Do you want to delete all comments from your WordPress site?
It is rare, but sometimes you may need to delete all the comments on your WordPress website. If you have lots of comments, then it could take you a lot of time and effort to delete them manually.
In this article, we will show you how to easily bulk delete all WordPress comments.
Before You Delete All WordPress Comments
Although it’s rate, there are some reasons why you might need to permanently delete all comments from your WordPress blog or website.
For example, maybe you posted lots of dummy comments on a development site or during testing. You will definitely want to delete all those fake comments before moving to a live site.
You may also be taking your WordPress blog in a completely new direction and want to remove all traces of your website’s past.
However, deleting all comments across your site isn’t always the answer.
If you just want to delete spam comments, then we recommend following our guide on how to batch delete spam comments in WordPress. After that, check out our tips and tools to combat comment spam in WordPress so you don’t get the same problem again.
If you have thought it through and still want to delete comments, then we recommend creating a complete WordPress backup of your site first. Deleting all comments isn’t something you can undo, so it’s important to have a backup just in case you change your mind.
With that being said, let’s see how you can easily bulk delete all WordPress comments. Simply use the quick links below to jump straight to the method you want to use.
Method 1: Deleting All WordPress Comments Using a Plugin (Easy)
The easiest way to delete all WordPress comments at once is by using a plugin.
The first thing you need to do is install and activate the Delete All Comments of WordPress plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, go to Tools » Delete Comments.
This page will display the total number of comments on your WordPress website and give you the option to delete them.
You can choose to delete all WordPress comments, pending comments, spam comments, or comments that are already in the trash.
To delete all WordPress comments, go ahead and select ‘All Comments’ and then click on the ‘Delete Now’ button. Just be aware that the plugin won’t give you a chance to change your mind, so only select ‘Delete Now’ if you’re certain you want to permanently remove all comments from your WordPress site.
Method 2: Delete All WordPress Comments Using phpMyAdmin (No Plugin Required)
You can also quickly delete all WordPress comments using MySQL or phpMyAdmin. This method allows you to bulk delete comments without installing a plugin, but it’s only recommended for more advanced users.
Note: Just like the plugin method, you won’t be able to recover deleted comments. With that in mind, you will need to make a complete WordPress backup using a plugin such as Duplicator Pro before moving forward.
To start, you will need to log in to the cPanel dashboard of your WordPress hosting account. If you are a SiteGround customer, then you can use their Site Tools dashboard instead.
Under the ‘Databases’ section, just click on ‘phpMyAdmin.’
Inside phpMyAdmin, you will need to find your WordPress database.
After that, you will see a page showing all your WordPress database tables.
You can simply check the box next to the wp_comments and wp_commentmeta tables. Just be aware that the name of your comments tables may differ depending on the table prefix you chose when you installed WordPress.
After selecting the comments table, find the ‘With selected:’ dropdown menu below the table list. Then, choose ‘Empty’ from the dropdown menu.
phpMyAdmin will now ask whether you are sure you really want to execute the query, which will permanently delete your comments.
If you are happy to go ahead, then click ‘Yes.’ This will remove all the comments from your WordPress website.
We hope this article helped you learn how to easily delete all comments in WordPress. You may also want to see our expert picks for the best contact form plugins and the ultimate WordPress security guide.
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Debbie Jolly says
I deleted 494,xxx (nearly half a million) spam comments on a site I “manage” (obviously loosely). Got into the phpMyAdmin and… they’re gone! None of them were valid comments because the site isn’t a blog. Only way to reach out is via the Contact form. Thank you!!! Now to keep them from accumulating.
Louis says
Merci! Thanks! Very usefull. 4500 + spam comments deleted in 1 second.
Andre says
Excellent plugin. Thank you
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome
Admin
Gagan says
Hi,
just wanted to update everyone regarding the comments plugin.
This plugin has expired – Delete All Comments
Another great plugin I found is Bulk Delete Comments – By Shah Alom, which deletes all comments in one click.
WPBeginner Support says
Thank you for sharing an alternative you’ve used
Admin
Bernard Vella says
Thanks for your help. I cleared the tables and all messages were gone.
However the unread marks near the Comments are still there. Is there a way to clear it up too? Thanks
WPBeginner Support says
You would want to check with your theme’s support and they should be able to assist with removing that count
Admin
Rid says
Thank you very much. I really found this helpful and solved my problem. I had more than 2000 comments generated automatically by woo-commerce which I don’t use anymore on my site. I was able to delete all comments using phpMyAdmin following your instruction.
WPBeginner Support says
Glad our guide was helpful
Admin
Fabrice Hafashimana says
The suggested plugin has been deleted. I can’t use it
WPBeginner Support says
Thank you for letting us know, we will take a look for alternatives for us to update our article
Admin
Ghanshyam says
It works for me.
Thanks!
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome, glad our recommendation worked
Admin
Yasmin B says
Thank you used this today as my client has 12000 spam comments. Thank you
WPBeginner Support says
Glad our article could help make that process easier for you
Admin
Quy says
TRUNCATE `wp_commentmeta`;
TRUNCATE `wp_comments`;
This’s truly amazing!
Thank you
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome, glad our guide could be helpful
Admin
Vishal says
Thanks, It was very easy by following your steps to empty the comments. It was really helpful.
WPBeginner Support says
Glad our guide was helpful
Admin
Ravi says
Thanks. Plugin is not working but I have deleted from database.
WPBeginner Support says
Thank you for letting us know about the plugin, glad the database method was able to help you
Admin
christoper stalin says
This is a very good content for readers. Thanks for this blog.
WPBeginner Support says
Thank you and thanks for reading our content
Admin
elena says
can you update? plugin is not loger update
WPBeginner Support says
We will certainly take a look at updating the article
Admin
Jasom Dotnet says
When using phpmyadmin then you need to delete also wp_option called “_transient_wc_count_comments” so admin comment count will be reseted.
dylan says
Thank you very much I had been looking for a way to fix this issue
Rohit says
Thanks Buddy, Such a cool trick to delete comments. It worked out for me.
Gulshan Kumar says
This one is cool trick. I’m wondering, is it possible to do some cool task in self hosted WordPress using Bookmarklet?