How to hide, unhide and delete comments on Instagram
On your own post, tap Hide under the comment in the app. The person who wrote it still sees it and is not told; other people stop seeing it in the thread. To bring it back, tap View hidden comments at the bottom of the comments, then Unhide. To delete instead, tap and hold the comment, then Delete. To stop new comments, open the post’s or Reel’s options and turn commenting off.
Checked against Instagram’s Help Center on 26 October 2026.
In the app
Instagram’s steps, one action at a time
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Hide a comment
In the Instagram app on iPhone or Android, go to the comment and tap Hide under it. You can only hide comments on your own posts. Meta’s steps
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Unhide a comment
Open the post, tap View hidden comments at the bottom of the comment section, then tap Unhide under the comment. Meta’s steps
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Delete a comment
Tap Comments below the post (or tap any comment), tap and hold the one you want gone, then tap Delete. On your own posts you can delete anyone’s comment; on other people’s posts, only your own. Meta’s steps
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Hide or delete many at once
Tap Comments below your post, then Options at the top right → Select multiple comments. Pick the comments, then choose Hide comments, Delete comments or Block accounts at the bottom. Deleting is capped at 25 comments at a time. Meta’s steps
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Turn comments off on a post
Tap Options above the post, then Turn off commenting. Comments already on the post are hidden while it is off and restored if you turn commenting back on. To do it before you share, tap Advanced settings on the caption screen, then Turn off commenting. Meta’s steps
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Turn comments off on a Reel
Open the Reel, tap Options at the bottom right, then Manage → Turn off commenting. Meta’s steps
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Change who can comment on everything
In Settings, under How others can interact with you, tap Comments. A public account can allow comments from people you follow, your followers, or both — or turn commenting off on posts, Reels and stories for everyone. Meta’s steps
Side by side
Hidden, deleted, or commenting turned off
Every cell is what Instagram’s Help Center says. Where it says nothing, the table says “not documented” rather than guessing.
| Who or what | You hide it | You delete it | You turn commenting off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everyone else | Not shown (see below) | Gone from the post | All comments hidden |
| The person who wrote it | Still sees it | Not documented | Not documented |
| Is the person told? | No | Not documented | Not documented |
| Can you undo it? | Yes, Unhide | Not documented | Yes, comments come back |
| Still in the comment count? | Yes | Not documented | Not documented |
Sources: hiding and unhiding · deleting · turning commenting off
The one thing Meta contradicts itself on
Who can still see a hidden Instagram comment?
The same Instagram help page says a manually hidden comment is “only visible to you and the person who made the comment” — and, a few paragraphs earlier, that others “can choose to see it by tapping View hidden comments”. Both cannot be the whole story. Treat a hidden comment as tucked away, not gone: if it must not be read by anyone, delete it.
The same page is clear about two things: the person is not told their comment was hidden, and hidden comments still count towards the post’s comment total (Meta). A comment count that does not drop is not a sign hiding failed.
Without tapping every comment
Instagram’s automatic hiding, and Limits
Hide unwanted comments is on by default. Change how much it catches under Menu → How others can interact with you → Comments → Hide unwanted comments: None, Some or More. It catches common offensive words, phrases and emoji, and Instagram decides which. Your own list lives next to it in Hidden Words, and it applies to comments already on your posts as well as new ones (Meta) — how Hidden Words works.
Limit interactions is for a pile-on. Under Menu → How others can interact with you → Limit interactions, pick what is limited and who — such as recent followers, accounts that do not follow you, or everyone but your Close Friends. Their new comments are hidden unless you approve them, they are not told, and it runs for up to four weeks at a time. Comments hidden this way stay hidden after you switch it off (Meta).
Before you switch anything off
Turn off comments on one post, hide them everywhere else
Turning commenting off hides every comment on the post, including the questions from people about to buy. On a Reel that is travelling, that is the opposite of what you posted it for. Hiding only what breaks your rules keeps the thread useful — but by hand, it means being there when the spam lands.
Hiding, without the tapping
How CommentDefender hides Instagram comments for you
Connect the account
An Instagram professional account linked to a Facebook Page you manage. Personal accounts cannot be connected — that is Meta’s rule, not ours.
Set the rules
Links, emails and phone numbers, mentions, hashtags, your keyword lists, and a whitelist that overrules them. Try them on a comment.
New comments are checked as they arrive
On posts, Reels and ads. Matches are hidden and logged with the rule that caused it — Instagram comment moderation.
Before you sign up
Three things this does not do
It does not clean up comments already on your posts. Moderation starts at the moment you connect the account.
It does not reach stories or live video. Meta’s API does not let any tool moderate those.
It does not turn comments off. Use Instagram’s own setting above for that.
Stop hiding Instagram comments one at a time
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