow you to keep your comment section clear and free from such invaluable comments.

Instead of disabling YouTube comments, you can choose to moderate them before they are published on your YouTube channel.

Understand more about How To Moderate Comments On YouTube

  • Statusbrew has a practical solution not just for comment moderation on YouTube but for other social media networks as well.

  • You can automatically manage your comment section by creating workflows using Statusbrew’s Rule Engine.

  • To manage multiple comments easily and efficiently, Statusbrew’s Engage feature syncs comments on your videos from multiple YouTube channels into a unified inbox.

  • From this inbox, you can reply, hide & delete YouTube comments without switching to multiple tabs.

  • Statusbrew allows you to manage and deal with YouTube comments along with your team. Assign comments within your team, use notes for internal communication, get notified when comments are replied and adopt permission-based workflows.

Want to discuss further? Book a free demo or start your free trial today!

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Rushali Das

Rushali is a content writer at Statusbrew. She is fond of writing content that compels people to slow down and look more closely to discover the unknown stories.

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