Why are comments disabled on a YouTube video?
What does "Comments are turned off" mean?
When you open a YouTube video and see the message "Comments are turned off", it means the comment section has been disabled either by the channel owner, by YouTube's automated safety systems, or by network-level filters.
Understanding why comments are disabled is critical for creators who want to maintain engagement and for viewers wondering why they cannot leave a response.
Reason 1: video is set to "Made for Kids" (COPPA compliance)
The most common reason comments disappear across entire videos is the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) setting.
Under federal privacy regulations, YouTube does not collect personal data or permit public commenting on any content designated for children. If a video is marked as "Made for Kids":
- Comments are permanently turned off.
- Notifications are disabled.
- Miniplayer playback is restricted on mobile.
Reason 2: creator manually disabled comments in Studio
Channel owners have the right to disable comments on individual videos or across their entire channel.
Creators often disable comments manually to:
- Prevent harassment or flame wars on controversial topics.
- Avoid comment spam during high-profile corporate announcements.
- Limit moderation workload during vacations.
Reason 3: YouTube automatically disabled comments for minor safety
In 2019, YouTube implemented an automated policy to protect minors. If YouTube's machine learning models detect young children appearing in a video (even if the creator did not mark the video as "Made for Kids"), the platform's safety system may automatically disable comments to prevent predatory behavior.
If this happens to your video, YouTube will send an email notification explaining that comments were disabled for minor safety reasons.
Reason 4: Restricted Mode is turned on in your browser/Network
If comments appear turned off on every single video you watch, the issue is on your local device or network:
- Restricted Mode: Designed for schools, libraries, and parental control setups, Restricted Mode hides all comment feeds platform-wide.
- School / Workplace Firewalls: Network administrators often enforce Restricted Mode at the DNS router level.
Reason 5: auto-generated art tracks & topic channels
If you are listening to music on a " - Topic" channel (e.g. songs distributed by CD Baby, DistroKid, or TuneCore), YouTube automatically generates these static video assets.
By default, YouTube disables comment sections on all auto-generated Topic music tracks unless the artist claims the Official Artist Channel (OAC).
Step-by-step: how creators can re-enable comments in YouTube Studio
If comments were disabled by mistake on your channel, follow these steps to turn them back on:
[ YouTube Studio ] ➔ [ Content ] ➔ [ Click Video ] ➔ [ Details Tab ] ➔ [ Audience: "Not Made for Kids" ] ➔ [ Show More ➔ Comments: "Allow all comments" or "Hold for review" ]Detailed instructions:
- Go to YouTube Studio (
studio.youtube.com). - Click Content from the left navigation.
- Click the thumbnail of the affected video.
- Under Audience, ensure "No, it's not made for kids" is selected.
- Scroll down and click SHOW MORE.
- Under Comments and ratings, choose Hold potentially inappropriate comments for review or Allow all comments. Hold-for-review is the better default: it makes comments manageable rather than a source of dread, and it costs you a weekly pass through the queue. Held comments are deleted after 60 days, so the queue does need visiting.
- Click Save in the top-right corner.
Building an engaged, safe Community with ReplyTide
If the reason you were considering turning comments off is spam or abuse, the middle path is worth trying first: hold-for-review with increased strictness, block links, and a narrow blocked words list. That removes most of what makes comment sections unpleasant without giving up the part that is useful, and the whole setup takes about five minutes.
Once comments are back on, the repetitive half can be handed off. ReplyTide watches for a word you announced in the video and sends the reply you already wrote, through the official YouTube Data API, within a minute or two. Put the same link in the description so nobody has to comment to reach it.
Common questions
Can I turn on comments if my video is "Made for Kids"?
No. If your video is legitimately targeted at children under 13, COPPA laws prohibit enabling comments under any circumstances.
Does turning off comments hurt my reach?
YouTube has not published anything saying comment volume feeds ranking, and plenty of large channels run with comments off. The honest position is covered in should you reply to YouTube comments: engagement is named in YouTube's material, but "comments raise your ranking" is a further claim the platform does not make.
What you definitely lose is concrete. The questions, which are the best source of video ideas you have, and the corrections, which are how you find out something in the video was wrong. Neither shows up in analytics.
Can YouTube permanently disable comments on my channel?
YouTube only disables comments platform-wide on channels that repeatedly violate minor safety guidelines or community standards regarding harassment.