How to Change Who Can Comment on Facebook

Controlling the comments on your Facebook posts is more than just managing notifications, it's about curating your community, protecting your brand, and maintaining a positive online space. Whether you're dealing with a spam attack on your business Page or just want a little more privacy on your personal profile, you have powerful tools at your disposal. This guide breaks down the process and shows you exactly how to change who can comment on your content, covering everything from default privacy settings to advanced tricks for Pages.

Why Bother Changing Your Facebook Comment Settings?

Before jumping into the "how," let's quickly cover the "why." Actively managing your comment section isn't about silencing discussion - it's about fostering the right kind of discussion. By being intentional with these settings, you can:

• Reduce Spam and Scams: This is a big one for businesses. Unmoderated comment sections can quickly become a dumping ground for spammy links, sketchy offers, and bad actors trying to trick your audience. Limiting who can comment filters out a significant amount of this noise automatically.
• Create a Positive Community Hub: Nurturing a friendly and supportive community is vital for brand health. When you actively trim away spam, trolls, and negativity, you create an environment where genuine fans feel comfortable engaging with you and each other.
• Protect Your Brand's Reputation: Imagine a potential customer lands on your Facebook Page to check out your latest product, only to see a comments section full of insults, profanity, or unrelated arguments. That first impression matters. Managing comments is a form of brand protection.
• Maintain Your Mental Wellbeing: If you run a public-facing profile or a controversial Page, the mental toll of constant negative comments can be draining. Setting boundaries on who can interact with you empowers you to engage on your own terms.

In short, think of it as maintaining your digital home. You wouldn't let strangers wander in and start shouting or leaving trash all over your living room, so why let them do it in your online space?

How to Control Comments on Your Personal Facebook Profile

For your personal profile, Facebook gives you control at two levels: a default setting for all future public posts and a specific setting for individual posts you’ve already published.

Changing Your Default Setting for Future Public Posts

Setting a default level of commenting privacy saves you from having to adjust every single post. This only applies to posts you share publicly, posts shared with "Friends" can, by definition, only be commented on by friends.

Here’s how to set it up on a computer:

1. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner of Facebook and select Settings &, Privacy, then click Settings.
2. In the left-hand menu, click on Privacy.
3. Look for the section called Public Posts (if you don’t see it, go to your regular settings page and find "Followers and Public Content" in the left menu).
4. Find the setting for Public Post Comments.
5. Here, you’ll see your options. You can choose who is allowed to comment on your future public posts:
   • Public: Anyone, even people who don't follow you, can comment.
   • Friends: Only people you are Friends with can comment.
   • Friends of Friends: Your friends and their friends can comment.

Once you select your preference, it automatically saves. Now, any post you share publicly will use this comment rule.

Changing Comment Settings for an Individual Post

What if you want to change the setting on a post you’ve already shared? Or maybe you want a specific photo or update to have different rules than your default. It’s simple.

For any post on your timeline (new or current):

1. Find the post you want to adjust.
2. Click the three dots (...) in the top-right corner of the post.
3. From the drop-down menu, select Who can comment on your post?
4. You can now choose who can comment on that specific post. The options typically are:
   • Public: Open for all.
   • Friends: For your connections only.
   • Profiles and Pages you mention: A very restrictive option, useful if you only want a response from specific tagged people.

This is extremely useful for sensitive updates. For instance, if you share some personal family news publicly but only want comments from close friends, you can easily switch it after posting.

How to Manage Comments on a Facebook Business Page

Facebook Pages work differently from personal profiles. Since they are public by default, you can't limit comments only to Followers or Friends. However, you have some powerful moderation tools that often work even better for protecting your brand.

Turning Off Comments Completely for a Single Post

Sometimes a post spirals out of control, or it’s a sensitive company announcement where you’d rather not have a public forum. In these cases, you can disable comments on that post entirely.

1. Go to the specific Page post where you want to disable comments.
2. Click the three dots (...) in the top-right corner of the post.
3. A menu will appear. Simply select Turn off commenting.

The comment box will disappear, and a small note saying "Comments have been turned off for this post" will appear. You can turn them back on at any time by following the same steps.

Automating Your Moderation with Keywords

This is arguably the most powerful comment management tool for any brand and social media manager. You can create a blocklist of words and phrases, and Facebook will automatically hide any comments containing them. The commenter won't even know their comment was hidden, which prevents them from getting frustrated and trying again.

Example in action: Imagine you're a coffee brand and a competitor's spambots keep posting links to their own website in your comments. You can add the competitor's brand name and website URL to your blocklist, and those comments will never see the light of day.

Here’s how to set it up:

1. From your Page, go to the Meta Business Suite.
2. In the left-hand menu, look for All tools, then find the Page Settings option. (Alternatively, from your classic Page view, go to Settings).
3. Click on Privacy, then select Page and tagging.
4. In this menu, you’ll find a section for Content Moderation.
5. Next to "Hide comments containing certain words from your Page," click the Edit button.
6. A text box will appear where you can enter a list of words, phrases, or even emojis, separated by commas. You can add anything you want - profanity, spam terms ("free bitcoin"), competitor names, or common trolling phrases.

Make this list as comprehensive as possible. It’s an effective, set-it-and-forget-it way to keep your comments section clean around the clock.

Using the Built-In Profanity Filter

Right underneath the Content Moderation section, you'll find the Profanity Filter. Facebook uses its own list of commonly reported offensive words and phrases. You can turn this on by selecting either of two levels:

• Medium: Hides most common profanity. This is a good starting point for most brands.
• Strong: Hides a broader list of profane words and phrases, including variations and less common terms.

Using this is a smart choice for any professional Page. Just flip it on and let Facebook handle some of the basic cleanup for you.

Advanced Strategies for Community Management

Beyond Facebook's formal settings, a few strategic actions can help you shape the conversation.

Hiding vs. Deleting Comments

You have two options for problem comments: hiding and deleting. Each has a different impact.

• Hiding a Comment: When you hide a comment, it remains visible to the person who wrote it and their friends, but it's hidden from everyone else. This is the ultimate stealth moderation tool. The user doesn't know they’ve been moderated, so there’s no conflict, and they don't get the satisfaction of stirring up trouble. This should be your go-to option nearly 90% of the time.
• Deleting a Comment: This permanently removes the comment for everyone. It's best reserved for blatant spam, hate speech, or comments that violate Facebook’s Community Standards. The risk is that the commenter might notice and post again, but for truly harmful content, deletion is necessary.

To hide or delete, just hover over a comment and click the three dots (...) that appear.

Pinning a Great Comment

If a customer or fan leaves an amazing, positive, or insightful comment, you can reward them and set the tone for the entire post by pinning it to the top. This effectively makes their comment the first one everyone sees.

Hover over the comment, click the three dots, and select Pin comment. It’s a simple way to highlight the kind of engagement you want to see everywhere else.

Final Thoughts

Taking control of your Facebook comment section is a key part of good social media management. By using the tools Facebook provides - from default permissions on your personal profile to powerful Content Moderation features for Pages - you can create a safer, more positive, and more engaging online space for yourself and your audience.

Managing these conversations across Facebook, Instagram, and other networks can still feel like a full-time job. That's why we built the unified inbox included in Postbase. Instead of opening multiple apps to check for new messages and comments, our platform consolidates all your DMs and comments into one organized feed. You can reply, hide, or assign conversations to teammates directly there, simplifying your workflow and ensuring no important interaction is missed.