You can disable comments on a Facebook post in two taps, either before or after you publish

Open the post you want to protect. Tap the three dots in the top right corner of the post. Select "Turn off commenting" from the menu. Facebook will hide the comment box when ready — people who already commented can still see their own comments, but no one can add new ones.

You can turn comments back on the same way. Tap the three dots, then select "Turn on commenting". This works whether you posted five minutes ago or five months ago.

If you want to stop comments before you publish, tap the audience selector (where it says "Friends" or "Public") just before you hit "Post". Scroll down to "Who can comment on this?" and choose "Off". Then publish as usual.

Key Takeaways

  • Disabling comments hides the comment box but keeps the post visible to whoever you shared it with.
  • People who already left comments can still see their own, but new comments cannot be added.
  • You can turn comments back on at any time by tapping the three dots and selecting "Turn on commenting".
  • You can also prevent comments before publishing by changing the "Who can comment on this?" setting to "Off".
  • Disabling comments is different from deleting a post — the post stays up, just without a comment section.

Why you might want to disable comments

Disabling comments is useful when you want to share something without inviting debate or spam. You might post a photo, announcement, or link and straightforward not want a conversation underneath it. This is especially common when you post about a sensitive topic, share news, or post something that tends to attract unwanted replies.

It is also a practical tool if you are tired of moderating. Once comments are off, you do not have to delete spam, block people, or watch a thread spiral. The post stays visible to your audience, but the comment section is gone.

The difference between disabling comments and other privacy controls

Disabling comments stops people from replying to a specific post. The post itself is still visible to whoever you shared it with. People can still share the post to their own timeline or send it to friends privately.

Limiting who sees the post (by changing the audience to "Friends Only" or a custom list) is different — it controls whether people can see the post at all. You do this before publishing by tapping the audience selector.

Deleting the post removes it entirely. Archiving a post hides it from your timeline but keeps it in your archive — only you can see it. Neither of these is the same as disabling comments.

How to disable comments on old posts

Go to your timeline or find the post in your activity log. Tap the three dots on the post itself. Select "Turn off commenting". The change takes effect when ready.

If you have posted hundreds of times and want to disable comments on multiple posts at once, you will need to do each one individually — Facebook does not have a bulk option. However, you can change your default settings so future posts have comments off by default (see below).

Setting comments to "off" by default for new posts

Open Facebook and tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines). Go to "Settings & privacy", then "Settings". Scroll to "Privacy" and tap "Who can comment on your posts?". Choose "Off".

From that point forward, every new post you create will have comments disabled automatically. You can still turn comments on for individual posts if you want — just tap the three dots and select "Turn on commenting" before you publish.

This setting applies only to posts you make going forward. It does not change comments on posts you have already published.

What happens to existing comments when you disable new ones

When you turn off commenting, people who already left comments can still see what they wrote. Their comments stay visible on the post. However, no one — including them — can reply to those comments or add new comments of their own.

If you want to remove existing comments entirely, you have to delete them individually. Tap the three dots on the comment itself and select "Delete". You can only delete comments on your own posts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I disable comments on someone else's post?

No. You can only disable comments on posts you created. On someone else's post, you can hide it from your timeline, report it, or straightforward scroll past it. If a post violates Facebook's rules, you can report it to Facebook directly.

If I turn off comments, can people still react with emoji?

Yes. Disabling comments only stops text replies. People can still use the Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, and Angry reactions. If you want to turn off reactions too, you cannot do that on a per-post basis — you would have to delete or archive the post instead.

Will people get a notification that I disabled comments?

No. People who try to comment will straightforward see that the comment box is not there. They will not receive a message saying you turned off comments. If they already commented before you disabled them, they can still see their comment.

Can I disable comments on a shared post or repost?

If you shared someone else's post to your timeline, you cannot disable comments on it. You can only control comments on posts you originally created. If you want to share something without comments, consider copying the text or link and creating your own post instead.

What if I want to disable comments but keep the post visible?

That is exactly what disabling comments does. The post stays on your timeline and is visible to whoever you shared it with — they just cannot comment on it. This is different from deleting the post, which removes it entirely.