How to Delete Spam Comments in WordPress

WordPress seems to be the perfect target for spammers. Spammers go to our comments and post away. I know how frustrating that is. Do they not have something better to do with their time? Well the sad thing is, most of the spammers are using software that does all the work for them. Chances are, if you have a blog, you are getting spammed.

When I first noticed these comments in my WordPress blog I started deleting them one by one. Then here recently I found out how to delete them all at one time. I wanted to pass this on to the ones that are having trouble with this.

First thing you need to do is set the comments up so that you have to approve them before they appear on your site. And yes this can be a little irritating but it will save you a lot of time if you’re getting a lot of spam. Follow the steps below to set this up.

Step 1 – Login to Your WordPress Admin Panel.

Step 2 – Click on Options at the top of your WordPress window.

Step 3 – Now you will see the sub-categories under Options. Click on Discussion.

Step 4 – Find on the page where it says “Before a comment appears:”

Step 5 – Check the box that says “An administrator must approve the comment (regardless of any matches below)”

Step 6 – Now click the “Update Options” button at the bottom of the page.

You have now setup your comments so that these spammers won’t spam your site from here to king kong.. To delete the comments follow the steps below.

Step 1 – Login to Your WordPress Admin Panel.

Step 2 – When you login in to WordPress click on Manage.

Step 3 – Under Manage you will see Awaiting Moderation, click on that.

Step 4 – Now you will see all the comments that are awaiting your approval. To delete all of them at one time, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Mark all for Deletion”.

Step 5 – Then click Moderate Comments. That will delete them all.

If there are certain comments that you want to keep then you can go through them and click the button of your choice. On each comment you have the option to Approve, Spam, Delete, or Defer until later. It’s your choice. 99% of mine are spam so I delete all of mine. If there is a comment that I want to keep, I will click ”
Marl
all for Deletion” and then go back and approve the one that I want to keep before I click Moderate Comments. I hope this tutorial will help you out.