Dealing with spam comments
Learn how to handle spam comments on your WordPress site — how to block them, moderate them, and keep your comment section clean.
If your WordPress site has a comment section, spam comments are almost inevitable. They're automated, impersonal, and annoying — but they're easy to deal with once you have the right setup in place.
Quick summary
Install Akismet Anti-Spam (it's free for personal use) and enable comment moderation under Settings → Discussion. Akismet catches the vast majority of spam automatically. For the rest, use the moderation queue to approve genuine comments and mark fakes as spam.
What spam comments look like
Spam comments usually fall into a few patterns:
- Generic compliments with a link: "Great post! Visit my site at [suspicious URL]."
- Gibberish text with multiple links
- Keyword-stuffed text trying to build SEO links
- Off-topic promotional content
They're sent by bots, not humans. The goal is usually to place links on your site for SEO manipulation.
Step 1: Install Akismet Anti-Spam
Akismet is the most widely used spam-filtering plugin for WordPress. It's made by Automattic — the company behind WordPress.com — and is highly reliable.
Go to Plugins → Add New Plugin in your WordPress dashboard.
Search for "Akismet Anti-Spam" and install it.
Activate the plugin. You'll be prompted to connect it with an Akismet account.
Get a free API key at akismet.com. Akismet is free for personal and non-commercial sites. Business sites need a paid plan.
Enter your API key in the plugin settings. Akismet starts filtering immediately.
Akismet works silently in the background. It checks each new comment against its database of known spam and automatically moves suspicious comments to your spam folder.
Step 2: Set up comment moderation
Even with Akismet running, configure your Discussion settings as a second layer:
Go to Settings → Discussion in your WordPress dashboard.
Under "Before a comment appears," check "Comment must be manually approved." This holds all new comments in a moderation queue until you review them.
Alternatively, check "Comment author must have a previously approved comment" — this lets trusted past commenters through automatically while holding first-timers.
Click Save Changes.
See Comments & discussion settings for all the options.
Managing the spam queue
To review comments waiting for action:
Click Comments in your WordPress dashboard sidebar.
Click the "Spam" or "Pending" filter at the top of the comments list.
For each comment: hover over it to see your options — Approve, Reply, Edit, Spam, or Trash.
- Approve — Lets the comment appear publicly.
- Spam — Marks it as spam and sends the data to Akismet to improve its filters.
- Trash — Deletes it without marking it as spam.
Always mark spam as spam, not just trash
Marking a comment as Spam (rather than Trash) teaches Akismet's filters and helps protect other WordPress sites from the same spammer. It makes a difference.
Turning off comments altogether
If you're getting overwhelmed by spam and don't really need a comment section, turning off comments entirely is a valid choice. Many business sites don't need them.
Go to Settings → Discussion and uncheck "Allow people to submit comments on new posts." See Comments & discussion settings for how to also disable comments on existing posts.
Additional anti-spam measures
For high-traffic sites or sites with persistent spam problems:
- Add a CAPTCHA to comments — Some security plugins offer this. It requires humans to complete a challenge before commenting.
- Disable comments on older posts — Go to Settings → Discussion and enable "Automatically close comments on posts older than X days." Old posts attract the most spam.
- Require registration to comment — In Settings → Discussion, check "Users must be registered and logged in to comment." This stops almost all automated spam.
Common questions
Related guides
- Comments & discussion settings
- WordPress security basics
- Working with contact forms
- How to install a plugin
- WordPress updates explained
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