How to Fix It When YouTube Comments Aren't Showing Up

This article explains what might be preventing YouTube comments from appearing for you, either as a viewer or as a channel, and what you can do to fix the issue.

Why Can’t I See Comments on YouTube Videos?

There are a number of reasons why you might not be seeing comments on YouTube videos, including:

• Channel settings
• YouTube itself
• Internet connection
• Browser extension conflict

Fortunately, most of the potential causes and their fixes are relatively easy to check. So if you find yourself watching YouTube but aren’t seeing comments, consider the following:

How to Fix YouTube Comments Not Loading

1. Make sure comments are enabled for the video in the first place. Channels, or even YouTube itself, may disable comments for a video. If this is the case you should see “Comments are turned off” just below the video description and channel name, where the comment section would typically begin. You can also check other videos to see if comments appear on those instead.

2. Try reloading the web page by either clicking on the Reload icon next to the web browser’s address bar or pressing Command+R on a Mac or Ctrl+R on a PC.

3. Check your internet connection. If it’s too weak, that could lead to video comments failing to load. This is unlikely since if the video loads then it's likely not your connection, but it's such a simple thing to check it won't take much time.

4. If you’re using an app rather than a web browser, close and reopen the app to see if it takes care of the problem.

5. Check YouTube's Twitter account or try Downdetector's YouTube page to see if the YouTube website itself is having problems. If so, all you can really do is wait for YouTube to sort things out on its end.

6. Look to see if your web browser or app is up to date, and download the latest version if not.

7. Disable web browser extensions to see if some kind of extension conflict is the root cause.

8. Clear your browser's cache. If the cache is corrupted or your browser insists on using the cache instead of reloading the page, you might not be seeing the most recent version of the page.

9. If all else fails, try restarting your device.

Why Aren’t Comments Appearing on My YouTube Channel?

If you can’t see comments on your own channel but can view them on others, the problem is most likely tied you your own channel in some way. It could be a simple incorrect setting, YouTube intervention, or content flagging. Here’s how you can figure out what’s going on, and how to fix it:

How to Fix YouTube Comments Not Appearing on Your Videos

1. Check the TeamYouTube Twitter account to see if the site itself might be experiencing problems, or if other channels are encountering similar errors.

2. Make sure comments are enabled. Select your user account icon in the top-right corner, followed by YouTube Studio. Then select Settings > Community > Defaults, and check to see if Hold all comments for review or Disable comments is selected. If so, select either Hold potentially inappropriate comments for review or Allow all comments, then Save when you’re finished.

3. YouTube may have automatically marked some of your videos as being “for kids,” which disables comments in accordance with COPPA guidelines. Open your YouTube Studio and select Content, then choose a video and select Details. Scroll down to Audience and make sure Yes, it’s made for kids isn’t selected.

4. Your entire channel may have also been automatically set to “for kids” by YouTube. You can try to adjust this by opening YouTube Studio and selecting Settings > Channel > Advanced Settings. Then check the page to see if your channel is set to being for kids, and if possible change it to No, Set this channel as not made for kids. If you’re unable to make those changes, you might need to send an appeal to YouTube in order to try to get it sorted out.

FAQ

• Why are my YouTube comments appearing on other websites?

  This is most likely due to Google searches, which can link to the comments you leave on a YouTube video when your name is queried. You can ask Google to remove the results, but it probably won't take action if the information being shared isn't deemed sensitive. If you want to prevent your comments from appearing elsewhere online, your best option is to delete them at the source.

• Why can't I see some replies to my YouTube comment?

  It's most likely that YouTube has flagged some replies as spam or inappropriate, and has hidden them automatically. Comments that have been flagged like this can be un-hidden by the video's uploader at their discretion.

• Why do my YouTube comments disappear when I'm logged out?

  When you're logged in YouTube will prioritize your own comments in a video's history for you, but when logged out it won't give them priority—likely resulting in them being pushed further down the page. If you just left a comment, try reorganizing the section with most recent comments first to see if that makes yours easier to find. If you can see your comments on a video when logged in, but not on the same video when logged out, it's also possible that the video uploader has chosen to hide your comments.

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