How to Turn Off Comments in Instagram Live
Your Instagram reach of millions is of value only when it reaches the real audience.
Instagram has more than 100 million bot accounts out of an active user base of 1 billion.
Spams and trolls work very quickly to destroy your reputation online since they have no idea about what they are posting in the comments.
And as a brand, if you don't quickly control such trash talks and spam comments under your Instagram posts, it might scare your potential customers away. The more your social following increases, the potential for spam, trolls, and bot comments increases proportionally, & the harder it becomes for you to keep a check on all posts.
If you don't want any of the rude comments to slip through while managing them, the best option is to turn off comments on Instagram.
Comments are the best thing about Instagram since they help you engage with your audience, but they turn into the most annoying aspect when you get a lot of spam. Fortunately, Instagram has rolled out a host of features that allows you to deal with such comments in the most serene way.
This guide explores some of the most fascinating Instagram features that will make your comments section a more welcoming place for your real audience.
Use the content table to get to the section of your choice.
- How To Turn off Comments On Instagram After Posting?
- How To Turn Off Comments On Instagram Before Making Post Live?
- How To Turn Off Comments On Instagram Live?
- How To Turn Off Comments On Instagram Story?
- How To Turn Off Comments On Instagram Reels?
- How To Turn Off Comments On Instagram IGTV Video?
- How To Restrict Comments On Instagram?
- How To Delete A Comment On Instagram?
- How To Hide Comments On Instagram?
- How To Limit Comments On Instagram?
- Can You Turn Off Comments On Instagram Ads?
Ensure that your Instagram app is updated to version v10.1 (update as of December 5, 2016) to make use of these features.
You can only turn off comments on Instagram on a post-by-post basis before or after posting them.
Here's a step-by-step process on how to turn off comments on Instagram after making a post live so that your feed becomes free of irreverent content.
Step 1: Open Instagram app. Tap on your profile picture's thumbnail to locate your profile page.
Step 2: Tap on the post whose comments you wish to turn off & tap on the three horizontal dots at the top right side.
Step 3: From the menu opened up, tap on "Turn off commenting."
After you turn off comments on Instagram posts, you will observe that the icon to comment disappears from the particular post. The comment section of the specific post will become clean as all previous comments will fade away. Neither will your viewers be able to see the comments previously left on the post, nor can they make new comments.
Comments sections of a post before turning off comments
Comments sections of a post after turning off comments
If you experience an urgent need to immediately turn off comments on Instagram from all posts, you can make your public profile private. Apart from those following you, no one would be able access your feed then.
Additional Reading: How To Turn Off Comments On Facebook Post
How To Turn On Comments After Turning Them Off On Instagram?
To turn on comments, follow the same first 3 steps you took to turn off comments on Instagram. Now, in the menu that hops up, you will be able to see a "Turn on commenting" option. If you tap on this option, your comment section will open up for engagements.
If you wish to turn comments on after turning them off, the previous comments will be restored. However, your viewers will now be able to drop comments using the comment icon that will reappear.
Before posting, if you are pretty sure that a specific post will bring in unnecessary comments, follow these steps to turn off comments on Instagram while publishing the post.
Step 1: Open your Instagram app and select the post you wish to share. After you have completed adding filters and editing the post, tap on the "Advanced settings" option at the bottom of the captions screen.
Step 2: Under the comments section, toggle the button on the right-hand side of "Turn off commenting." It will turn blue, indicating that comments will be turned off on your post.
Step 3: Then tap the back arrow beside "Advanced settings" from the top left-hand corner and make your post live.
When you are streaming live on Instagram, you have complete control over who you choose to go live with, whether your audience can leave comments or not, and you can even block specific users from accessing your live session at all. You can turn off comments on Instagram live and turn them on as many times as you want using the below process.
Step 1: In your Instagram app, go to the stories section and select the live option to start a live video.
Step 2: As soon as the live video starts, tap on the three vertical dots at the right-hand side of "Add a comment" from the bottom in the comments box.
Step 3: From the menu opened up, tap on "Turn off commenting."
Step 4: Now, you can see "Comments off" written in the comment box that will restrict any viewer from commenting on your live video.
If you wish to turn on comments on Instagram live, tap the same three vertical dots and select "Turn on commenting." You would see that the comments box is re-enabled for anyone to drop their thoughts.
Is It Possible To Turn Off Comments On Instagram Live As A Viewer?
No. Unfortunately, Instagram does not provide a built-in feature using which viewers can turn off comments on Instagram live. There used to be Chrome extensions earlier to help viewers take control over comments sections while watching Instagram live, but most of them have stopped working now.
As a default setting, all your followers are allowed to react and reply to your Instagram stories by swiping up. But if you have a large following base, you might instantly get flooded with tons of messages in your inbox after you post a story.
Follow the below steps to turn off comments on Instagram story when you just don't want replies in general (be it positive, negative, or spam).
Step 1: Open your profile in your Instagram app. Tap on the hamburger icon at the top right-hand side.
Step 2: From the menu popped up, tap on Settings -> Privacy.
Step 3: Under the "Interactions" section, tap on "Story." You can see that under the "Allow message replies" section, a blue tick appears in front of "Everyone," which clearly implies that anyone and everyone can reply to your stories.
Step 4: Tap on the circle in front of "Off" so that the blue tick shifts from "Everyone" to "Off," indicating that now you have turned off replies to your Instagram story.
Note: In the same menu, if you choose "People you follow," you can limit the number of replies and reactions only to whom you follow (and whom you consider as genuine people and would possibly have fewer chances of spamming your inbox).
After making this change, your story viewers won't see the "Send Message" box below your stories. The swipe-up option to reply and react to your stories will also stop working. Remember that changing this particular setting won't stop your followers from sending you normal DM requests.
Instagram reels is an easy feature to boost organic engagement almost immediately. To avoid the unnecessary engagement from stacking up, use these steps to turn off comments on Instagram reels.
Step 1: Open your Instagram and go to your profile page. Locate the all reels section by tapping on the reels icon. Now, you can see all your Instagram reels that you have posted to date.
Step 2: Select and tap the reel whose comments you wish to turn off. Your reel will start playing with several options displayed on the sides as soon as you do this. From the bottom right-hand side, tap on the three vertical dots, which will open up a reel's settings menu.
Step 3: You need to tap on "Turn off commenting" to turn off comments on Instagram reel. Now, you will see that the comments icons disappear from the bottom right-hand side of your reel.
If you wish to turn comments on, tap on the same three vertical dots from the bottom right-hand side and tap on "Turn on commenting." You will observe that now the comments icon starts appearing again.
The process to turn off comments on Instagram IGTV videos includes a few more steps than to turn off comments on Instagram posts or reels. Keep reading to learn how it happens.
Step 1: Open your Instagram and go to your profile page. Locate the IGTV section by tapping on the IGTV icon.
Step 2: Tap on the IGTV whose comments you wish to turn off. As soon as you do this, your IGTV will start playing. From the bottom side, tap on the comments icon, which will open up the entire comments section of the IGTV.
Step 3: Tap on the three vertical dots from the top right-hand side & toggle "Turn off commenting" to turn off comments on Instagram IGTV.
Step 4: By doing this, the comments icon will be displayed at the bottom of your IGTV video, but the comments section will appear blank when you tap to open it up.
If you wish to turn comments on, toggle the button in front of "Turn off commenting," The comments section will open for engagements.
Instagram has made it easy to fight trolls and bullying and encourage positive interactions through their comments section by rolling out a restrict feature.
Here's a step-by-step process on how to restrict comments on Instagram to quietly deal with unwanted interactions in the comments sections.
Step 1: Go to the post and tap on "View all comments."
Step 2: Tap and hold the user's comment you wish to restrict (for Android) or swipe left over the particular comment (for iPhone).
Step 3: You would be able to see three icons (a pin, an exclamation sign, and a bin) to perform three different actions with the comment you have just selected.
Step 4: Tap on the exclamation sign icon, and a menu will pop up on your screen from the bottom with three options.
- Report this comment
- Restrict [username]
- Block [username]
If you tap on "Restrict [username]," Instagram will show you the actions that would be restricted from the particular user.
After you tap on "Restrict Account," Instagram will make the particular comment visible only to you and the user. You can choose to "Delete Comment" if you want to remove the comment entirely from your post.
If you restrict a user, and they comment on your post, their comment will appear as blurred under your post. You can choose to see the comment or delete it.
If you choose to see a comment, the comment will become visible, and you can give a read to their entire comment. If you find it appropriate and relevant, you can tap on "Approve" for the comment to become publicly visible under your post.
However, if you don't find the comment appropriate, you can delete the comment, and it won't be visible to you or anyone under your post.
Block Comments On Instagram
If you tap on "Block [username]," Instagram will give two options to choose from
- To block that user and any new accounts that they may create in future
- To block only that account of the user
Blocking a user on Instagram will prevent them from viewing your feed post, stories, reels, IGTVs. Their DMs will not get delivered to your inbox either.
You can choose to unblock the user by going into your Settings -> Privacy -> Blocked accounts and tapping "Unblock" in front of the user's name. After users are unblocked, they will have to refollow you to see your post, stories, reels, and IGTV in their feed.
How To Report A Comment On Instagram?
If you tap on "Report this comment," Instagram will ask you for the reason to report the comment.
After you tap on the most appropriate reason, the comment will go to Instagram for review. If the comment does not meet Instagram's Community Guidelines, they would be removed from the platform.
You can't control what other people choose to comment on your Instagram post. But you can surely choose to eliminate the rudest, offensive, and unwanted ones to completely disappear from your post and not be visible to anyone.
Can You Delete A Comment On Instagram?
Deleting an Instagram comment can be accomplished in two ways.
- You choose to delete your comment on your own post or someone's post.
- You can delete someone's comment made on your own post.
Instagram does not provide an inbuilt feature for you to delete someone else's comment on someone else's post (the nearest option is to report such comment, and Instagram will look into it).
How To Delete Your Comment On Instagram?
Instagram gives you the option to undo typos in a comment or a comment you regret posting by deleting it off (and commenting again if you want). Here's a step-by-step process on how to delete your comment on Instagram.
Step 1: Open your Instagram app and find the post with the comment you want to delete.
Step 2: In the comments section of that post, find your comment and tap on it (for Android users) or swipe left over the comment (for iPhone users.)
Step 3: Your comment will get selected, and a trash icon will appear at the top of your screen. Tap on it to delete your comment on Instagram.
Step 4: Instagram will instantly display a notification of "Comment deleted" along with an option to undo your action. If you have to, you need to undo the action within a few seconds as this notification does not stay for longer.
How To Delete Someone's Comments On Instagram?
Here's a step-by-step process on how to delete someone's comments on Instagram that does not relate to your post without letting the user know.
Step 1: On your profile page, go to the post whose comment you want to delete and tap on "View all comments."
Step 2: Tap and hold the user's comment you wish to delete (for Android) or swipe left over the particular comment (for iPhone).
Step 3: You would be able to see three icons - a pin, an exclamation sign, and a bin. Tap on the bin or trash icon to delete the particular comment permanently from your post.
Step 4: Instagram will instantly display a notification of "Comment deleted" along with an option to undo your action. You need to undo the action within a few seconds if you want to, as this notification does not stay for long.
How To Edit A Comment On Instagram?
Unfortunately, Instagram doesn't have a built-in feature to edit a comment. The closest measure possible is to delete your comment and post a new one with fixed errors.
Though this process of deleting and reposting comments on Instagram requires a few extra steps compared to the ease of editing comments on other social platforms, it's still a quick way that can be done in a matter of minutes.
If you are eager to engage with your audience and not willing to turn off comments on Instagram altogether, you can still get rid of spam & disgustful comments by hiding them.
Can You Hide Comments On Instagram?
Yes. Instagram provides several ways to get rid of cyberbullying on its platform and make you feel safer, such as these ones.
- You can choose to filter comments based on keywords.
- You can switch on Instagram's hide offensive comments feature.
- You can restrict certain users from commenting on your post.
- You can block users from viewing and engaging with your Instagram content at all.
- You can block comments from specific users just to hide their comments without losing their access to your Instagram content.
- You can report comments and leave them on Instagram to decide if it is against their community guidelines or not.
- You can turn off comments on Instagram to avoid the hassle altogether.
How To Hide Comments On Instagram Using Instagram's Inbuilt Feature?
You can save yourself some trouble by hiding offensive comments rather than manually deleting each and every one. Here's a step-by-step process on how to hide comments on Instagram.
Step 1: Open your Instagram app and locate your profile. Tap on the hamburger icon at the top right-hand side of the screen and go to Settings->Privacy->Comments.
Step 2: Toggle the button in front of "Hide offensive comments" to automatically eliminate derogatory comments that are made on your post.
Step 3: To further hide comments that are annoying and displeasing, toggle the "Hide more comments" option.
How To Hide Comments On Instagram Based On Keywords?
If you want to filter out comments based on specific keywords, toggle the "Manual filter" option. Enter the words you would like to filter so that if anyone's comments contain similar words, Instagram will filter them out and prevent them from being live on your post.
How To Hide Comments On Instagram From Certain Users?
You can also choose to block comments on your post from certain people whose profile seems suspicious to you. This option is different from blocking an account altogether, as they will still be able to view your posts.
However, the comments they leave on your photo will only be visible to them. You only need to tap on "Block comments from" and enter their username.
One of the ways to decrease the amount of unpalatable and foul comments significantly is to limit the comments to either your followers, people you follow, or both as opposed to the maximalist "Everyone" setting.
Step 1: Open your Instagram app and locate your profile. Tap on the hamburger icon at the top right-hand side of the screen and go to Settings->Privacy->Comments.
Step 2: Tap on "Allow comments from." From the menu opened up, you should choose the most appropriate option by tapping on the circle in front of them and transferring the blue tick from "Everyone."
Once you limit comments on your Instagram, comments on your post will not be visible to anyone apart from the ones you have selected, neither will they be able to post comments.
This is how your Instagram post and its comment section will be visible to anyone apart from those you have selected.
Image Source: Taylor Swift Instagram
When you decide to advertise on Instagram, it comes with the drawback of dealing with poor, abusive, trolling, or offensive comments along with the PR perks. If you run multiple ad campaigns, the task of moderating ad comments at a large scale seems even more daunting.
Statusbrew allows you to clear out the noise in your ad comment section and ban spambots and trolls automatically by hiding, deleting, or disabling the unwanted comments on your posts and regular/dynamic ads. In this manner, you can get better click-through rates by moderating comments on your ads rather than scaring them away from spam and trolls.
- Auto-hide comments from ads by setting a list of words and phrases to hide comments automatically.
- Make your message clear by disabling the comments section on your ads to get better ROI on your ad spend.
- Create customized automation rules by adding several conditions to automate the entire comment management workflow.
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How to Turn Off Comments in Instagram Live
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