Why Do My YouTube Comments Disappear?
A comment you can still see under the video may be invisible to everyone else. YouTube's filters and each channel's own settings decide, and the channel owner sees the other side.
Why do my YouTube comments disappear? Usually because they were never published to anyone but you. YouTube's spam detection or the channel's own moderation settings held the comment for review, and a held comment is shown to its author but hidden from everyone else until the channel approves it. Links, blocked words, repeated text and posting many comments quickly are the most common triggers.
Less often, the comment really was removed: the channel owner deleted it, someone reported it and it broke YouTube's Community Guidelines, or the channel hid you from its comments. And sometimes it's only out of view: a comment that doesn't appear under Top comments may be there under Newest first. The fix depends on which of these happened, and the channel owner is the only person who can see most of the answer.
The confusing part is that a held comment looks published to the person who wrote it. You post, the comment appears under the video, you close the page. Nobody replies, and when you check from another account or a friend looks, it isn't there. YouTube's own help center notes that removed or held comments are sometimes still visible to the commenter but not to other viewers.
On the other side of the screen, the channel owner sees those comments in YouTube Studio, in a Held for review queue. YouTube used to split this into two tabs, Held for review and Likely spam, and has folded likely spam into the Held for review tab. Comments there stay for up to 60 days. If the owner approves one, it's published; if they reject it or do nothing, it never appears to anyone else.
So a disappearing comment is usually a message sitting in someone else's inbox, not a deleted one. The channel owner may not even know it's there, especially on a large channel. That's also why comments on a video are only partly in the video owner's hands: the settings are theirs, the spam detection is YouTube's, and both apply to every comment that arrives, including ones a creator arranges through YouTube comments.
Why are my YouTube comments disappearing?
YouTube's help center on comments that aren't showing lists the causes. In practice they fall into these groups:
- Held for review by YouTube's spam detection. It looks at the text and at behavior, and flags things like posting many comments in a short time, repeating the same comment, including links, or heavy use of emoji or unusual characters.
- Held by the channel's moderation level. Channels choose None, Basic, Strict or Hold all. Basic and Strict hold potentially inappropriate comments; Hold all holds everything until approved.
- Held because of a blocked word. Channels can list words and phrases; comments containing or closely matching them are held for up to 60 days.
- Held because it contains a link, if the channel has chosen to hold comments with links.
- Hidden because the channel hid you as a user, which hides your comments on every video on that channel.
- Removed by the channel owner, or removed after a report for breaking the Community Guidelines.
- Not removed at all, just sorted out of view: a comment missing from Top comments may appear under Newest first.
Why does YouTube delete my comments?
When YouTube itself removes a comment, rather than holding it, it's because its systems or a reviewer found it breaks the Community Guidelines. Spam is the most common reason. The help center describes automatic detection that scans comments for violations and names the behaviors that often get flagged: high volume in a short time, repeated identical comments, links, and unusual characters.
You may get a notification saying a comment was removed for violating the guidelines, or that commenting has been temporarily paused on your account. A pause is usually the result of a pattern rather than one comment, so if it happens, slow down, stop repeating text, and leave links out for a while.
Why are my comments being deleted on YouTube when they're harmless?
Because the filters look at patterns, not intent. A friendly comment with a link to your own channel, the same compliment posted under several videos, or a quick run of replies in a live chat can all look like spam to an automated system. YouTube says its detection isn't always correct and that channel owners' reviews help it learn. Nothing about that is personal, and it's also why comments that promote another channel are the ones most often caught.
Why can't people see my comments on YouTube?
If you can see your comment and others can't, it's held or hidden. The three likely reasons, in order of frequency:
- It's in the channel's Held for review queue, waiting for approval that may never come.
- The channel has hidden you as a user, so all your comments on that channel are visible only to you.
- It's there, but sorted out of the default Top comments view. Ask someone to switch to Newest first.
How to check whether your comment is visible
Open the video in a private browser window where you're signed out, switch the comments to Newest first, and look for yours. If it isn't there, it was held or removed. If it's there only when signed in as you, it's held or you're hidden. There's no notification when a comment is held, so this is the only way to know from the commenter's side.
What the channel owner sees in YouTube Studio
In YouTube Studio, the Comments page has a Published tab and a Held for review tab. The held tab now collects both comments held under the channel's settings and comments YouTube's systems flagged as likely spam. From there the owner can approve, remove, or report each comment, and can hide the user from the channel.
The settings live under Settings, then Community. That's where the owner chooses the moderation level, adds blocked words, decides whether to hold comments with links, and manages approved and hidden users. Approved users' comments skip the filters; hidden users' comments are hidden across the channel. If you run a channel and comments seem to vanish, check the held tab first: legitimate comments often wait there for weeks unnoticed.
For channel owners, comments are part of how a video reads to a newcomer. A video with a real conversation under it signals that people watched, which is also the logic behind YouTube engagement rate as a measure of a video's pull.
How to unblock someone on YouTube comments
If you hid a user from your channel and want their comments back, do it from YouTube Studio:
- Open YouTube Studio and go to Settings, then Community.
- Find the list of hidden users.
- Remove the person from the list and save.
- Their future comments will follow your normal moderation settings. Comments held while they were hidden may still need review in the Held for review tab.
What if a channel hid you?
You can't see that list or undo it from your side. Your comments on that channel will keep appearing only to you. The only route is to contact the creator some other way and ask; the setting is theirs alone.
What comment filters mean for creators
Filters cut both ways for a channel. They keep spam out, and they also hold back legitimate comments that happen to include a link or a blocked word. A channel set to Strict or Hold all will look quieter than its real audience unless someone reviews the queue.
The visible comment count and the replies under a video are what a new viewer reads as proof that others watched, just as the view count is. That's the job YouTube comments do: you write the lines, and they're posted under the public video. They go through the same spam detection and the same channel settings as any other comment, so they can be held or filtered exactly like the rest. For the other public counts under a video, see YouTube likes, and for every YouTube service on this site, the YouTube hub. If you want to know who is behind the views themselves, can you see who views your YouTube videos explains why YouTube never shows names.
Questions people ask about disappearing YouTube comments
Why do my YouTube comments disappear after I post them?
Most are held for review by YouTube's spam detection or the channel's moderation settings. You can still see a held comment, but other viewers can't until the channel approves it.
Why does YouTube delete my comments?
YouTube removes comments that break its Community Guidelines, most often spam. Frequent posting, repeated text, links and heavy emoji or unusual characters are common triggers.
Can other people see my held comment on YouTube?
No. Held comments are visible to their author and to the channel in YouTube Studio, and are published only if the channel approves them. They stay in the queue for up to 60 days.
Why can't I find my comment under a YouTube video?
It may be held, hidden, or just sorted out of Top comments. Check Newest first while signed out in a private window to see what others see.
How do I unhide someone on YouTube comments?
In YouTube Studio, go to Settings, then Community, find the hidden users list, remove the person, and save. Their future comments follow your normal moderation settings.
Does YouTube tell you when your comment is held for review?
No. There's no notification for a held comment. You may be notified when a comment is removed for breaking the guidelines or when commenting is paused on your account.
Keep reading
- YouTube comments — The conversation under a video is what a newcomer reads as proof others watched, and YouTube comments post the lines you write.
- How to calculate YouTube engagement rate — Where comments fit among the signals a video sends.
- Can you see who views your YouTube videos — Why YouTube shows counts but never names.