How to edit, hide, and delete comments on Instagram

Users in the early days of social media commented without the ability to edit. If an unsavory character left an awkward comment, it would remain there indefinitely. It wasn’t until Instagram went through its first round of updates in 2013 that we were blessed with the ability to delete comments.

Nowadays, we have far more power when it comes to comments — both the ones we leave and the ones we receive. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about how to delete, edit, and even turn off comments on Instagram.

How to delete a comment on Instagram

While Instagram is a platform built on visual content and virtual connection, now and again, you just might need to remove something entirely.

Now, there are a few restrictions. You can’t delete other people’s comments on other people’s posts. But you do have control over the comments you leave on other accounts’ content and the comments left on yours.

Can you delete comments on Instagram?

Yes, but you can only delete comments you’ve written or comments left on your posts. Other people’s comments on other accounts aren’t up for grabs.

How to delete your Instagram comment

We’ve all been there. You write a comment on someone’s photo that we think is good, but then, after a few minutes, you hurry back to erase it (hopefully before they’ve even read it).

Thankfully, deleting your own comment on Instagram is quite easy. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open Instagram.
2. Navigate to the post where you left the comment.
3. Swipe left on the comment.
4. Press the red trash can button to delete.

Once you press that big red button, your comment is history. Simple as that.

How to delete someone’s comment on your Instagram post

Outside of your own comments, there’s only one other type of comment over which you have full control: comments left on your posts.

Below are the simple instructions for deleting a comment on your Instagram post:

1. Open Instagram.
2. Navigate to the comment you want to erase.
3. Swipe left on the comment.
4. Press the red trash can button.

Following those steps will delete any comment on your Instagram post for good. After pressing that button, you won’t be able to find them again.

Will the person get notified when you delete their comment?

No. Instagram does not send out a notification when you delete a person’s comment on your post. However, nothing is preventing them from revisiting the post and noticing that their comment has been removed.

Can you undelete an Instagram comment?

No. Once a comment is deleted, it remains so. At this time, there is no way to recover deleted Instagram comments.

How to hide comments on Instagram

If deleting an Instagram comment seems a little too final, there is another option. You can hide your Instagram comments altogether.

Can you hide a comment on your Instagram post?

Yes. There are a couple of options for hiding comments on an Instagram post.

The first thing you can do is set up your automatic filter. Turning this feature on will allow Instagram to hide any comments it deems inappropriate or offensive.

Here’s how to turn that feature on:

1. Open Instagram.
2. Press the person icon at the bottom-right corner of the page to navigate to your profile.
3. Press the three horizontal lines at the top-right corner of the page.
4. Navigate to Settings > Privacy > Comments.
5. Press the Hide Offensive Comments toggle.

On that same page within your settings, you also have the option to hide any comments that contain specific words of your choosing. After navigating back to the Comment Controls section:

1. Press the Manual Filter toggle.
2. Type the words you want to filter, separating each new word with a comma.

And finally, the last thing you can do is restrict a specific user on Instagram from commenting on your photos.

When you restrict someone on Instagram, they’ll still be able to comment on your posts — but their comment will only be visible to them. You can see the comment by selecting “See Comment,” and you can make it visible to your followers by selecting “Approve.” You can also choose to delete or simply ignore it.

Restricting someone also means that they won’t be able to see if you’re actively using Instagram or if you’ve read their messages. You’ll also no longer receive any notifications from that account. So it’s less radical than an Instagram block, but enough to keep a pesky commenter away from your posts.

Here’s how to restrict someone on Instagram:

1. Open Instagram.
2. Navigate to that person’s profile.
3. Press the three horizontal dots at the top-right corner of the page.
4. Press Restrict.
5. Press Restrict again to confirm.

How to disable comments on Instagram

If you decide that you would rather not worry about comments at all on your post, you can simply disable them. Turning off Instagram comments essentially prevents anyone from commenting on a specific post.

Here’s how to turn comments off on a post:

1. Open Instagram.
2. Press the person icon at the bottom-right corner of the page to navigate to your profile.
3. Locate the post for which you want to disable comments.
4. Press the three horizontal dots on the top-right corner of the screen.
5. Select Turn Off Commenting.

When you turn off comments from a post, any comments that have already been left will be hidden. If you turn comments back on, those previous comments will be restored, and people will once again be able to comment on your post.

How to comment privately on Instagram

At the time of this writing, there is no way to comment on someone’s Instagram post privately. Even if your profile is private, your comment on a person’s post will be visible to everyone who follows them.

You can, however, send a person a direct message about a post. That interaction remains private and not visible to outside followers.

Here’s how to do that:

1. Open Instagram.
2. Navigate to the post you want to comment on.
3. Press the paper airplane icon underneath the post.
4. Locate the user you want to send the message to by scrolling or typing their username into the search bar.
5. Write your comment as a message.
6. Press Send.

When you send a post to someone, the person who uploaded it won’t be notified. However, if the account that posted it was private, only people who are approved followers of that account will be able to see it.

Why are my Instagram comments not showing up?

If your Instagram comments are being blocked or are not displaying as they should, there could be a couple of issues to blame.

First, you’ll want to check your Wi-Fi connection and make sure all is working properly. If you’re connected to a router that’s experiencing issues, it could keep your comments from going through.

Next, you’ll want to check and see if your Instagram app is up to date. Outdated apps have been known to crash and have other technical difficulties. Updating your app could solve the comment problem.

Finally, it’s possible that your activity is violating Instagram’s policies in some way, such as:

• You included more than five mentions in a comment.
• You included more than 30 hashtags in a caption.
• You’ve made too many comments (or duplicate comments) on a single post.
• You’ve used banned words, phrases, or hashtags.
• The person who uploaded the post might have blocked you or blocked a word you’re trying to use in your comment.
• You’ve hit Instagram’s activity limit, which is a total of 500 actions (comments, follows, and likes) a day.

If you think you’ve violated one of these rules, the best thing you can do is log off the app and try again tomorrow. You could also reach out to Instagram’s Help Center for further assistance.

How to edit a comment on Instagram

While deleting and disabling comments on Instagram is simple, editing them post-publishing is not.

How to edit your Instagram comment (caption)

At the time of this writing, you can only edit your Instagram captions after they’ve been posted. You can’t edit your comments on your posts or on other people’s posts.

Here are instructions for editing your Instagram caption:

1. Open Instagram.
2. Press the person icon at the bottom-right corner of the page to navigate to your profile.
3. Locate the post that has the caption you want to edit.
4. Press the three horizontal dots at the top-right of the post.
5. Select Edit.
6. Edit your caption.
7. Press Done.

You can edit your caption as many times as you want, no matter how old the photo is.

Can you edit your comments on other people’s posts?

No. If you want to edit a comment you left on another account’s post, you’ll have to delete the comment and write a new one.

Comments are the original way of communicating on social media. And while we now have direct messages and mentions, commenting is still a great way to interact with your followers online.