Everything you need to know about TikTok comments

TikTok comments are their own genre. Half the section answers the video; the other half is running an in-joke that has nothing to do with it — a half-baked brownie recipe, a demand to crop the screenshot, four sparkle emojis followed by something brutal. Some of it starts in the comments and works its way out: the I Am José Mourinho life hacks trend did exactly that. So below you’ll find what the recurring formats actually mean, how to join in (photos included), and how to filter or delete the ones you’d rather not host on your own posts. And if your comment is the one that blows up overnight, you might not notice until you check your TikTok Analytics.

If you’ve been scrolling TikTok recently, you may have noticed the comments section is where it’s all happening. Famous TikTokers are using the video reply feature to inspire new trends and generate fresh content for their feeds. 

@tiktok

Want to reply to a comment with a video? Now you can! Available now for all users!

♬ original sound – TikTok

We’ve answered the questions people actually arrive with. From weird and wonderful viral trends happening in the comment section to side-splitting TikTok comments, we cover it all — plus the settings, which TikTok has quietly moved twice since we first wrote this. To the comments section!

The short version

• Most of the baffling comments are formats, not conversation. “Story time”, “crop”, a wall of sparkle emojis — each one is a request or a running joke, and the glossary below decodes them.
• You can comment with a photo. Tap Upload photo in the comment box, where TikTok has switched it on.
• Keyword filters hide comments, they don’t delete them. Anything caught waits under Review filtered comments until you approve it or bin it.
• You can clear 100 comments at once from the Filters button at the top of the comment sheet.
• Your own comment history has a home: Settings and privacy → Activity center → Comment history. Video replies don’t appear there.

Trends that have taken over the comments section

While some TikTok trends are pretty self-explanatory, others are a little harder to get your head around. Take the latest trends of writing “story time” or “crop” in the comments section. With seemingly no context, these trends have left some TikTok users baffled and a little frustrated. 

We break down the context and story behind both of these trends below.

A brief history of story time TikTok comments

The origins of TikTok storytime comments can be traced back to a type of video that was popular on TikTok a while back. In these videos, users told a story about something that happened to them in their lives, prompting the “story time” comment. Essentially, users would comment “story time” to let the creator know that they wanted to hear more or the backstory. 

While that’s how the trend started, it seems to have taken on a life form of its own. TikTok has now flooded with “story time” comments on posts where it makes no sense. 

Getting to the bottom of crop comments on TikTok

The story behind the “crop” comments on TikTok is pretty similar. Originally, TikTokers commented “crop” when they wanted the creator to re-upload the video so other users could screenshot and crop it. For instance, without any visible user names or like buttons so it can be used as a meme. It was commonly used in posts with celebrities, memes, and unusual or aesthetic images. 

While these trends started off as harmless fun, they have now become synonymous with spam comments. Much to the frustration of many TikTok users. In a recent post, Twitter user @yurieruzar complained, “I hate that TikTok comments are now full of ‘crop’ ‘story time?’ Now I can’t find the actual funny comments :/.” 

Reddit user @ClarenceAppendix showed their frustration in a recent Reddit thread, stating, “It’s more people saying it ironically. It was funny the first time, but now it’s annoying”. 

And it’s not just “story time” and “crop” comments. These are just part of a long line of spam comments that have been inundating TikTok. Love them or hate them, one thing’s for sure –  they aren’t going anywhere soon. 

What TikTok comments mean: a quick glossary

Story time and crop are the two that confuse people most, but they are not the only shorthand in there. Here is the rest of the vocabulary, in the sense people use it rather than the sense a dictionary would give it.

• fw. Short for “fuck with”, and almost always approving: “I fw this” means the commenter is into it. You’ll see the abbreviation far more often than anyone typing the whole thing out.
• tspmo. “The shit pissing me off”. Used to flag the specific thing in a video that annoyed them, usually with affection rather than real anger.
• Comment hero. The person who says the blunt thing everyone else was thinking, and gets the top comment for it. Often used as a compliment paid in the replies: “comment hero”.
• A bare timestamp. Someone marking the exact second worth rewatching, so if a comment is just 0:14, go to 0:14 and you will almost always find the reason it has 9,000 likes.
• “This comment will no longer be shown to you.” Not a trend, but TikTok’s own message. You get it after you dislike or report a comment, and it means the app has hidden that one from your view rather than removed it for everyone.
• A string of unrelated emojis. Usually one of TikTok’s bracket codes rendering as a picture rather than random keysmashing — the full list is in our guide to the secret TikTok emoji codes.

None of this is officially documented anywhere, which is rather the point — comment slang is set by whoever uses it first and loudest, and it moves. If a format on this list has already curdled by the time you read it, that is the normal life cycle.

How to comment with a photo on TikTok

Comments stopped being text-only a while ago, and this is the single most asked question we see on the topic. You can attach an image straight from your camera roll — which is how reaction screenshots, receipts and “this you?” replies end up in a comment section.

1. Go to the post you want to comment on.
2. Tap the Comments button on the side of the post.
3. Tap Add comment, then tap Upload photo and pick an image.
4. Tap Post comment.

Two caveats worth knowing before you go looking for the button. TikTok describes photo commenting as available in select regions, so it may simply not be switched on for your account yet. And the first time you use it the app asks for access to your photo library, which trips people up who assume the feature is broken. The steps are on TikTok’s own guide to commenting, and they are worth checking against, because this is the part of the comment box that has changed most.

How to limit comments on TikTok

In a bid to improve its users’ well-being and overall experience on the platform, TikTok provides a range of safety, privacy, and well-being tools. One of these tools is limiting comments on your posts.

Filter TikTok comments

You can hide comments that contain words you choose. TikTok has moved this menu since we first wrote these steps, so here is the current path.

1. Tap Profile at the bottom of the app.
2. Tap the Menu button at the top, then Settings and privacy.
3. Tap Privacy, then Comments.
4. Under Comment filters, tap Filter keywords in comments.
5. Turn on Filter specific keywords, tap Add keywords, and enter the words you want caught.

Here is the important correction, and it is the thing most guides still get wrong: filtered comments are hidden pending your approval, not deleted. They collect under Review filtered comments in the same menu, where you approve or delete each one. So the filter is a holding pen, not a bin — which is better than it sounds, because it means a keyword you set too broadly does not quietly destroy real replies.

Sitting alongside the keyword list are two switches worth knowing about. Filter unwanted comments catches likely spam and offensive replies, and Creator Care Mode — renamed since the last version of this article — hides comments that are inappropriate or profane, plus anything the wider community has already reported, deleted or disliked. Both send their catches to the same review queue. For the full walkthrough of those, including the approve-everything-first setting, see our guide to how to manage TikTok comments, or TikTok’s comment settings documentation.

Restrict TikTok comments

Another way to limit comments on TikTok is to change who is allowed to leave one. This nifty tool lets you choose who can comment on your content — and the option set has changed, so it is worth a look even if you set it years ago.

To limit who can comment on your videos, simply follow the steps below.

1. Tap Profile, then the Menu button, then Settings and privacy.
2. Tap Privacy, then Comments.
3. Tap Allow comments from and choose Everyone, Followers or Friends.

Which of those three you actually see depends on your account: Everyone is offered to public accounts, Followers to private ones, and Friends means followers you follow back. Note what is no longer in that menu — there is no Off. Switching comments off entirely is now a per-post control instead, either on the Post screen under More options before you publish, or afterwards via the post’s Privacy settings. That is genuinely more useful: you can close one video without closing the account.

If you come across comments on your videos that violate TikTok’s community guidelines, you can report them by tapping on the comment and following the steps on the screen.

What happens when you buy TikTok comments?

Building the perfect TikTok feed takes time, perseverance, and a thick skin. And even then, sometimes your video just doesn’t get the love it deserves. This not only hurts your pride, but it may hurt your future growth on the platform. The TikTok algorithm does treat commenting as a signal, though not quite in the way people assume: TikTok’s documentation lists the content you “like, share, comment on, and watch in full or skip” among the user interactions that shape the For You feed. That describes how your own commenting teaches the app what you want to see. It is not a published promise that a busy comment section pushes a video further.

With personal pride and the prospect of TikTok stardom at stake, it’s not a surprise that users have taken to buying TikTok comments. In fact, a growing number of TikTokers are using this tactic as a shortcut to TikTok success. Don’t get your hopes up just yet, though. Buying comments may give your account an instant boost (and a couple of hundred more comments), but long-term success is unlikely. 

It’s relatively easy to buy TikTok comments. A quick Google search will bring up a decent range of websites that will provide you with generic or custom comments. You simply need to share your video URL and pay up, and the going rate is low enough that it never feels like the risky part. You will usually get the option to have the comments appear immediately or to have them drip-fed, on the theory that a slow trickle raises fewer red flags.

Why buying TikTok comments backfires

It all sounds pretty straightforward, right? Here is the catch, and it is the reason nobody who does this twice recommends it.

The comments you get for your money are generally from obviously fake bots and lack any context or value. On top of that, many of the companies selling these comments are, shall we say, a little shady. As such, you are most likely to get a bunch of very spammy, non-sensical comments on your video (or random emojis) and not much extra traction. 

All-in-all, buying comments on TikTok is probably not worth your money or time. Instead, invest that time into a killer influencer marketing strategy or a TikTok tool to grow your following. Put simply, the best way to grow your TikTok is with authentic comments from engaged followers.

How to delete comments on TikTok

We’ve all been there. You leave a comment under somebody’s video and then instantly regret it. Unfortunately with TikTok, you can’t edit a comment once it has been posted. However, if your comment is full of typos or just plain cringe, you can delete it. 

A word of caution, though. Once you delete a comment, it’s gone forever. Therefore, if you want to delete a comment you wrote because of a typo or small error, make sure you copy the comment before you delete it. That way, you can paste the original comment into the new one and edit it before reposting it.

You can also delete other people’s comments on your own videos. Bots and burner accounts find everyone eventually, and if what they leave behind is spammy, offensive, inappropriate, or just not your vibe, you can take it down — in bulk, if there is a lot of it. Removed comments stop being visible to you and to your followers.

Whether you want to delete your own comment or somebody else’s, we’ve listed the steps below.

1. Go to the video where the comment appears.
2. Select the comment icon on the right to reach the comments
3. Press and hold on to the comment you wish to remove
4. Click Delete

And here’s how to bulk delete comments on your video.

1. Go to the video where the comments appear.
2. Select the comment icon on the right to reach the comments
3. Tap the Filters button at the top — or press and hold a comment
4. Tap Manage multiple comments
5. Tap next to the comments you’d like to delete, choosing up to 100 at a time
6. Click Delete, then tap Delete to confirm 

Where to find the comments you’ve posted

Since a deleted comment is gone for good, it helps to know where TikTok keeps the ones you have left. They are not on your profile — they live in a separate log:

1. Tap Profile, then the Menu button, then Settings and privacy.
2. Scroll down and tap Activity center.
3. Tap Comment history.

From there you can tap any comment to open the post it sits under, and press and hold to delete it. Three things to expect. Video replies do not show up in the list at all, so a comment you answered with a video has no entry here. Mentions and tags in your old comments may not be tappable. And you cannot delete a comment if the post has gone private or the Story behind it has expired — the comment stays, out of reach, which is the strongest argument going for reading a comment twice before you post it.

How to pin comments on TikTok

Like other social media platforms, TikTok allows you to pin your favorite comments to your videos. When you pin a comment, it becomes the first one everyone sees on your post. This comes in handy for creators looking to grow their following or users who just love sharing videos on the app. 

You can pin interesting conversation threads on your posts or highlight comments you like. Plus, it’s a great way to set the tone in your comments section or offer more context about your post. 

We share how to pin your favorite comment on your latest TikTok video below. You’ll follow the same steps to unpin a comment.

1. Go to your video 
2. Find the comment you’d like to pin or unpin
3. Press and hold on to the comment
4. Select Pin comment or Unpin comment

Once you have pinned a comment, a grey “Pinned” icon will appear above the comment.

But, you may wonder, what happens if you pin a comment and then an even better one comes along? Don’t panic, TikTok has you covered. You can easily replace a pinned comment following the instructions below.

1. Go to your video
2. Find the pinned comment you’d like to replace
3. Press and hold on the comment, then select Pin and replace

Pinning comments is a fun way to share extra details about your video, set the tone of the comments, or simply put your fave comment on display. What’s more, you can prompt discussions and boost engagement on your content. You can choose to pin your own comment or another user’s comment on your video. Just remember, you can only pin one comment at a time so choose wisely. 

@tiktokcreators

Peep how to use the new Pinned Comments feature— now available to all creators! ✨📌

♬ original sound – tiktok creators – tiktok creators

How to hide comments on TikTok live

TikTok live is a fun way to watch live streams on the platform. But, the live comments scrolling on the top of the video can be a little distracting. The good news is that there’s a way to watch your favorite live streams on TikTok without the constant stream of comments. 

Hiding the comments on a TikTok live used to be a swipe: touch the middle of the screen, swipe right, and swipe left to bring them back. That gesture is long gone. Here is what replaced it.

How to hide comments on TikTok live as a viewer:

1. Open the TikTok app
2. Go to the Live you want to watch
3. Click on the Share icon on the live stream
4. Tap Clear display

It’s as simple as that! Once you have hidden comments on TikTok live, you can continue watching your favorite creators’ live streams without those pesky comments getting in the way. You’re welcome!

@dilfkotaro

here’s a tut on how to hide comments on tiktok live with the new update #tiktok #fyp #newupdate #live

♬ original sound – illumisv

How to turn off comments on your own live

TikTok creators may also choose to limit or turn off comments during a live stream. Many creators with a large following do exactly that, to avoid fielding offensive comments in real time in front of an audience. Note that comment settings are available before and during a live, so this is not a decision you are locked into once you go on air. If you need the full moderation picture — appointing moderators, muting an individual viewer for a set time, or blocking keywords in the chat — we cover that separately in hide comments on a TikTok LIVE, and TikTok documents it under TikTok’s LIVE comment settings. To simply close the chat on your next live, follow the steps below.

1. Tap the Add post button at the bottom, then LIVE — you may need to scroll across to find it
2. Tap Settings, then Comment settings
3. Turn Allow comments off to close the chat, or use Filter comments to screen spam, potentially unkind and community-flagged comments instead
4. Once you are live, the same controls sit behind the More options button, then Settings

Managing TikTok comments with Sociality.io

Everything above assumes you are moderating from your phone, one post at a time. That stops working the moment there are several accounts and more than one person answering. Our TikTok management tool pulls TikTok comments into the same Engagement inbox as your Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube messages, so replies come from one queue instead of five apps — and so a comment does not sit unanswered for two days because nobody was sure whose job it was.

What that gives you in practice is a shared view of who replied to what, alongside the publishing calendar and the analytics for the posts drawing those comments. It is the boring half of comment management, and it is the half that decides whether anyone actually keeps up.

TikTok emoji comments: the secret emoji codes

There’s more to TikTok than just sharing videos. The platform has a strong community culture that encourages commenting on other users’ comments, which makes the comment box a genuine medium for brands and influencers to gain exposure and join a conversation rather than start one. If you want to delight your followers with some creative comments, then we’ve got a trick up our sleeves we think you’ll love.

Did you know that TikTok has a secret language? 

That’s right, the app has a set of hidden emojis you summon with a code rather than pick from a keyboard. Some you will recognise from other apps; others exist only on TikTok. They are perfect when you’re in a pinch — you can react to a video without crafting a lengthy comment, and it reads as a small signal that you know your way around. We keep the current codes and what each one means in our guide to the secret TikTok emoji codes, because the list changes and one page should own it.

To bring one up, type the secret word inside two square brackets. Typing [slap] gets you a dumpling being slapped — which is, when you think about it, a remarkably precise tool for replying to someone who has been rude to you in a comment section.

Using TikTok’s hidden emojis won’t just make you seem like a TikTok aficionado, but the emojis appear in the same style on all devices and systems. As a result, users will know exactly what your emoji means no matter the device. 

https://www.tiktok.com/@__nvtella__/video/7113892765410282757

✨ Related article: the full list of secret TikTok emoji codes

TikTok comments not showing? Here’s what to do

TikTok comments usually stop showing for one of four reasons: you are not logged in, the app has cached a bad copy of the comment sheet, your connection is too slow to load it, or the post’s own comment settings are hiding them. Work through those in that order and you will fix it or rule it out.

Whether you’re a business, creator, or user, the comments section is a great way to engage and interact with your followers, so a blank one is worth five minutes of troubleshooting. Don’t panic — we have a few hacks to help you.

1. Restart the app

Sometimes the age-old “have you tried turning it off and on again” advice really works. So, the first step is to close down TikTok and reopen it.

If your comments don’t reappear, then try uninstalling TikTok from your phone and redownloading it. This may do the trick. 

2. Clear the cache

TikTok often recommends clearing your cache on the app to deal with common issues. To clear your cache, follow the steps below.

1. Go to Profile in the bottom-right corner of the screen
2. Select the 3-line icon in the top-right 
3. Tap Clear cache — TikTok now describes this as clearing the app video cache, and it will not log you out or lose your drafts

3. Check your internet connection

Issues with your internet connection could cause TikTok to load slowly and prevent comments from popping up. So, double-check your mobile data connection or restart your WiFi router to see if that fixes the issue.

4. Review your settings

If your comments still aren’t appearing, you may want to check your settings. Start by making sure you’re logged into your TikTok account. Comments are only visible to TikTok users with accounts, so this could explain why your comments have disappeared. As such, if you have accidentally logged out of the app and you’re accessing TikTok on the web, this would explain the glitch.

Alternatively, you may have selected certain privacy settings that have caused problems with the comments. For instance, you could have turned off commenting or chosen to filter comments from friends. Check your privacy settings following the steps below.

1. Tap Profile at the bottom
2. Tap the Menu button at the top, then Settings and privacy
3. Tap Privacy, then Comments
4. Check Allow comments from, and check whether anything under Comment filters is holding comments back — filtered ones are waiting under Review filtered comments rather than gone

One more cause that catches people out: if you have been commenting quickly across a lot of videos, TikTok may rate-limit you and show an alert. There is nothing to fix in your settings — wait 24 hours and try again.

5. Report the issue

If none of the fixes above work, you should report the issue directly to TikTok. 

You may be wondering if it’s really a big deal if your TikTok comments aren’t showing up. And the short answer is yes. 

Comment sections are where creators and brands reach an audience they have not already got, pick up free exposure and start the conversations that turn into the next post. Jumping on a comment trend is also a decent route onto the TikTok FYP page. Plenty of brands now run customer service out of there too. So a comment section that will not load is not a cosmetic problem — it is the part of the app where the work happens.

Trending on TikTok: Replying to comments with a video

On your daily scrolling, you have almost certainly seen brands and influencers answering a comment with a whole video. It has stopped being a trend and become a format: the comment supplies the brief, the creator supplies the post, and the audience gets fresh content out of a question somebody already asked. A win-win!

The tutorial video below shows you how to reply to a comment with a video. 

@tiktok

Want to reply to a comment with a video? Now you can! Available now for all users!

♬ original sound – TikTok

So how are TikTok creators using this rather nifty new tool? 

For instance, this creator is known for dipping ice cream cones into increasingly unlikely toppings. When someone asks for a specific combination in the comments, that request becomes the next video — like the one below.

If you run a brand account, the harder part is picking which comment to answer, and that is a data question rather than a taste one. Our social media MCP server connects your TikTok account to ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, so you can ask which of your recent posts pulled the most comments and go reply to the one that earned it.

@softeeca

Reply to @jenwahba11 hope you enjoy this! comment more requests guys!!! #fyp #foryou #mistersoftee #inyourface

♬ cArTi I wAnNa Go To PluTo – rach

Funny TikTok comments that made us chuckle

You know what they say, laughter is the best medicine. That’s why most users enjoy TikTok –  they want to be entertained and amused. Posting funny videos is one way to gain a following on TikTok, but don’t forget about the comments. Sometimes the comments are better than the videos on TikTok. So, if you fancy yourself a bit of a comedian, leaving a witty reply on other users’ videos could make you a hit on the platform. 

To inspire you, we’ve put together a few funny TikTok comments that have tickled our funny bones.

The one where Gary Lee lost his wallet

When a user posted a video announcing that they had found a wallet and asked the owner Gary Lee to get in touch, TikTok users got creative. The comments were flooded with fake accounts claiming to be different members of Gary Lee’s family, including his dog. 

Who knows if Gary Lee was ever reunited with his wallet, but we certainly had a chuckle at the hilarious comments section and stitch duets the video inspired.

@edizaferris

#stitch with @senasoup Gary Lee if you’re out there…your whole family found your wallet. #garylee #funnycomments #comments #CandyCrushAllStars #fyp

♬ Tokyo Drift – Xavier Wulf

The one where we left fairy comments

For the uninitiated, this TikTok trend may seem a little mean. However, TikTok has crafted its very own signature sense of humor. And it’s dark. 

The fairy comments trend is a perfect example. The trend began when users started leaving seemingly sweet comments full of cute emojis like this: 🧚‍♂️✨🦋👑. 

But, in true TikTok style, the comments then take a rather sharp turn, going from cute to cutthroat. Take a look at the example below.

TikTok users, especially Gen Zers, have fully embraced the dark humor behind fairy comments. So much so that many TikTokers post content asking users to write their best fairy comment below. 

Next time you scroll through the comments section of canceled celebrities or influencers (we’re looking at you, Perez Hilton), you will likely find some pretty brutal (and witty) fairy comments.

The one where with the backhanded Facebook comments 

If you have been on TikTok recently, you may have noticed a new trend filling the comments section. TikTokers are posting videos and asking users to make the comments section into a particular scenario. From having conversations with yourself to your deepest 3 am thoughts, there are some pretty hilarious comments popping up all over the app.

One of our personal favorites is this video asking users to fill the comments section with backhanded Facebook comments after a mom posts her kid’s college decision. We have to admit it, most of the replies are hilariously spot on. 

https://www.tiktok.com/@playboisophie/video/6823929391169506566?is_from_webapp=v1&item_id=6823929391169506566

TikTok comments FAQ

Can people see if you comment on a TikTok?

Yes. A comment is public to anyone who can see the post, and it carries your username and profile picture, so the creator and every other viewer can see it. There is no anonymous commenting on TikTok. What is private is your own log of them: your comment history is visible only to you.

Can you edit a TikTok comment?

No. TikTok has no edit option for comments, so a typo means deleting and reposting. Copy the text before you delete it if it took you a while to write, because a deleted comment cannot be recovered — and you will lose any replies and likes it had collected.

Do TikTok comments help a video reach more people?

Not in the direct way most people mean. TikTok lists commenting among the user interactions that shape recommendations, but it describes that as a signal of what the person commenting wants to see more of. TikTok has never published a claim that comment volume promotes a video. Comments are worth chasing for reach into other people’s feeds and for the replies they start, not as a lever on the algorithm.

Why can’t I see comments on TikTok anymore?

Four common causes, in the order worth checking: you are signed out, since comments only load for logged-in accounts; the app is holding a stale cache, which clearing the video cache fixes; your connection is too slow to load the comment sheet; or a comment filter is holding replies for approval under Review filtered comments. If the creator has turned comments off for that post, nobody can see them.

Can you comment with a photo on TikTok?

Yes, where TikTok has enabled it. Tap Add comment, then Upload photo, and choose an image from your device. TikTok describes the feature as available in select regions, so it may not appear for your account, and the first use asks permission to reach your photo library.

Where can I see the comments I’ve left on TikTok?

Open Settings and privacy from the menu on your profile, scroll to Activity center and tap Comment history. Tapping a comment opens the post it belongs to. Comments you made as a video reply are not listed there, and you cannot delete one if the post has since been made private.

The roundup

So: comments start viral trends, carry most of TikTok’s running jokes, and occasionally need pruning. TikTok has built a reasonable set of tools for the pruning half — the catch is that it keeps moving them, which is why half the guides you will find describe menus that no longer exist. The paths in this article were checked against TikTok’s own documentation in September 2026.

Whether you came here to work out what “tspmo” meant, to put a photo in a reply, or to clear the spam off a post and get on with your TikTok marketing strategy, we hope it saved you a scroll.