YouTube Comments Held for Review, Removed or Not Showing

You posted a comment on YouTube and it is not there. Or you run a channel, and you see a notice that comments are held for review, and you do not know what to do with them. In both cases the same question comes up: where did the comment go?

This guide follows YouTube's own help pages. It covers the reasons a comment may not show, how to check from the viewer side, and how a creator finds, approves or removes held comments in YouTube Studio. We only describe the official routes. We also cannot promise that a comment will come back, because the channel owner and YouTube decide that. A wrong step, such as marking a good comment as spam, cannot be undone, so know what you are doing before you start.

Last checked: 27 October 2026.

#Where Did My YouTube Comment Go?

YouTube's Learn about comments that aren’t showing or have been removed page says comments are an important part of building a community, but your comment may not show or might get removed. It lists the reasons below.

#If You Wrote the Comment: How to Check

The page says that if you cannot find your comment in Top comments, sort the comments by Newest first. On the mobile app, tap Comments, then Newest, and scroll to find your comment. If it does not show in the Newest first view, the page says it may have been moderated by the channel or removed by YouTube for a policy violation.

The page explains the difference between views. It says the Top comments view shows what viewers are likely to value and interact with, based on signals such as the comment text, handle text, channel name text, avatar, viewer and video. It says Top comments and Members comments may not show content that YouTube detects viewers are not likely to value, including comments detected as potentially inappropriate, spam or impersonation, based on signals including the commenter's channel name text or handle text, avatar and channel moderation settings.

So a missing comment is not always a removal. It can simply be outside the Top comments view. That is the first thing to rule out.

#Why a Comment May Be Detected as Spam

The page has a note on spam. It says that posting large volumes of comments in a short amount of time, repeatedly posting the same comment, sharing links, or excessively using emoji or unusual characters may be detected as spam and removed for violating the Community Guidelines. It also says you may sometimes get a notification that your comment has been removed or that commenting is paused for your account.

YouTube's Manage spam in comments page adds that YouTube detects spam based on the text of a comment, or on the behaviour of a particular commenter. For instance, repeatedly posting comments can be detected as spam. It says uploaders have more control over comments on their videos, and can review your comment before it is displayed or remove it altogether.

If your comment was held or removed for a channel's blocked word, that is the channel's choice to make. A channel is allowed to choose what it does not want in its comments. If you think your comment was wrongly removed for a Community Guidelines reason, the page does not describe an appeal for a single comment, so we do not claim one.

#If You Run the Channel: Where Held Comments Are

YouTube's Manage spam in comments page says YouTube merged the two moderation tabs, Held for review and Likely spam, in YouTube Studio. Comments automatically held by YouTube now show in the combined Held for review tab for up to 60 days. To review comments reported as spam on your videos or channel, sign in to YouTube Studio, select Comments from the left menu and choose the Held tab. The page says comments reported as spam show toward the bottom of the Held tab, labelled Likely spam.

YouTube's Review & reply to comments - Computer page uses slightly different wording. It says to select Community from the left menu in YouTube Studio, and that the Held tab has comments held based on your settings, and comments automatically held by YouTube as likely spam. The menu name may differ between pages or accounts, so follow the label you see in your own Studio.

The Moderate comments - Computer page lists what you can do on the Held tab: approve a comment to let it show publicly, remove it, report spam or abuse, or hide the user. It also mentions an Always approve option on the Published tab, to allow all future comments from a viewer to be automatically published.

#What Gets Held, and for How Long?

YouTube's Learn about comment settings page says you can choose to hold some comments before they are shown. For comment moderation it lists four options: None, which holds no comments; Basic, which holds potentially inappropriate comments; Strict, which holds a broader range of potentially inappropriate comments; and Hold all, which holds all comments. It says held comments are kept in YouTube Studio for up to 60 days, are not publicly visible unless you approve them, and are available for review in over 100 languages.

The page also describes channel-level tools. Hidden users: you can hide comments from specific commenters across all videos, and comments from hidden users do not show in YouTube Studio. Approved users: their comments are published automatically and are not filtered for blocked links, blocked words or potentially inappropriate content. Blocked words: comments that contain or closely match the terms may be held for up to 60 days unless they are from an approved user. Blocked links: you can hold comments that contain URLs for review.

The page notes that hidden users, blocked words and link blocking apply to all videos and to the channel homepage, not to one video. If you turn comments off and back on again, it says existing comments will reappear.

#What Cannot Be Undone

This is where a quick click can cause a lasting problem. The Manage spam in comments page says that once you have marked a comment as spam, there is no way to undo it, and to use the report spam or abuse feature with extreme caution. It says that if you misuse it, you may be prohibited from YouTube. The Moderate comments page says that marking a comment as spam permanently hides it from your channel, and that YouTube may also review the comment and the commenter's behaviour for spam.

The spam page does say that uploaders can unmark a comment as spam, and that creators can always review and unmark comments that were flagged as likely spam. So use Approve, not Report, for a comment that is simply held. Use Report only when it truly is spam or abuse.

#A Short Checklist

• Viewer: sort by Newest first before you assume your comment was removed.
• Viewer: look at your comment for links, repeated text, a lot of emoji or unusual characters, which the page says can be detected as spam.
• Creator: open the Held tab in YouTube Studio and approve good comments before the 60 days end.
• Creator: check your comment moderation level and your blocked words list if good comments are being held.
• Creator: use Approve for a held comment that is fine, and keep Report for real spam or abuse, because it cannot be undone.
• Creator: add trusted regulars to your approved users, which the settings page says are not filtered for blocked links, words or potentially inappropriate content.

If the comments you are dealing with are harassing you, rather than merely held, see our guide on removing a YouTube video that harasses you. If comments are off after a Made for Kids setting, see YouTube set to Made for Kids and comments disabled. For a channel strike that may affect comments, our guide on the YouTube Community Guidelines strike explains the process.

#What the Pages Do Not Say

The pages we read do not tell a viewer how to appeal the removal of a single comment. They do not say how YouTube decides that a comment is likely spam beyond the signals they list, or give any longer limit than the 60 days. They do not say what happens to held comments after that limit, so approve the ones you want in good time. We do not know why a given comment was held, and we will not guess.

#When It Is Safer to Get Expert Help

Some people sort this out alone, and the official steps stay first. The risks are plain. Marking comments as spam in a rush cannot be undone, and misuse of the report feature can lead to being prohibited from YouTube. Turning on Hold all without a plan can bury real comments. Hiding a user affects all your videos. And a person who offers to restore your comments, or to unlock your channel, in return for your login is a risk to expect.

If the channel matters to your income or your business, or comment problems are part of a larger issue such as a strike or a hacked account, handing the case to an experienced team such as AwareXone is the safer choice. We can help you review your settings, keep a record and avoid mistakes. See our YouTube help page, and use the Apply for Case Review button at the end of this guide.

#When a Case Review Makes Sense

If comments keep disappearing across several videos, or you suspect someone is abusing the report feature against your channel, a review can help you decide what to do first. SocialSafe by AwareXone is a Malaysia-based service, independent of YouTube, that helps you use the official routes. We never ask for your password or login codes, and we cannot make YouTube restore a comment. See how we work on our trust page.

#Frequently Asked Questions