Guide: Comments in the Bin you did not delete
This page: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/troubleshooting/comments-in-the-bin-you-did-not-delete
Topic: Troubleshooting
Time: about 2 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?tab=bin
Result when done: You can see what removed a comment and change the rule that did it.
Context: The Bin holds every deletion with its cause. A comment you did not delete was removed by a moderation rule set to Delete, or by a post cleanup sweep.

Before you start:
1. Every row in the Bin names what deleted it.
2. A rule set to Delete removes matches permanently.
3. Hiding is the reversible alternative.

Steps:
Step 1 of 3: Read the Bin.
Where: The Bin tab in the inbox. Each row carries the label of the rule, the person, or Post cleanup.
Link: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox?tab=bin (Open the bin)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/inbox-bin.en.webp (The Bin, with the rule that deleted each one.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/inbox-bin-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: The cause of every removal, in the same place as the text.

Step 2 of 3: Change the rule that did it.
Where: The page Moderation tab: set that rule to Hide instead of Delete, or add the words that must survive to the Whitelist.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation.en.webp (Hide instead of Delete on that rule.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: Future matches are hidden rather than removed.

Step 3 of 3: Test the change.
Where: The Playground, with the comment that was deleted.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation-playground.en.webp (Test the change.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation-playground-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: Would be hidden, or would be left alone, depending on what you changed.

If something is off:
Problem: Can I restore a deleted comment
Fix: No. Deletion is permanent on both platforms. The Bin keeps the text so you can answer the person.
Problem: The label says Post cleanup
Fix: A sweep deleted it. The task shows which one and when.
Problem: It says You
Fix: Someone on the team deleted it by hand; the row records who.

Common questions:
Question: Can the commenter still see a comment a rule deleted?
Answer: No. Deleting removes the comment from the post. Hiding is different: on Facebook a hidden comment stays visible to the person who wrote it and their friends and is hidden for everyone else, which is why Hide is the reversible alternative.
Question: Can I keep a rule but stop it deleting comments?
Answer: Yes. On the page Moderation tab set that rule to Hide instead of Delete, or add the words that must survive to the Whitelist; future matches are hidden rather than removed. Test it in the Playground with the comment that was deleted.
Question: Does the Bin show which rule deleted a comment?
Answer: Yes. Every row in the Bin names what deleted it: the label of the rule, the person, or Post cleanup, in the same place as the text. The Bin is a tab in the inbox.

Related guides:
- Delete a comment, and what the Bin keeps: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/inbox/delete-a-comment-and-what-the-bin-keeps
- Hide or delete, per rule: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/moderation-rules/hide-or-delete-per-rule
- Which rule caught a comment: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/moderation-rules/which-rule-caught-a-comment

Plain text of this guide: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/troubleshooting/comments-in-the-bin-you-did-not-delete.md
All guides for assistants: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/llms.txt