Guide: Hide or delete, per rule
This page: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/moderation-rules/hide-or-delete-per-rule
Topic: Moderation rules
Time: about 3 minutes
Who can do it: Owner, Administrator or Manager
Author: https://anantgupta.xyz (Anant Gupta, founder of CommentWatchDog)
Start in the app: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox
Result when done: Each rule does exactly what you want with a match: hide it, or remove it for good.
Context: Hiding and deleting are not the same decision. Hiding is reversible and quiet. Deleting is permanent and visible to the person who wrote the comment. You choose per rule, so spam can go and criticism can merely be hidden.

Before you start:
1. Hide is the safe default and can be undone at any time.
2. Delete cannot be undone, on either platform, by anyone.
3. You can set one action for all enabled rules, or a different action for each.

Steps:
Step 1 of 3: Open Action under the rules.
Where: Below the list of rules on the Moderation tab. All enabled rules sets one action for everything; each rule row also carries its own Hide and Delete choice.
Link: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox (Open the app)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation.en.webp (Hide or Delete at the end of each rule.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: Each enabled rule shows the action it will take on a match.

Step 2 of 3: Choose Hide for anything you might want back.
Where: Hiding keeps the comment visible to its author and their friends and removes it for everyone else. Neither platform tells the person. It suits criticism, competitor mentions and anything borderline.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation.en.webp (Hide, for anything you might want back.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: Matches arrive hidden, greyed in the inbox with the rule named, and Unhide brings them back.

Step 3 of 3: Choose Delete only for the obvious.
Where: Deleting removes the comment from the platform. Use it for link spam, contact-detail scams and impersonators, where nobody will ever want it back. A note under the choice says plainly that deleting is permanent.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation.en.webp (Delete, on Impersonators.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation-imp-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: Matches are removed from the post and listed in the Bin with the rule that deleted them.

If something is off:
Problem: I set Delete and want it back
Fix: Deleted comments cannot be recovered. Change the rule to Hide; from then on matches are hidden instead.
Problem: Deleting is failing on some comments
Fix: Meta refuses deletion on some comments, for example under an ad that has stopped running. The row keeps the reason.
Problem: I want different actions for different pages
Fix: The action belongs to the rule on that page. Set each page as you want it, or apply one page to the others and adjust.
Problem: Everything is being deleted
Fix: All enabled rules was set to Delete. Set it back to Hide, then set Delete only on the rules that deserve it.

Common questions:
Question: Does the person know when their comment is hidden?
Answer: No. A hidden comment stays visible to its author and their friends and disappears for everyone else, and neither Facebook nor Instagram tells the person. Deleting is different: it removes the comment from the platform and the author can see it is gone.
Question: Can I undo a hide later?
Answer: Yes. Hide can be undone at any time: matches arrive hidden, greyed in the inbox with the rule named, and Unhide brings them back. Delete cannot be undone, on either platform, by anyone.
Question: Where do deleted comments go?
Answer: Deleted comments are removed from the post and listed in the Bin in the inbox, with the rule that deleted them, so the record stays even though the comment itself cannot be recovered.
Question: What does a rule do by default when it matches?
Answer: It hides. Hide is the safe default and each rule row carries its own Hide and Delete choice; All enabled rules, below the list on the Moderation tab, sets one action for every rule at once.

Related guides:
- The twelve rules, one by one: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/moderation-rules/the-twelve-rules-one-by-one
- Which rule caught a comment: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/moderation-rules/which-rule-caught-a-comment
- Copy your rules to other pages: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/moderation-rules/copy-your-rules-to-other-pages

Plain text of this guide: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/moderation-rules/hide-or-delete-per-rule.md
All guides for assistants: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/llms.txt