How to Quickly Batch Delete Spam Comments in WordPress

Are you looking for an easy way to batch delete spam comments in WordPress?

Comment spam can damage your brand and stop legitimate visitors from commenting on your website. However, deleting these messages one at a time can be very time-consuming.

In this article, we will show you how to quickly batch delete spam comments on your WordPress blog or website.

Why You Need to Deal With Comment Spam in WordPress

Comment spam is a big problem for many WordPress websites. Akismet, the popular spam filtering service for WordPress, blocks about 7.5 million spam comments every hour.

You can block a lot of spam by following our list of vital tips and tools to combat comment spam in WordPress.

However, even if you do everything right, it’s still difficult to stop all spam. This means you will still need to manually delete unwanted messages by clicking on Comments in the WordPress dashboard.

Here, you can delete multiple comments at once using the bulk action feature.

Simply check the box next to each unwanted message, and then select ‘Move to Trash’ from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown.

Then, just click on ‘Approve’ to remove these comments.

This is a good option if you just need to remove a few spam comments. However, if you get a lot of unwanted messages, then moderating WordPress comments in this way can be too time-consuming.

With that in mind, let’s look at how to quickly batch delete spam comments in WordPress.

Batch Deleting Spam Comments in WordPress

The easiest way to bulk delete spam comments in WordPress is by using the WP Bulk Delete plugin. The free version of this plugin lets you bulk delete all comments based on status, so you can easily remove all messages that are flagged as Pending, Spam, or Trash.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the WP Bulk Delete plugin. If you need help, then please see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Just be aware that this plugin deletes comments permanently. If you check the wrong box and remove a comment by accident, then that content is lost forever. With that in mind, it’s smart to back up your WordPress website using a plugin such as Duplicator Pro before continuing.

When you are ready, go to WP Bulk Delete » Delete Comments. You can now check the comment category that you want to delete.

For example, you will usually want to delete all comments that are marked as Spam.

If you have just reviewed your Pending queue and approved all genuine comments, then you might delete any messages that are still marked as Pending Comments.

After checking the box, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on ‘Delete Comments.’ WP Bulk Delete will now permanently delete all of these comments.

We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to quickly batch delete spam comments in WordPress. You may also want to learn how to move your WordPress site from HTTP to HTTPS or check out our list of the must have plugins to grow your site.

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