Reading Time: 5 minutes

How to Disable Comments in WordPress for Pages and Posts

Comments can be a great way to engage with your audience, but not every WordPress site needs them. In some cases, you might want to disable comments in WordPress for pages, posts, or even across your entire site. Whether you’re managing a corporate site, portfolio, or simply want to reduce spam and moderation time, disabling comments can help streamline your site.

This guide will show you how to disable comments in WordPress for individual posts and pages, across your entire site, and how to manage them for older posts. We’ll cover both the built-in WordPress options and a popular plugin that gives you more control over comments.

---

Why You Might Want to Disable Comments in WordPress

There are several reasons why a website owner may choose to disable comments:

1. Reduce Spam

Spam comments can clutter your website, and manually moderating them can be time-consuming. Disabling comments eliminates this issue.

2. Improve Site Performance

If your site has thousands of posts with active comment sections, it can slow down page loading times. Disabling comments on posts where interaction isn’t necessary can help speed up your site.

3. Focus on Content

For portfolio sites, corporate websites, or other professional platforms, comments might not be relevant. You may want to focus on showcasing your services or content without the distraction of a comment section.

4. Prevent Negative Engagement

Not every comment section leads to productive conversation. On some blogs or websites, disabling comments can prevent unconstructive discussions or trolling.

---

Method 1: Disable Comments on Specific Pages and Posts

WordPress gives you the option to disable comments on individual pages or posts. This is useful when you want to keep comments open on some content but disable them on other pages or posts.

Step 1: Access the Page or Post You Want to Edit

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Navigate to Posts > All Posts or Pages > All Pages.
3. Choose the post or page where you want to disable comments.

Step 2: Disable Comments via the Discussion Settings

1. Inside the Post Editor or Page Editor, look for the Discussion settings box. If you don’t see it, click on Screen Options (located in the top-right corner of the editor screen) and make sure the “Discussion” box is checked.
2. Scroll down to the Discussion box.

• Uncheck the option labeled Allow comments to disable comments for that specific post or page.
• Optionally, you can also uncheck Allow trackbacks and pingbacks on this page to prevent other websites from sending pingbacks.

1. Click Update or Publish to save your changes.

This method works well when you only need to disable comments on a few specific posts or pages. However, if you want to disable comments site-wide, you’ll need to use a different approach.

---

Method 2: Disable Comments Site-Wide for New Posts and Pages

If you want to prevent comments from being enabled on all future posts and pages, WordPress allows you to do this through its settings.

Step 1: Access the Discussion Settings

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Navigate to Settings > Discussion.

Step 2: Adjust the Default Comment Settings

1. In the Discussion Settings panel, you will see an option labeled Allow people to submit comments on new posts.
2. Uncheck this box to disable comments on all future posts and pages. This will prevent comments from being enabled by default when you create new content.
3. Scroll down and click Save Changes to apply the setting.

Now, when you create a new post or page, comments will automatically be disabled. However, this setting will not affect existing posts that already have comments enabled. If you want to disable comments for existing posts or pages, continue reading.

---

Method 3: Disable Comments on Existing Posts and Pages in Bulk

If your website already has many posts with comments enabled, manually disabling comments one by one can be tedious. Fortunately, WordPress has a bulk edit feature that allows you to disable comments on multiple posts and pages at once.

Step 1: Navigate to Your Posts or Pages

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Go to Posts > All Posts or Pages > All Pages.

Step 2: Bulk Select Posts or Pages

1. Check the box next to the posts or pages where you want to disable comments. If you want to select multiple items, hold down the Shift key and select the first and last item in the range.
2. Click on the Bulk Actions dropdown menu and select Edit.

Step 3: Disable Comments in Bulk

1. After selecting Edit, click the Apply button.
2. A new bulk edit menu will appear. Look for the Comments dropdown and select Do not allow.
3. Click Update to save the changes.

This process will disable comments for all the selected posts or pages in one go, saving you time.

---

Method 4: Disable Comments Using a Plugin (For Full Control)

While WordPress provides a lot of built-in control over comments, you can also use a plugin to manage comments more efficiently. One of the most popular plugins for this purpose is the Disable Comments plugin.

Step 1: Install the Disable Comments Plugin

1. Go to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Navigate to Plugins > Add New.
3. In the search bar, type Disable Comments.
4. Click Install Now, then Activate the plugin.

Step 2: Configure the Plugin Settings

1. After activating the plugin, go to Settings > Disable Comments.
2. You will see several options for disabling comments:

• You can choose to disable comments everywhere on your site.
• Alternatively, you can choose to disable comments on posts, pages, or other custom post types individually.

1. Select the options that suit your needs and click Save Changes.

The Disable Comments plugin is highly versatile and can be a great tool for quickly and easily managing comments across your entire site, especially if you’re managing a large number of posts or pages.

---

Method 5: Disable Trackbacks and Pingbacks

In addition to disabling comments, you might also want to disable trackbacks and pingbacks, which allow other websites to notify you when they link to your content. While trackbacks and pingbacks can be useful for some sites, they are often used by spammers to generate backlinks.

Step 1: Go to the Discussion Settings

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Navigate to Settings > Discussion.

Step 2: Disable Trackbacks and Pingbacks

1. In the Discussion Settings panel, uncheck the option labeled Allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks).
2. Scroll down and click Save Changes.

This will disable trackbacks and pingbacks across your entire site, reducing the chance of spammy backlinks.

---

Disabling comments in WordPress is a straightforward process that gives you more control over how your website functions. Whether you want to disable comments on individual posts or pages, across your entire site, or use a plugin for more advanced management, there’s a solution that fits your needs.

Here’s a quick recap of what we covered:

• Disable comments on specific pages or posts via the editor.
• Disable comments site-wide for new posts using the Discussion Settings.
• Disable comments in bulk for existing content using WordPress’s bulk edit feature.
• Use a plugin like Disable Comments for advanced comment control.
• Disable trackbacks and pingbacks to prevent spammy backlinks.

By managing comments effectively, you can streamline your site, improve performance, and focus on delivering high-quality content without unnecessary distractions.

For detailed instructions on WordPress password recovery, check out our guide on How to Reset Your WordPress Admin Password: Step-by-Step Guide.