How to Easily Bulk Delete All WordPress Comments

Do you want to delete all comments from your WordPress site?

It is rare, but on some occasions, a site owner may decide to delete all the comments from their WordPress site. If you have a lot of comments then this could take some time 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

There are many legitimate scenarios when a user really needs to delete all WordPress comments without any hesitation.

For example, you filled WordPress with dummy comments on a development site just to see how they would look. You would want to delete those comments before moving to a live site.

There are many other scenarios as well, where a site owner would want to get rid of the comments from their WordPress site.

However, if you just want to delete the spam comments, then take a look at our guide on how to batch delete spam comments in WordPress. If you are upset about comment spam on your WordPress, then make sure you check these tips and tools to combat comment spam in WordPress.

If there are comments showing up on your pages, then take a look at how to disable comments on pages in WordPress.

If none of the above scenarios apply, then continue reading.

First you need to create a complete WordPress backup of your site.

Deleting all comments in WordPress is an irreversible action. You will not be able to undo it once you have deleted those comments. This is why it is important that you have a backup.

Method 1: Deleting All WordPress Comments Using Plugin

The easiest way to delete all WordPress comments at once is by using a plugin.

Note: This action is irreversible and you need to make a complete WordPress backup before moving forward. This will allow you to restore comments if you change your mind.

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, you need to visit Tools » Delete Comments page. This is where you will see the total number of comments on your website and options to delete comments.

You can choose to delete all WordPress comments, pending comments, spam comments, or comments already in trash.

If you want to delete all WordPress comments, then select ‘All Comments’ option and then click on the Delete Now button.

The plugin will now permanently delete all comments from your WordPress site. Including those in spam and trash.

You can now visit the comments page, and you will see all comments safely deleted from your WordPress site.

Method 2: Delete All WordPress Comments Using phpMyAdmin

You can also quickly delete all WordPress comments using MySQL or phpMyAdmin. This method is only recommended for more advanced users.

Note: This action is irreversible too. You need to make a complete WordPress backup or at least make a WordPress database backup before moving forward.

Inside phpMyAdmin, you will need to locate your WordPress database. You will see a page showing all your WordPress database tables.

Check the box next to wp_comments and wp_commentmeta tables. The name of your comments tables may differ depending on the table prefix you choose during your WordPress installation.

After selecting the comments table, locate the ‘With selected:’ drop-down menu below the table list and select ‘Empty’ from the drop-down menu.

PhpMyAdmin will now show you a warning asking if you really want to empty those tables.

Click on the yes button to continue. This will delete all WordPress comments from your database.

You can also delete all WordPress comments using MySQL console (command line). Simply log into your MySQL console and run this command:

That’s all, we hope this article helped you learn how to easily delete all comments in WordPress. You may also want to see our list of essential WordPress plugins for business websites

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