> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.hosting.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Managing WordPress comments

> Manage WordPress comments effortlessly with the admin interface and delete bulk comments via phpMyAdmin.

This article describes how to manage WordPress comments using the administration interface, as well as how to use phpMyAdmin to delete bulk amounts of comments (such as spam comments).

## Managing comments using the WordPress administration interface

The most common way to manage WordPress comments is to use the administration interface. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Log in to WordPress as the administrator.

2. Under **Dashboard**, click **Comments**. WordPress displays all of the comments for all of your posts.
   > 👍 Tip
   >
   > If you have a lot of comments, it may help to filter the comments list. To do this:
   >
   > * Click **Pending** to only view comments awaiting review.
   >
   > * Click **Approved** to only view comments you have already approved.
   >
   > * Click **Spam** to only view comments you have marked as spam.
   >
   > * Click **Trash** to only view comments you have marked for deletion.

3. When your mouse pointer hovers over a comment entry, the following options appear:

   * **Approve**: When you select this option, the comment is viewable by the public.
     > 📘 Note
     >
     > You can revoke approval by selecting **Unapprove**, and the comment will no longer be viewable by the public.

   * **Reply**: When you select this option, you can compose and publish a response to a comment.

   * **Quick Edit**: When you select this option, you can make quick changes to a comment's content using a basic editor.

   * **Edit**: When you select this option, you can make detailed changes to a comment's content.

   * **Spam**: When you select this option, the comment is marked as spam and does not appear on your site.

   * **Trash**: When you select this option, the comment is marked as trash and does not appear on your site.

## Deleting comments using phpMyAdmin

There may be times when it is easier to delete WordPress comments directly in the MySQL database by using phpMyAdmin. For example, if a post has been spammed with hundreds of comments, it is often easier to do a bulk delete operation in phyMyAdmin.

<Warning>
  **Important**

  If you are receiving a lot of spam comments, you should consider adding CAPTCHA protection to your WordPress site. CAPTCHAs can help reduce the amount of spam comments on your site significantly. For information about how to set up CAPTCHA protection for a WordPress site, please see [this article](/docs/adding-captcha-protection-to-a-wordpress-site).
</Warning>

To delete comments using phpMyAdmin, follow these steps:

1. Log in to cPanel.

2. In the **Databases** section of the cPanel home screen, click **phpMyAdmin**.

3. In the left-hand pane of phpMyAdmin, click the WordPress database. A list of tables in the database appears.
   > 📘 Note
   >
   > Typically, the WordPress database is **username\_wpXXX** , where *username* represents your cPanel username, and *XXX* is a three-digit number.

4. Click the *wp\_comments* table.

5. Each post has its own post ID, so to group comments by their parent post, click the **comment\_post\_ID** heading.

6. To delete a single comment, click **Delete** in the comment's row, and then click **OK** to confirm the deletion:\
   ![phpMyAdmin - Delete single comment](https://static.hosting.com/kb/kb-wordpress-phpmyadmin-comment.png)

7. To delete multiple comments, select the check boxes for the comments you want to delete, and then click **Delete** in the **With selected** section:\
   ![phpMyAdmin - Bulk delete comments](https://static.hosting.com/kb/kb-wordpress-phpmyadmin-bulk-delete.png)

8. Click **Yes** to confirm the deletion.

## Related articles

* [Adding CAPTCHA protection to a WordPress site](/docs/adding-captcha-protection-to-a-wordpress-site)

* [WordPress security](/docs/wordpress-security)