How to Turn Comments Off on Facebook: The Complete Guide

Engaging with your audience is one of the best parts of managing a Facebook page or profile. The comments feature allows users to give feedback and have conversations about your posts.

However, sometimes you may want to turn comments off. Unwanted comments can distract from your message or even spread negativity that reflects poorly on your brand. Fortunately, Facebook offers controls to turn off or restrict comments.

In this complete guide, we’ll explore the ins and outs of managing comments on Facebook. You’ll learn:

• How to turn off comments for individual posts
• How to restrict comments on your public posts
• Special options for Pages and Groups
• When and why disabling comments can be useful
• Extra comment moderation tools Facebook provides

Let’s get started!

How to Turn Off Comments on Your Facebook Posts

When you’re ready to disable comments on a post, it only takes a few clicks. You can turn them off for individual posts from your profile, or disable them entirely for your public posts.

Turning Off Comments on a Single Post

1. Go to your post in News Feed or your profile page.
2. Click on the three dots in the upper right hand corner to open more options.
3. Select Turn Off Commenting from the dropdown menu.

Once you flip this switch, no one will be able to comment on that post. Unlike with privacy settings, there’s no option to allow only friends to comment while blocking public users. It’s all or nothing.

Keep in mind that turning off commenting doesn‘t prevent people from reacting or sharing the post itself. Others can still engage through likes, reactions, and reshares.

Disabling Comments for Public Posts

You may get tired of turning comments on and off for individual posts. Instead, you can change settings to disable them by default when you post publicly.

1. Click the down arrow on the upper right side of any Facebook page.
2. Choose Settings & Privacy > Settings.
3. Select Public Posts on the left sidebar.
4. Under Public Post Comments, click Edit.
5. Switch commenting to Disabled.

Now any standard posts you share publicly will have comments disabled automatically. You can still turn them on for any given post by using the method above.

If you don’t want to cut off all public commenting, set comments to Friends to allow engagement from your connections.

Extra Controls for Pages and Groups

Running a Facebook Page or Group introduces additional comment management options. As an admin, you can restrict commenting to certain audiences. You also gain more tools for filtering, blocking, and removing unwanted comments.

Managing Comments on Facebook Pages

Page admins can control who is allowed to post and comment, giving more options than just disabling them entirely.

1. Go to your Page > Settings > General.
2. Scroll down and click Edit under the Visitor Posts section.
3. Set commenting/posting to:
   • Enabled (default public setting)
   • Disabled
   • Enabled by Page admins only
   • Enabled by Page admins and Page roles such as Editors or Moderators
4. Optional: Check the box to enable Comment review, which requires you to approve all visitor posts before they are visible.

You can also delete or hide comments without fully disabling them:

1. Hover your mouse over an unwanted comment and click the X icon.
2. Choose to Delete Comment or Hide Comment.

Hiding is useful when you want to keep a record of moderation. Hidden comments can also be unhidden if you change your mind.

Managing Comments on Facebook Groups

In Groups, admins and certain roles like Moderator also have expanded comment controls:

1. Go to the post you want to manage
2. Click the three dots in the upper right corner
3. Choose Turn On Commenting or Turn Off Commenting to enable/disable.

You can also delete or hide comments on Group posts the same way as on Facebook Pages:

1. Hover your mouse over an unwanted comment
2. Click the X icon
3. Choose Delete Comment or Hide Comment

Overall the process is very similar to Pages. Restricting commenting by user roles and enabling review queues also works the same way.

Why Would You Want to Disable Comments?

Before turning off comments completely, think about whether it aligns with your goals for posting. Here are some of the top reasons you might want to disable them:

1. Stop Spam and Irrelevant Comments

Spambots leaving sketchy links or comments unrelated to your post are a nuisance. Turning off commenting can help avoid this spam clogging up your post.

2. Reduce Negativity and Abusive Comments

Dealing with critical or downright abusive comments is stressful. Eliminating the commenting feature removes this one avenue for negativity.

3. Focus Conversations Within Community Norms

Pages and Groups may wish to keep discussion focused around specific topics relevant to their community purpose and rules. Turning off commenting limits engagement to other reaction options like liking and sharing.

4. Lessen Overwhelm for Yourself/Community

Too many comments can become unmanageable both for community managers trying to respond, and community members trying to parse different conversations. Disabling comments simplifies interactions.

5. Drive Traffic Back to Your Website

Without the ability to comment directly on your post, readers may be more likely to click through to your site. This offers more opportunities to fully engage your audience.

There are also reasons you may want to keep comments enabled, like increasing engagement, receiving valuable feedback, and participating in constructive conversations around issues important to your brand and fans.

Think critically about which priority makes the most sense for each post or community you manage on Facebook.

Additional Comment Moderation Tools

Facebook offers advanced comment management options beyond completely disabling them. Let’s explore some ways to filter comments and spur more meaningful discussion.

Require Comment Approval

Using comment approvals, submissions must be reviewed before appearing publicly on your posts. This allows you to manually filter out any unwanted comments.

1. Go to your Page or Group
2. Click on Settings
3. Select Templates and Tabs > Comment Moderation
4. Check the box to Require Comment Approval

Now when users comment on your content, it will be awaiting approval behind the scenes. Remember to actively check and approve acceptable comments so users aren’t kept hanging!

Consider also letting commenters know you review before approving so the delay doesn’t discourage them from engaging.

Filter Comments by Keyword

Another option is automatically filtering and hiding comments containing certain words or phrases you specify.

To set up keyword filters:

1. Go to your Page or Group
2. Click on Settings
3. Select Templates and Tabs > Comment Moderation
4. In the Hidden Words section, enter terms you want to automatically hide from view
5. Click Save Changes

Comments with these keywords will automatically be hidden from public view. As a Page admin you can still see and approve them if appropriate.

Filter swear words and slurs to keep discussion respectable amongst heated debates. You can also hide comments that might detract from substantive discussion, like vague filler terms (“I agree!”, “LOL”).

Designate Trusted Commenters

To focus commentary amongst known engaged users, you can restrict commenting abilities.

1. Go to your Page or Group
2. Click on Settings
3. Choose General > Visitor Posts
4. Set commenting abilities to:
   • Enabled by Page/Group admins only (most restrictive)
   • Enabled by Page/Group admins + assigned Page/Group roles like Editor or Moderator
   • Enabled by Page/Group admins + Whitelisted profiles you select
5. Optional: Toggle on review requirement for all visitor posts

Whitelisting hand-picked profiles keeps community discussion focused while still enabling commentary. Requiring review queues continue to allow you oversight of all conversations.

Best Practices for Community Moderation

Balancing freedom of speech with constructive community norms around commenting requires thoughtfulness. Here are a few overarching best practices:

• Set clear guidelines upfront regarding community rules and comment policies
• Enforce policies consistently to be fair amongst all members
• Offer explanatory warnings before outright blocking or banning members after isolated negative comments
• Seek not to eliminate dissent altogether, but mitigate animosity and encourage empathetic dialogue
• Provide alternative channels for engagement in lieu of commenting abilities
• Continuously evaluate approaches to foster both enrichment and inclusivity

Marketing comes second to nurturing communities where all members feel respected, emboldened to stand up to haters, and willing to thoughtfully consider opposing viewpoints. Prioritize cultivating this culture through conscientious content policies and moderation strategies.

Turning Off Facebook Comments: Final Takeaways

Being able to restrict or disable Facebook comments provides control over conversations happening on your posts. Here are some key tips to wrap up our guide:

• Turn off commenting on individual posts by selecting Turn Off Commenting from the three dots menu
• Disable public comment abilities for your Profile under Settings > Public Comment Settings
• Limit commenting to certain audiences like friends or whitelist specific profiles
• Remove power for visitors to comment on Page or Groups posts under their Settings > General > Visitor Posts controls
• Require all visitor comments go to an approval queue before appearing publicly
• Set up filtered banned words to automatically hide unwanted language
• Follow best practices focused on constructive over combative engagement

Thoughtfully allowing or disallowing Facebook comments can lead to more meaningful interactions with your audience. Apply these controls appropriately to find the right balance for each of your posting goals and community norms.

Now you have a complete guide to restricting comments on Facebook! The key is finding a middle ground through selective moderator intervention to facilitate enriching yet open conversations. With practice, you’ll get familiar with the tools available to accomplish this balance.