How to Delete Comments on Instagram (and Why You Should Hide Them Instead)

Have you ever received a comment on Instagram that made you cringe? Don't worry. It happens to the best of us! But what do you do with those less-than-semi-sweet comments? Delete them? That's an option, but not the only one. It's best to hide those comments from the public eye.

According to data.ai, Instagram was the most-downloaded app in the world during the third quarter of 2022, with TikTok in second place, and Facebook and WhatsApp in third and fourth, respectively.  

“ Instagram’s median engagement rate – which is 1.6% – is a whopping 17x higher than Facebook posts and even more impressive 33x higher than a Tweet. (Rival IQ)

Instagram is also one of the platforms with the highest engagement rate. But engagement can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it's a great way to build stronger relationships with your customers and grow your brand awareness. On the other hand, you may have to deal with haters, trolls, spammers, and racist and offensive comments. 

Fortunately, if you're dealing with harmful and unwanted comments, you can take action by deleting or hiding them.

How to delete comments on Instagram

You can delete comments published on your accounts on your own comments posted on other accounts.

Steps to delete comments on Instagram 

To delete a comment published on your post, tap the comment you want to delete and then tap the trashbin icon.

• Will the person be notified that their comment was deleted?
  No. Instagram will not send a notification to that person when you delete a comment on your post.
  
  
• Will the person be able to see their comment was deleted?
  Yes. The user can revisit the post and notice their comment was deleted.
  
  
• Can you undelete an Instagram comment?
  No. After you delete a comment, no one  (including the initial poster) will ever be able to access it again.

Why hiding comments on Instagram is better than deleting?

Naturally, users react badly when they notice brands delete their comments. That’s why we always recommend hiding harmful comments, not deleting them. Often, deleting an Instagram comment does more harm because:

1. Users can see you deleted their comments, and they can get angry. Plus, there's always a chance they'll say something even worse just because they're upset.
2. All the details in the comment can’t be recovered, making it much more challenging for brands to follow up if needed. 
3. You can't respond to this deleted comment and try to repair the relationship with the user.
4. You’re potentially erasing insightful data that can help you later understand why a post didn’t resonate.

In short: don’t do it. Hiding is always the best choice.

How to hide comments on Instagram

Instagram does offer some decent comment-hiding options. Here’s how you can activate them:

1. Click on the menu icon next to your account’s name
2. Go to Settings 
3. Privacy
4. Hidden Words
5. Activate Hide comments to automatically hide comments Instagram deems offensive
6. You can also automatically hide comments based on words and manage your block word list on the same page

How to activate auto-hiding features on the Instagram App

While these tools can be handy, we at BrandBastion recommend that you are very careful when setting filters to hide certain words and phrases. Blocklists are a blunt tool because words exist in a context. For example, the term 'shot' can be about firing a gun, a drink, or an attempt at accomplishing something. 

What if you want to hide specific Instagram comments?

If you want to hide specific Instagram comments right now, you can’t do it on the platform. You can only delete them. But here’s the good news: you can easily hide comments using a platform like BrandBastion.

Especially if you’re trying to moderate Instagram Ad comments, it can get pretty overwhelming. If you’re receiving hundreds of comments on your ads every month, you’ll benefit from using a platform that aggregates all comments in one place and allows you to hide them easily.

You can use our platform to easily hide Instagram comments

Our platform will aggregate all your comments in one place - including Instagram Ad Comments. Our AI identifies unwanted and damaging comments, so you can easily hide them in one click. And if you want to, you can easily unhide them too.

• Will the person be notified that their comment was hidden? No. Instagram will not send a notification to that person when you hide their comment.
• Will the person be able to see their comment was hidden? No. Even if they revisit the post, their comment will still be visible - but only to them. The comment will be hidden from everyone except the person who wrote it.
• Can you respond to a hidden comment on Instagram? No. But you can easily unhide the comment, reply to it and hide it again.
• Can you unhide an Instagram comment? Yes. With our platform, you can easily unhide an Instagram comment at any moment with one click.

In the end, we hope that these tips will help you to keep your Instagram account clear of spam and trolls, while also helping you to monitor what's being said about your brand. Remember: even though you don't own Instagram, you can still take steps towards maintaining control over your brand and the content associated with it. 

Effortless Hide Instagram Comments with BrandBastion

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