Learn about comment settings

YouTube Comments: Replying, filtering, & moderating

You can choose to hold some comments for review before they’re shown on your video or channel. Learn how to change your comment settings.

Comment settings for videos

You can choose to turn comments on, pause them, or turn them off for a specific video. When comments are turned on, you can decide which ones, if any, are held for review.

On

When you choose to turn comments On, you’ll also have the option to choose if they’ll be held for review. You can tap the Comment moderation drop down to view your options: 

  • None: Don’t hold any comments.
  • Basic: Hold potentially inappropriate comments.
  • Strict: Hold a broader range of potentially inappropriate comments.
  • Hold all: Hold all comments.
Tip: If there are more words or phrases you want to hold for review, add them to your blocked words list.

Comments held for review are:

  • Kept in YouTube Studio for up to 60 days.
  • Aren’t publicly visible, unless you approve them.
  • Available for review in over 100 languages.
Pause

When you choose the Pause option, you’ll keep your existing comments, but you won’t receive any more on that video until you turn comments back on. 

You may choose to pause comments for various reasons. For example, you might want more time to review a sudden increase in comments on a video, without new comments coming in. If you want to start getting new comments again, you can turn comments On at any time.

Off 

When you choose to turn comments Off, viewers can’t comment on the video. They’ll see a message letting them know that comments have been turned off.

Channel-level comment settings

Hidden users

You can choose to hide comments from specific commenters across all videos on your channel.
Note: Hidden users also cannot create clips of your videos and live streams. Learn more.

Approved users

Comments from these users are automatically published and won't be filtered for blocked links, blocked words, or potentially inappropriate content. These users will also be able to send messages in live chat when the live commentary participant mode is on.
Blocked words
You can add a list of words and phrases that you don’t want to show in comments to your blocked words lists.
Comments containing or closely matching these terms may be held for review for up to 60 days, unless they’re from someone on your approved user list. Live chat messages containing or closely matching these terms will also be blocked.
Comments with blocked words can be reviewed and approved on your Comments page, under the “Held for review” tab.
To add to your blocked words lists:
  1. Open YouTube Studio.
  2. From the left, click Settings and then Community.
  3. Under the "Automated Filters" tab, scroll to "Blocked words."
  4. Add words and phrases separated by commas.
  5. Select SAVE.
Note: Blocked words also cannot be used when creating clips of your videos and live streams. Learn more.
Block comments with links
You can hold comments that contain URLs for review. Here's how:
  1. Open YouTube Studio.
  2. From the left, click Settings and then Community.
  3. Under the "Automated Filters" tab, select Block links.
Comments with links aren't blocked if they're posted by you, moderators, or approved users.
Live chat messages with URLs are also blocked.
Comments with hashtags and links can be reviewed and approved on your Comments page, under the “Held for review” tab for up to 60 days.

Default comment settings

You can apply the same comment setting to all new video uploads. Changing your default settings for new video uploads will not impact existing videos.
You can choose different comment settings for individual videos after upload. Learn how to change your default comment settings for new videos.

Channel homepage comment settings

You can change your setting for new comments on the Community tab of your channel. Learn how to change your comment settings.

FAQ about comment settings

Can I block certain words, links, or users from one specific video?

No. Hidden users, blocked words, and link blocking automatically apply to all videos and to your channel homepage. Changes to your settings may also apply to new and existing videos.
Note: Changes to your comment settings only apply to new videos.

Can I review comments from hidden users?

No. Comments from hidden users don’t show in YouTube Studio.

Can I review comments that are blocked for specific words or links?

Yes. Comments with blocked words or links can be reviewed and approved on your Comments page, under the “Held for review” tab for up to 60 days.

If I turn comments off and back on again, do my old comments come back?

Yes. If you turn comments off and back on again, existing comments will reappear.
If you turn off comments, existing comments can’t be seen on the watch page or in YouTube Studio.

If I change my settings, are existing and future comments impacted?

Changes to channel-level settings, video-level settings and blocked words, hidden users, and blocked links will all apply to future comments. 

Existing comments are only impacted if you:

  • Turn off comments on a video. When turned off, you won’t see existing comments until you turn comments back on. 
  • Hide a user. If a user is hidden, the comments they’ve made won’t show up on any of your videos.

What kind of comments are held for review in Basic and Strict mode?

Selecting Basic comment moderation will hold comments in YouTube Studio that may be spam, self-promotion, gibberish, or potentially inappropriate. These comments will only be published if you approve them. 

If you want a higher level of protection for your channel, selecting Strict comment moderation will increase the number of comments held for review.

Since these settings use AI to detect comments that should be held, they may not always get it right. Channel owners can choose to either ignore, remove, or approve the comments that appear on their videos.

You can share feedback directly in the product when reviewing comments in YouTube Studio by selecting Send feedback.

The accuracy and number of comments found by these settings may change as we work to improve our systems over time.

What are search shortcuts, and can I remove them?

While reading comments, users may see certain keywords in blue text. They can click these keywords, called “search shortcuts,” to search for that term on YouTube. Search shortcuts are automatically added by YouTube to select videos, and you can’t add, adjust, or remove them.

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