Guide: Hide, unhide and undo
This page: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/inbox/hide-unhide-and-undo
Topic: Inbox and comments
Time: about 3 minutes
Who can do it: Anyone on your team
Author: https://anantgupta.xyz (Anant Gupta, founder of CommentWatchDog)
Start in the app: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox
Result when done: A comment stops being visible to your audience in one click, and comes back in one click.
Context: Hiding is the action most pages want. On Facebook and Instagram a hidden comment stays visible to the person who wrote it and their friends, and disappears for everyone else, so nobody is told off in public and the argument does not start.

Before you start:
1. Hiding is reversible on both platforms and leaves no mark for other readers.
2. A hidden comment stays in the Inbox with a chip naming what hid it, and can be filtered by Visibility.
3. Replies under a hidden comment are hidden with it.

Steps:
Step 1 of 4: Hide a comment.
Where: The hide icon under the comment, or Hide in the phone sheet, or a swipe on a phone. The row greys immediately and the chip appears; the change reaches Facebook or Instagram within a moment.
Link: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox (Open the inbox)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/inbox.en.webp (Hide, in the row under the comment.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/inbox-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: The comment is greyed with a Hidden chip. Your audience no longer sees it; the author and their friends still do.

Step 2 of 4: Undo it straight away.
Where: The Undo in the confirmation that appears after the action. It is there for a few seconds and puts the comment back exactly as it was.
You should see: The comment is visible again and the chip is gone.

Step 3 of 4: Unhide later.
Where: The unhide icon on a hidden row, or filter Visibility to Hidden and use bulk actions to unhide many at once. Comments that are not hidden are skipped, so a bulk unhide is safe.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/inbox-hidden.en.webp (Unhide, on a hidden comment.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/inbox-hidden-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: The comment is visible to everyone again and its chip goes.

Step 4 of 4: Know what hiding does on each platform.
Where: On Facebook the comment stays visible to its author and their friends and is listed under Hidden by this Page. On Instagram it is hidden from everyone but the author. Neither platform tells the person that their comment was hidden.
You should see: Nobody is notified, and you can always undo it.

If something is off:
Problem: The comment is still visible to me
Fix: That is expected: you and the author always see a hidden comment. Open the post in a private window to see what your audience sees.
Problem: A chip says Hidden, outside the app
Fix: It was hidden on Facebook or Instagram, or by their own word filters. Unhide from here works anyway.
Problem: Hiding queued appears
Fix: Meta is limiting actions for a moment. The hide finishes on its own and you can follow it under Tasks.
Problem: I want them hidden automatically next time
Fix: That is a moderation rule. Set the rule that matches, or mute the author so everything they write is hidden.

Common questions:
Question: Does the person know when I hide their comment?
Answer: No, neither Facebook nor Instagram tells the person. On Facebook the comment stays visible to its author and their friends; on Instagram it is hidden from everyone but the author. Replies under it are hidden with it.
Question: How long do I have to undo a hide?
Answer: The Undo in the confirmation stays for a few seconds and puts the comment back exactly as it was. After that, the unhide icon on the hidden row does the same at any time; hiding is reversible on both platforms.
Question: Can I unhide many hidden comments at once?
Answer: Yes. Filter Visibility to Hidden, select the rows and use bulk actions to unhide. Comments that are not hidden are skipped, so a bulk unhide is safe.
Question: Where do hidden comments appear on Facebook itself?
Answer: On Facebook they are listed under Hidden by this Page. Inside CommentWatchDog the comment stays in the Inbox, greyed, with a Hidden chip naming what hid it, and Visibility set to Hidden lists them all.

Related guides:
- Mute or block an author: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/inbox/mute-or-block-an-author
- What the chips on a comment mean: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/inbox/what-the-chips-on-a-comment-mean
- Delete a comment, and what the Bin keeps: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/inbox/delete-a-comment-and-what-the-bin-keeps

Plain text of this guide: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/inbox/hide-unhide-and-undo.md
All guides for assistants: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/llms.txt