Delete pending WordPress comments

With this plugin you can easily delete all pending WordPress comments. It's quite useful if you're the victim of a spammer attack.

Delete pending comments

Downloads at WordPress.org.

WordPress plugin demos are disabled as I don't use WordPress on this site any more.

60 comments

manu wrote this comment on July 17, 2010, 9:31 p.m.

Thanks a lot !
now I can have a beer...
nicolas wrote this comment on July 18, 2010, 8:43 a.m.

Cheers!
Karen wrote this comment on Sept. 4, 2010, 5:25 a.m.

Oh thank you so much. I had 116,000 pending comments to delete and I really had better things to do with my time than delete them in groups of 20. You made my day!
corner sofa wrote this comment on Sept. 27, 2010, 2:59 a.m.

Hi sir, very thanks alot for your plugin, it's really help me so much!
Chelle wrote this comment on Oct. 28, 2010, 4:50 p.m.

Just wanted to say thank you, thank you, thank you for this plugin - had over 2000 pending spam comments - The plugin worked perfectly for me to make them all disappear :)
csg wrote this comment on Nov. 14, 2010, 3:45 a.m.

This is a great plugin and great cause you gotta safety by coping and pasting the sentence just to make sure it is what you really want to do
nicolas wrote this comment on Nov. 14, 2010, 9:40 a.m.

I'm glad you like it!
Eklavya wrote this comment on Nov. 28, 2010, 5:56 a.m.

Hi Nicolas,

This plugin has been a huge time saver for me. Thanks for creating this wonderful plugin. just deleted 850 comments from by blog.

Regards
nicolas wrote this comment on Nov. 28, 2010, 12:20 p.m.

That's great! :-)
Ivan wrote this comment on Nov. 30, 2010, 2:48 p.m.

I know this probably doesn't actually involve your plugin but maybe you can help. I have a comment notification (1 new). If I check the comments it says that there is one pending comment. But if I go to the pending comments there are zero. I tried your plugin but the "pending comment" still remains. I installed a plug-in called My Comment Manager and when I view all the comments in there it says that there are zero pending comments. Any idea what could be going on?
nicolas wrote this comment on Nov. 30, 2010, 4:48 p.m.

I'd try to disable the comment manager first.
Ram kumar wrote this comment on Dec. 4, 2010, 4:28 a.m.

i am using this plugin but it shows "Please try again. Did you copy the text properly?" but i copied the text correctly !!! can u help me in this
nicolas wrote this comment on Dec. 4, 2010, 8:56 p.m.

Please try again. You probably made an error.
Ram kumar wrote this comment on Dec. 5, 2010, 4:17 a.m.

No i tried it many types can u just type the text here .which i hav to copy and paste
nicolas wrote this comment on Dec. 5, 2010, 11:48 a.m.

Please use my contact form and send me url + admin log in to your blog. I'll have a look.
kdrollin wrote this comment on Jan. 9, 2011, 8:38 p.m.

Omg so helpful. I had like 3,000 pending. I spent the last hour deleting the approved ones. Then I did a search and found this. Thanks a lot.

Also for the problem the Ram has above. Make sure there is no space after undone. If there is a space ' ' like that it won't work.
Draanor wrote this comment on Feb. 6, 2011, 7:44 a.m.

I love this plugin but one suggestion is that the text input that you use to verify you want to delete the comments should apply a trim() on the data or even a preg_match() for the phrase. Whitespace causes the plugin to say that the phrase is wrong even if it isn't.
nicolas wrote this comment on Feb. 6, 2011, 9:02 p.m.

Hmmm, I guess you are right about typos. But it was my goal to make it hard to delete comments. Maybe I'll shorten the phrase though, I'll give it some thought.
guest wrote this comment on Feb. 17, 2011, 4:49 a.m.

Thanks Nicolas Boss, you have saved my blog. I like ur work,

Thank u so much, so much, so much.

Can't words to say u, its amazing, its nice, its marvelous,

Thanks
Kris Kemp wrote this comment on March 2, 2011, 11:25 p.m.

Excellent plug in.
Thank you!
Is there a plug in to delete comments already posted? Got hit with a spam attack and need to get rid of all of them, over 30,000 ... :(
Kris
Mike House wrote this comment on March 14, 2011, 7:45 p.m.

Thank you so much! I run dozens of WP sites and have thousands of spam comments to delete. This certainly beats removing them one page at a time!!!
Brian wrote this comment on April 1, 2011, 4:08 a.m.

Hi. Thanks for taking the time to make this useful plugin. Unfortuneately it's not working for me. I get this message: "Fatal error: Call to undefined function get_comments() in /home/wants0/public_html/wp-content/plugins/delete-pending-comments/inc/admin.php on line 60" Is it because I don't have the latest version of wordpress? I wrote a lot of php code inside core wordpress files and am afraid to update, and delete my previous work. So is there a way I can modify the plugin to get it to work on 2.6? (I think that's the version I'm running)
Nicolas Kuttler wrote this comment on April 1, 2011, 1:05 p.m.

:-D No idea. You shouldn't have touched the core to begin with. I'd recommend that you move your own code into a plugin. Good luck!
Daily Wacky wrote this comment on April 3, 2011, 7:58 a.m.

OMG this plugin is a lifesaver! I have nearly 4,000 pending comments --- all courtesy of spammers (GRRR) --- and this is really a big help. Thank you!!! Irene
luxo lamp wrote this comment on June 2, 2011, 12:59 p.m.

great plugin, but for those getting the "Please try again. Did you copy the text properly?" error message: after pasting, you need to hit backspace to kill the single space of white space after the very last letter of the phrase; the "e" of "undone"
Elias Lange wrote this comment on June 29, 2011, 9:10 p.m.

Cheers… I had 400.711 Pending Comments! http://myli.eu/400711
Nicolas Kuttler wrote this comment on June 29, 2011, 9:18 p.m.

Nice :-) thanks for sharing!
Jonathan Bentz wrote this comment on July 25, 2011, 3:09 a.m.

Used this plugin successfully on one of my sites. Downloaded it again for a site today... and found that it didn't load underneath my comments. Anyone else have this problem? How'd you fix it?
Nicolas Kuttler wrote this comment on July 26, 2011, 9:34 p.m.

Can you try with the default theme? There needs to be some hook in the comment form, I think that's also documented in the readme.txt.
Wajid wrote this comment on Sept. 4, 2011, 12:34 a.m.

Hey Nicholas, Thanks for such a great pluguin. There is anyway you can delete "Approved" comments with a plugin instead of going to phpmyadmin. I don't want to touch that meany stuff. If there is a way i got about 5,000 approved comments which i want them deleted. Please reply back soon :D Thanks -Wajid
Nicolas Kuttler wrote this comment on Sept. 5, 2011, 10:40 a.m.

I'm glad you like it!
Hawaii Web Design wrote this comment on Sept. 14, 2011, 4:24 a.m.

Great plugin. I hate it when I have thousands of comments and have to click on the "Select All" at the top of each page. THis was very helpful. Thanks!
jodi wrote this comment on Oct. 30, 2011, 6:30 p.m.

I had more than 32,000 spam messages. I had to close down my comments section on blog. I am now back in business!!!! Thank you!
Siraj wrote this comment on Nov. 9, 2011, 3:22 p.m.

thanks for this plugin but i am unable to delete the comments. what is the text to be copy.
Nicolas Kuttler wrote this comment on Nov. 13, 2011, 5:53 p.m.

The text you need to enter is on the delete page. You just have to copy and paste it.
dan4o wrote this comment on Nov. 15, 2011, 9:29 a.m.

like the plugin very much! lot's of spam already out. the amount of spam made me install captcha as well.
Adam wrote this comment on Dec. 1, 2011, 12:30 a.m.

Hi, So I downloaded this plugin via FTP (plugin folder) and WP does not display plugin. I think I am using WP version 3.0 or higher. What am I doing wrong? I have over 65k pending spam comments to delete. any help is appreciated.
Nicolas Kuttler wrote this comment on Dec. 1, 2011, 10:44 a.m.

No idea. Maybe the file permissions are incorrect. Please see http://codex.wordpress.org/Managing_Plugins
nguienu wrote this comment on Dec. 19, 2011, 2:29 p.m.

hi! I set up your plugin, but I don't know what type in option? it always notice "Please try again. Did you copy the text properly?". please help me!!
Nicolas Kuttler wrote this comment on Dec. 20, 2011, 12:10 a.m.

You're probably not copying the text properly?
Rev. David A. Hupp wrote this comment on Jan. 25, 2012, 12:48 a.m.

Dear Nicolas Kuttler, It is unclear how to access and download your "delete all pending comments" plug in. It appears there is a fee involved (for us to pay to you). It is not clear to me if this will block incoming comments, and the one or two I have approved, or just comments waiting to be approved or deleted. It also appears that the latest version of Wordpress has a built in delete all button? I only know how to add posts to our site Built in 2007-2008, and am reluctant to upgrade to the latest version - If I messed the site up, I would have to have to bother my website designer associate minister to try and fix it. What do I do? Thanks, Revs. David and Harriet Hupp
Nicolas Kuttler wrote this comment on Jan. 25, 2012, 1:01 a.m.

Dear David Hupp, the plugin is available for free at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/delete-pending-comments/ . The plugin doesn't block anything. Yes, it can be used to delete all comments that haven't been approved yet. It is always recommended to make a backup from time to time. Please refer to http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Backups for instructions.
TAZ wrote this comment on Jan. 31, 2012, 5:58 p.m.

You total saviour!!!
kumarb wrote this comment on March 15, 2012, 3:30 p.m.

serious issue after using this plugin. all my posts got deleted (more than 3900) why this has happened? how do i restore them now? please help. i have emailed you aswell.
Nicolas Kuttler wrote this comment on March 15, 2012, 3:44 p.m.

My plugin can't delete posts, it's impossible. Restore your backups. Btw.. your site looks fine to me and I removed your link..
Chris wrote this comment on April 29, 2012, 2:08 a.m.

I get this same error message, and have not touched any "core files" (don't even know what that means). Is wordpress version possible issue? (I have 2.6.5) Thanks so much for tool
Chris wrote this comment on April 29, 2012, 3:24 a.m.

Sorry, just found answer to my previous Q... Installed 2.7 and spam comments obliterated. Thanks!
Nicolas Kuttler wrote this comment on May 1, 2012, 5:26 p.m.

Oh, 2.6.5 is ancient. I'm not surprised the plugin doesn't work with that.
Nicolas Kuttler wrote this comment on May 1, 2012, 5:27 p.m.

Oops... just replied to your other comment :-) Great!
Alok wrote this comment on May 24, 2012, 9:36 p.m.

I have installed the plug-in however it's not showing in the settings so please help me with the instructions about how to run it. Thanks in advance
Nicolas Kuttler wrote this comment on May 27, 2012, 2:32 p.m.

Please check the FAQ.
joshua wrote this comment on June 16, 2012, 12:11 a.m.

greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttt pluging deleted 24,000 spam mmmmmmmmmmmm,god thank u sir
Jean Fields wrote this comment on Jan. 15, 2013, 1:28 a.m.

26k SPAM Comments.... ZAP! Time for a drink. Danke Nicolas!
Nicolas Kuttler wrote this comment on Jan. 15, 2013, 12:15 p.m.

Yay!
Chris wrote this comment on Jan. 27, 2013, 1:07 p.m.

WARNING: This plugin does not work properly with Wordpress 3.5.1 - it deletes ALL comments, not just pending comments
Nicolas Kuttler wrote this comment on Jan. 27, 2013, 9:27 p.m.

My plugin can't do that, it's impossible. Oh, and you're just a stupid spammer, I deleted your link, and your site doesn't even use wordpress. End of story.
Amanda wrote this comment on Jan. 29, 2013, 4:47 p.m.

Thank you. You just made my day! This was amazingly easy and worked like a charm. Danke!
Carolyn Blake wrote this comment on June 3, 2013, 12:29 p.m.

You are my hero!!! I dumped over 10,000 in one operation.
Alexis wrote this comment on Aug. 20, 2013, 6:08 p.m.

Thank you so much for this plugin! It made my day. You rock!
Martin wrote this comment on Dec. 11, 2013, 4:56 p.m.

Using WP 3.7.1, I received the error message: "Warning: Missing argument 2 for wpdb:prepare(), called in /home/.../public_html/wp-content/plugins/delete-pending-comments/inc/admin.php on line 73 and defined in /home/.../public_html/wp-includes/wp-db.php on line 992.