PostEaseThe short answer
Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook each let you hide comments that contain words you choose, and each also has an automatic filter for offensive or spam comments. Instagram calls the list Hidden words, TikTok calls it Filter keywords in comments, YouTube calls it Blocked words, and Facebook calls it Hide comments containing certain words. Facebook allows up to 1,000 keywords and hides common variations for you.
The filters differ in one way that matters: whether a filtered comment is hidden quietly or held for you to approve. TikTok and YouTube hold comments for review; Instagram and Facebook hide them. Set the list once on each platform, then check the held or hidden comments every so often, because no automatic filter is exact.
The four filters side by side
From each platform’s help pages, read in November 2026:
| Platform | Your own word list | Automatic filter | What happens to a match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hidden words: words, phrases, numbers and emojis | Hide unwanted comments, on by default, at None, Some or More | Hidden; others can tap View hidden comments | |
| TikTok | Filter keywords in comments | Filter unwanted comments, and Creator Care Mode | Hidden unless you approve it |
| YouTube | Blocked words | Comment moderation: None, Basic, Strict or Hold all | Held in YouTube Studio for up to 60 days |
| Up to 1,000 keywords, with variations hidden for you | A profanity filter for Pages | Hidden so it does not appear on the Page |
Instagram: Hidden words
Instagram’s Help Center says Hide unwanted comments is on by default and hides comments with common offensive words, phrases or emojis; you choose None, Some or More from Settings, Comments, Hide unwanted comments. For your own list, go to Settings, then Hidden words under How others can interact with you, and add words, phrases, numbers or emojis separated by commas.
Instagram notes that hidden comments still count in your total comment count, that the person who wrote one is not told, and that others can still choose to see hidden comments by tapping View hidden comments. Turning a setting on hides new and existing comments; turning it off restores them.
TikTok: comment filters
TikTok’s Help Center lists the filters under Settings and privacy, Privacy, Comments, below Comment filters. Filter all comments hides every comment unless you approve it. Filter unwanted comments hides recent comments that may be offensive or spam. Filter keywords in comments hides comments with the keywords you add. Creator Care Mode hides comments that are inappropriate, offensive or contain profanity, and comments previously reported, deleted or disliked.
Everything filtered waits under Review filtered comments, where you tap Approve or Delete. TikTok also lets you choose who can comment at all: Everyone on a public account, Followers on a private one, or Friends, meaning followers you follow back.
YouTube: blocked words and held comments
YouTube Help says comments containing or closely matching your blocked words may be held for up to 60 days, unless they come from someone on your approved users list, and that live chat messages matching them are blocked too. Held comments are reviewed under the Held tab of the Comments page in YouTube Studio.
Comment moderation sets how much else is held. Basic holds comments that may be spam, self-promotion, gibberish or potentially inappropriate; Strict holds more; Hold all holds every comment. YouTube says these use AI and may not always get it right. Blocked words, hidden users and link blocking apply to every video and the channel homepage, not to one video, and changes apply to future comments.
| Level | What is held |
|---|---|
| None | Nothing |
| Basic | Comments that may be spam, self-promotion, gibberish or potentially inappropriate |
| Strict | A broader range of potentially inappropriate comments |
| Hold all | Every comment, until you approve it |
Facebook: keyword blocking
Facebook’s Help Center says a Page or a profile can block up to 1,000 keywords in any language, including phrases and emoji, and that Facebook automatically hides variations, such as misspellings, plurals, abbreviations and swaps of letters for numbers or symbols, without counting them toward the limit. Blocking “tree” also blocks TREE, t.r.e.e., tr33, treee and #tree.
On a Page, switch into the Page, open Settings & privacy, then Settings, Followers and public content, and Hide comments containing certain words from your Page. Lists can be pasted in, or uploaded from a CSV file. Pages also have a separate profanity filter.
What to put on the list
Start with the words that have already caused trouble on your account, then add names of competitors or scams that show up in replies, and slurs in the languages your audience writes in. Review the held or hidden comments weekly for a month: anything wrongly caught tells you a word is too broad, and anything that got through tells you what to add.
Where PostEase fits
PostEase’s inbox brings comments from your connected channels into one place, with replies on the platforms that allow them. It has no word filter of its own, so set these filters in each app; they work on the platform before anyone reads the comment.
Questions
Does the person know their comment was hidden?
On Instagram, no: its Help Center says the person who sent a hidden comment won’t know. The other platforms’ pages read for this post do not say.
Can I block a word on one YouTube video only?
No. YouTube Help says blocked words, hidden users and link blocking apply to all videos and the channel homepage.
How many words can I block on Facebook?
Up to 1,000 keywords in any language, per Facebook’s Help Center, and variations such as misspellings and plurals are hidden without counting toward the limit.
Where do filtered TikTok comments go?
To Review filtered comments under Settings and privacy, Privacy, Comments, where you can approve or delete each one, according to TikTok’s Help Center.
Sources
- Instagram, Hide comments or message requests you don’t want to see on Instagram, checked November 2026.
- TikTok, Manage comments, checked November 2026.
- YouTube, Learn about comment settings, checked November 2026.
- Facebook, Block certain words from appearing in comments on your Facebook Page, checked November 2026.
- Facebook, Block words from comments on your Facebook content, checked November 2026.