How to Turn Off Comments on Facebook Reels

Sometimes the comment section on your Facebook Reels gets messy, and you need a quick way to regain control. Whether you're dealing with spam, negativity, or just want to focus the viewer's attention elsewhere, turning off comments is a straightforward solution. This guide walks you through exactly how to disable comments on your Reels - before you post, on existing videos, and for future posts - so you can manage your community your way.

The "Why": Good Reasons to Disable Comments on Your Reels

In a world driven by engagement metrics, deliberately turning off comments can feel counterintuitive. Isn't the whole point to get people talking? Most of the time, yes. But there are strategic and personal reasons why shutting down the conversation is the right move for your brand, your content, and your mental health.

1. To Control a Sensitive Narrative

If your Reel covers a sensitive, controversial, or deeply personal topic, the comment section can quickly devolve into a space of debate, misinformation, or hurtful remarks. Disabling comments allows your message to stand on its own without being derailed by off-topic arguments. It ensures your audience focuses on the content of your video, not the back-and-forth chatter happening below it.

2. To Prevent Spam and Trolls

As your account grows, your comment sections become an attractive target for spam bots and internet trolls. Manually deleting endless "crypto guru" links or responding to bad-faith negativity is exhausting and time-consuming. For high-velocity content like Reels, disabling comments on a popular video can be a quick and effective way to stop a wave of automated nonsense or coordinated trolling before it overwhelms your moderation efforts.

3. To Protect Your Mental Health

Let's be real: managing a social media presence can be draining. Reading hundreds of comments, even the positive ones, is a lot to process. When you factor in the inevitable negativity and criticism, it can take a serious toll on your mental well-being. Turning off comments isn't a sign of weakness, it's a healthy boundary. It gives you the space to share your content without subjecting yourself to an onslaught of unfiltered feedback, allowing you to stay creative and avoid burnout.

4. To Funnel Actions for a Contest or Giveaway

Imagine you're running a giveaway where the entry requirement is to "click the link in our bio to sign up." If you leave comments on, people will inevitably comment "I want to win!" or "Entering!" as their entry. This creates confusion and clutters your comment section. By temporarily turning off comments on the announcement Reel, you force everyone to follow the correct instructions, making the entry process cleaner and easier for you to manage.

5. To Sharpen a Specific Call to Action (CTA)

Not every Reel is designed to start a conversation. Sometimes, the goal is singular: drive traffic to a blog post, get sign-ups for a webinar, or sell a product. In these cases, an active comment section can be a distraction. By disabling comments, you remove an extra step for the viewer. Instead of stopping to type a comment, their focus is guided directly to your primary CTA, like tapping the link sticker or visiting your profile.

Method 1: How to Turn Off Comments on a New Reel (Before You Post)

The best time to manage comments is before they even start. Facebook makes it easy to disable commenting during the creation process. This is the simplest, most proactive approach.

Follow these steps:

1. Create Your Reel: Open the Facebook app and start creating your Reel like you normally would. Record your video or upload it from your gallery, add your music, text, stickers, and any other creative elements.
2. Go to the Final "Share" Screen: Once you're done editing and tap "Next," you'll land on the final publishing screen. This is where you write your caption, add hashtags, and adjust your final settings before the Reel goes live.
3. Find the "Comments" Setting: On this screen, look for an option labeled "Comments." Typically, it shows a public comments icon and is set to 'On' by default. This option is usually located below your caption area and alongside settings like "Audience" and "Tag people."
4. Turn Off Commenting: Tap on the "Comments" setting. This will likely open a simple toggle switch or a small menu where you see an option to "Turn off commenting." All you need to do is toggle it to the 'Off' position.
5. Publish Your Reel: With commenting turned off, finish writing your caption and tap the "Share Reel" button. Your video will be posted, and no one will be able to leave a comment - the comment icon might be gone entirely or tappable but with a message stating that comments have been turned off for the post.

Method 2: How to Turn Off Comments on an Existing Reel

Sometimes you don't realize a Reel is going to attract unwanted attention until it's already live. Maybe a video unexpectedly went viral overnight, or the tone of the comments shifted in a negative direction. No problem - you can easily disable comments on a Reel that's already been published.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Locate the Reel on Your Profile or Page: Go to your Facebook profile (or Page) and find the Reel you want to manage. You can usually find this in a dedicated "Reels" tab.
2. Open the Reel and Find the Menu: Tap on the Reel to open it in the full-screen viewer. On the right-hand side of the screen, you'll see a series of icons for liking, sharing, etc. Look for the three-dot icon (...) which represents the "More options" menu. Tap it.
3. Select "Turn off commenting": Tapping the three-dot icon will bring up a menu from the bottom of the screen with a list of actions. Find the option that says "Turn off commenting" and tap it.
4. Confirm the Change: The change happens instantly. The comment section will disappear from view for anyone watching your Reel. If comments were already on the video, they will become hidden. You can follow the exact same steps to turn commenting back on if you change your mind later.

This process works the same whether you're managing a personal profile or a professional Facebook Page.

Method 3: Limiting Who Can Comment on *ALL* Your Future Public Posts

Rather than managing Reels one by one, you might prefer a more efficient, preventative strategy. While Facebook doesn't offer a "turn off all comments on all Reels forever" button, it does provide a powerful setting that lets you control who is allowed to comment on any public content you post, including Reels. Instead of turning comments off entirely, this method restricts them to a more trusted audience.

Here’s how to set it up:

1. Open Your Facebook Settings: On the Facebook app or desktop site, go to the main menu and navigate to "Settings & Privacy," then tap "Settings."
2. Find "Followers and public content": In the Settings menu, scroll down until you see the "Audience and Visibility" section. In that group of options, tap on "Followers and public content."
3. Adjust Your "Public Post Comments" Settings: On this page, you’ll find several options for managing how people who aren't your friends can interact with you. Look for the heading "Public Post Comments." Beneath it, you'll see a setting that dictates who can comment on your public posts.
4. Choose Your Desired Audience: The options are typically "Public" (everyone can comment), "Friends," and "Friends of friends." By changing this setting from "Public" to "Friends," for example, you are building a proactive filter. Only people you are directly friends with will be able to comment on the public Reels or posts you share moving forward.

This is a fantastic "set it and forget it" strategy for creators and brands who want to foster a safer, more controlled community without having to manually disable comments on every single Reel.

Smarter Alternatives: Managing Your Comment Section Without Shutting It Down

Shutting down the comments section is effective, but it comes at the cost of valuable engagement and community building. Before you turn everything off, consider some less drastic moderation techniques that can give you control while still allowing for positive interactions.

Use Moderation Assist & Keyword Filters

For Facebook Pages, Meta Business Suite contains a powerful tool called "Moderation Assist." You can automatically hide comments that contain specific keywords, phrases, emojis, or links. This is the first line of defense against spam and common hateful language. Set up a list of forbidden words, and Facebook will automatically hide those comments for you. Nobody will see them except the person who posted them and their friends.

Pin a Positive Comment

What you highlight grows. Set the tone of the conversation by pinning a thoughtful, positive comment to the top of the feed. This showcases the type of interaction you want to encourage and can frame the discussion for new viewers, prompting them to contribute in a similar spirit.

Reply Strategically and Starve the Trolls

Trolls thrive on attention, don't give it to them. Instead of getting into pointless back-and-forth arguments, use the "hide comment" feature or simply delete egregious ones. For genuine negativity or criticism that doesn't violate your guidelines, a simple, non-emotional "Thanks for your feedback" can be enough. Focus your energy on replying to the positive, constructive comments to reward good behavior.

Final Thoughts

Knowing how to turn off comments - whether it's on a single Reel or through your wider privacy settings - is an empowering tool for any creator or social media manager. It frees you to create content without worrying about an unruly comments section, protects your mental space, and allows you to direct your audience's focus where it matters most. Using these features, along with smart moderation, helps you build a community on your own terms.

Managing comments across dozens of Reels on top of posts on Instagram and TikTok can become a full-time job. That's why we built our unified inbox in Postbase. Instead of hunting down every last notification in the native apps, you can view and reply to comments from your Facebook Reels, Instagram posts, and TikToks all in one clean feed. It keeps your engagement organized and ensures you never miss a chance to connect with your community, all without the chaos of switching between apps.