How to Disable Comments on YouTube Videos: Every Method

Spam bots, bad-faith trolls, or a comment section that’s drifted off-topic; whatever the reason, sometimes the right move for your channel is to turn comments off. The good news is that YouTube makes this fast, fully reversible, and gives you options well short of an all-or-nothing switch.

This guide covers every method, like turning comments off on one video, on all your videos at once, on future uploads by default, during a live stream, and the softer middle-ground options ( like pausing comments or holding them for review) that let you keep some control without shutting the conversation down completely.

Quick Answer: To turn off comments on a single video: open YouTube Studio → Content, click the video, scroll to “Comments and ratings,” and set it to Off. To do this for all your videos at once, select multiple videos on the Content page, choose Edit → Comments → Off, and update. To make it the default for everything you upload from now on, go to Settings → Community → Content controls and turn off comments on new uploads.

Every method below walks through the exact clicks.

Before You Turn Comments Off Completely, Know Your Other Options

Turning comments fully off is the blunt-instrument option. YouTube’s comment settings actually give you three states, not two:

• On: comments are visible immediately, or held for review first (more on this below).
• Pause: existing comments stay visible, but no new ones can be posted until you turn it back on. Useful if a video suddenly gets swarmed with comments and you want breathing room without erasing the conversation.
• Off: no one can comment, and existing comments disappear from view (they’re not deleted; see the FAQ).

If your actual problem is spam and low-effort comments rather than comments as a whole, it’s worth trying comment moderation before reaching for the Off switch:

• Basic: holds comments that look like spam, self-promotion, gibberish, or are potentially inappropriate, for your approval.
• Strict: holds a broader range of borderline comments.
• Hold all: every comment waits for your manual approval before it’s visible.

You can also maintain a blocked words list that automatically holds any comment containing specific terms, and hold comments that contain links. Both catch a large share of spam without silencing genuine viewers.

Held comments sit in YouTube Studio for up to 60 days awaiting your review, and they’re never publicly visible unless you approve them.

If none of that solves the problem, here’s how to turn comments off outright.

Related: Why Doesn’t YouTube Show the Exact Upload Date? (2026 Fix)

How to Turn Off Comments on a Single Existing Video

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. From the left menu, select Content.
3. Click the thumbnail of the video you want to edit.
4. Scroll down and click Show more.
5. Under “Comments and ratings,” set comments to Off.
6. Click Save.

That’s it. No one can comment on that video anymore, and viewers will see a message letting them know comments have been turned off.

How to Turn Off Comments on Multiple Videos at Once

If you’re cleaning up an entire back catalog rather than one video, use bulk editing instead of repeating the steps above one video at a time:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. From the left menu, select Content.
3. Check the boxes next to each video you want to update, or click the checkbox in the header row to select every video on the page.
4. Click Edit in the toolbar above the video list.
5. Choose Comments from the list of editable fields.
6. Select Off.
7. Click Update videos.

Larger batches take a few minutes to process. Once it’s done, none of the selected videos will accept new comments.

How to Turn Off Comments on All Future Uploads (Default Setting)

If you want every new video to upload with comments off automatically, without touching this setting every single time, change your channel default instead:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. Click Settings in the left menu.
3. Go to Community → Content controls.
4. Under “Comments on new uploads,” turn comments off.
5. Save your changes.

Two things worth knowing: this only affects videos you upload after making the change. It does not affect anything already published, and you can still override it on an individual video if you want to allow comments on something specific.

How to Turn Off Comments (Live Chat) on a Live Stream

Live chat runs on a separate system from regular video comments, and it resets for every new stream. YouTube doesn’t currently offer a way to make “chat off” a permanent default.

To disable live chat for a stream in progress or before you go live:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio and open the Live Control Room (or click Create → Go live).
2. Click Edit on your stream.
3. Go to the Customization tab.
4. Under “Live chat,” toggle Live Chat off.

Prefer to keep the conversation but limit who’s in it? Instead of switching chat off entirely, you can restrict participation:

• Subscribers only: limits chat to subscribers, and you can require a minimum subscription length (any duration, 1 hour, 1 day, or 1 week) before someone’s allowed to post.
• Members only: restricts chat to your channel members.

Both settings live in the same Customization → Live chat area, under “Who can send a message.” You can switch live chat back on at any point during or after the stream. Nothing about turning it off is permanent.

How to Turn Comments Back On

Changed your mind? Nothing is lost.

For a single video: go back to Content, open the video, scroll to “Comments and ratings,” and switch it back to On (choosing whether to hold comments for review or leave that off). Save.

For multiple videos at once: use the same bulk-edit steps above, but select On instead of Off when editing the Comments field.

For your default on future uploads: go to Settings → Community → Content controls and switch “Comments on new uploads” back on.

Turning comments back on restores every comment that was there before. YouTube doesn’t delete anything when you turn comments off; it just hides them from view.

Related Comment Management Tools

Turning comments off isn’t your only lever. A few other tools solve narrower versions of the same problem without silencing your whole comment section:

Delete a specific comment on your video:

1. In YouTube Studio, go to Comments in the left menu (or open the video and click Comments).
2. Find the comment.
3. Click the three-dot menu next to it and select Remove.

Deleting a comment also removes every reply underneath it.

Delete a comment you left on someone else’s video:

1. Go to the video, or open your Comment history from your Google Account if you can’t find it.
2. Click the three-dot menu next to your comment and select Delete.
3. Confirm.

As with your own videos, deleting your comment deletes any replies to it too, and there’s currently no bulk way to wipe your entire comment history at once; each one has to be removed individually.

Edit a comment you posted:

1. Open Comment history, find the comment, and click the three-dot menu.
2. Select Edit, make your changes, and click Save.

Your original post date stays the same, but YouTube adds a small “(edited)” label so readers know it’s been changed.

Hide a specific person from commenting on your channel:

Hiding someone is different from moderation settings. It targets one user across your entire channel, not just one video.

1. In YouTube Studio, go to Settings → Community → Content controls.
2. Look under Hidden users, and add the channel URL of the person you want to hide.

Alternatively, from any of their existing comments: click the three-dot menu next to the comment and choose Hide user from channel.

Hidden users can still see your videos and comments. They just can’t post new comments or participate in your live chats, and their existing comments stop appearing anywhere on your channel.

You can also add trusted commenters to an approved users list, which does the opposite: their comments publish instantly and skip your blocked-words and spam filters entirely.

Why Comments Might Already Be Off (Without You Choosing It)

Sometimes creators go looking for a comments toggle that doesn’t exist because YouTube has already switched comments off automatically. Common reasons:

• Your video or channel is set to “Made for kids.” To comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), YouTube disables comments on any content designated for children, and this can’t be manually re-enabled.
• The video is private. Private videos don’t support comments at all. If you want people to comment but don’t want the video publicly listed, switch its visibility to Unlisted instead, via Content → Visibility.
• You’re using a supervised Google account (common for accounts managed by a parent or guardian). Comment settings can’t be changed under supervision.
• You’re browsing in Restricted Mode, which hides comments as a viewer, separate from any creator setting. Turn it off via your profile picture → Restricted Mode → Off.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Turning comments off channel-wide to solve a one-video spam problem. Try comment moderation (Basic/Strict) or a blocked-words list first. It filters spam without silencing every viewer on every video.
• Forgetting that the default setting only applies going forward. If you’re trying to disable comments on your whole back catalog, you need the bulk-edit method, not the default-settings toggle.
• Assuming a live stream’s chat setting carries over to the next stream. It doesn’t. You’ll need to turn it off again for each new stream if that’s what you want.
• Expecting to selectively block words or users for just one video. Blocked words, hidden users, and link-blocking apply channel-wide, not per video.
• Not checking why comments are off before assuming it’s a bug. “Made for kids” videos and private videos disable comments automatically, and no setting will override that.

Should You Turn Off Comments? Weigh It First

Before you disable comments channel-wide, it’s worth being honest about the difficulty. Comments are one of the clearest engagement signals YouTube’s algorithm uses, and they’re often where genuine viewer feedback and community-building happen. Turning them off can mean losing both.

On the other hand, a comment section dominated by spam, scams, or harassment does real damage to how new visitors perceive your channel, and no engagement signal is worth that.

A middle path ( Strict moderation plus a solid blocked-words list) solves the spam problem for most creators without the trade-off of losing comments altogether.

Full disable is usually the right call when the volume of bad-faith comments is too high to moderate manually, or for sensitive topics where you don’t want a public comment record at all.

Final Thoughts

Turning off YouTube comments is easy when you know where to look. You can disable comments on one video, update several videos at once, or turn them off by default for future uploads. You can also control live chat separately when you’re streaming.

But completely disabling comments isn’t always the best solution. If you’re mainly dealing with spam, scams, or inappropriate replies, YouTube’s moderation tools may be a better fit. Strict moderation, blocked words, and link filtering can help keep your comment section under control without shutting down the conversation.

If a particular person is causing trouble, you don’t need to disable comments for everyone. You can hide that user from your channel instead. And if you only need a temporary break, Pause is a useful middle ground. It keeps existing comments visible while stopping new ones.

Remember that turning comments off doesn’t delete your old comments. They simply become hidden until you turn comments back on. Your settings can also be changed whenever you want.

For most creators, moderation is worth trying first. It gives you more control while keeping useful feedback and community interaction. However, if your channel is dealing with heavy spam, harassment, or a sensitive topic, disabling comments may be the cleaner choice.

The important thing is that you don’t have to live with a problematic comment section. YouTube gives you several ways to manage it. Choose the option that fits your channel and change it later if your needs change.

Turning comments off is always reversible. If you’re unsure, pausing comments or switching on Strict moderation is a safer first step than disabling them outright.

Frequently Asked Questions

We hope you found this article helpful, and do like and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates.

Sign up for our free newsletter as well to receive fresh information right in your inbox and stay informed technically.

Disclosure: If you follow our links to a retailer’s website and make a purchase, we will get an affiliate commission on some, but not all, of the items or services we promote. This will cause no price change for you.

You May Be Interested in Reading:

• Why doesn’t YouTube show the Upload Date? Easy Fixes
• How To Disable or Delete Reels on Instagram?
• Spotify Can’t Play Current Song: 14 Simple Fixes
• What Happens When Someone Reports You on Instagram?