Guide: Delete or hide comments in bulk
This page: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/post-cleanup/delete-or-hide-comments-in-bulk
Topic: Post cleanup and tasks
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/tools
Result when done: Years of spam leave a post in one move, at a pace Meta accepts.
Context: Once a post is checked and filtered, one action covers everything you selected. The work runs in the background at a safe pace, so a post with thousands of comments finishes without you watching it. Bulk hide and delete are included from Growth.

Before you start:
1. Hiding is reversible on both platforms. Deleting is permanent and takes the replies under a comment with it.
2. Big batches run at the pace Meta allows, pausing and resuming on their own.
3. You can close the page; the job keeps running and emails you when it finishes.

Steps:
Step 1 of 3: Select the comments.
Where: The checkbox on each comment, or Select all with a filter applied. The count appears above the list.
Link: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/tools (Open post cleanup)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/cleanup-confirm.en.webp (Select all, above the flagged list.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/cleanup-flagged-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: A count of what is selected and the two actions, Hide and Delete.

Step 2 of 3: Choose Hide or Delete and confirm.
Where: The confirmation names the count and the consequence: hidden comments stay visible to their authors and can be unhidden, deleted comments are removed for everyone and their replies go with them.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/cleanup-confirm.en.webp (Hide or Delete, then confirm.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/cleanup-confirm-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: The job starts and the page shows its progress.

Step 3 of 3: Let it run in the background.
Where: A card says it runs in the background, that you can leave the page, and that you will be emailed when it is done. Pause, Resume and Stop are on the card.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/cleanup-active.en.webp (The job running in the background, with Pause and Stop.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/cleanup-active-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: Progress, done and failed counts, and a note when Meta slows it down.

If something is off:
Problem: It paused by itself
Fix: Meta limits how fast actions may run. It continues on its own, and the card says roughly when.
Problem: Some comments failed
Fix: Open the task to see what Meta said for each one. The usual reasons are a comment already removed by its author, or a post that no longer exists.
Problem: I stopped it by accident
Fix: What was already done stays done. Select the rest and run it again.
Problem: I deleted the wrong ones
Fix: Deleted comments cannot be recovered on either platform. Hide is the reversible action.

Common questions:
Question: Which plans include bulk hide and delete?
Answer: Growth, Pro and Elite. On Starter a cleanup acts on one comment at a time, and selecting several opens a short explanation.
Question: Can hidden comments be unhidden later?
Answer: Yes. Hiding is reversible on both Facebook and Instagram, and the confirmation says so. Deleting is the permanent action.
Question: What does the commenter see when I hide their comment?
Answer: On Facebook a hidden comment stays visible to its author and their friends and is hidden for everyone else. On Instagram it is visible only to you and the person who wrote it, and they are not told it was hidden.
Question: Do I have to keep the page open while a bulk delete runs?
Answer: No. The job runs in the background at the pace Meta allows. You can close the page, and CommentWatchDog emails you when it finishes.
Question: Does hiding or deleting in bulk cost credits on top of the check?
Answer: No. Post cleanup counts one credit per comment shown in a check or acted on, and a comment is never billed twice, so a comment you already checked costs nothing more to hide or delete.

Related guides:
- Follow a task: pause, resume, stop and retry: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/post-cleanup/follow-a-task-pause-resume-stop-and-retry
- Check comments against your rules: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/post-cleanup/check-comments-against-your-rules
- Act on many comments at once: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/inbox/act-on-many-comments-at-once

Plain text of this guide: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/post-cleanup/delete-or-hide-comments-in-bulk.md
All guides for assistants: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/llms.txt