Finding Prominent Comment Spotlights

What Is the YouTube Highlighted Comment?

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Did you just come across a comment tagged with Highlight on YouTube and wondering what it means? In our guide, you will find an answer to this, along with related queries like how YouTube highlighted comment works, the removal process, its benefits, and more.

If you own a YouTube channel or are starting one, even you can do this. Without further ado, let’s jump straight into the core of YouTube’s highlighted comments. We’ve categorized this article into a total of 8 parts for simple and better understanding.

• Part 1: What Does Highlighted Comment Mean On YouTube?
• Part 2: What Does Highlighted Comments Look Like on YouTube?
• Part 3: How to Make Comment Highlighted?
• Part 4: How to Highlighted Comments URL?
• Part 5: How to Reply to Highlighted Comments?
• Part 6: How to Remove Highlighted Comments?
• Part 7: Tips for Writing a Comment
• Part 8: Benefits of Highlighted Comments

Part 1: What Does The Highlighted Comment Mean On YouTube?

Before you get on with highlighting your comments, you must understand what it means exactly. You may follow comments on the videos posted by several YouTubers, but the highlighted ones are always making it to the top of the list.

Having said that, neither the content creator nor users or moderators choose to highlight YouTube comments to begin with. They are no rocket science, but only a tad bit more than what you know as a bookmarking feature.

Think of highlighted comments as a “tag”. You might notice this in the form of a ‘new activity YouTube notification’ link you receive on your registered email. Only you can see this tag when you click the notification and arrive at Youtube.com to either view or reply to a comment.

Highlighting comments (HC’s) are an automatic feature generated by YouTube. It draws the YouTuber’s & viewer’s attention to relevant activities. Don’t fail to notice that the highlight disappears once you are done interacting in the tagged comment thread. However, they are reloadable by tapping the comment timestamp.

For instance, you may want to check the following links. The 2 URLs lead you to the same video, but only one of them shows a highlighted comment.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA&lc=Ugya-89WYAlutJurKGh4AaABAg
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA

Notice the name “lc” in the first URL- that stands for linked comment. YouTube might include this additional parameter. If a reply comment (HR) gets highlighted, the parent comment gets raised to the top.

Part 2: What Does The Highlighted Comment Look Like?

YouTube has been working on improving the navigation of the comment section for videos, and highlighted comments are one of them. These comments appear even above the pinned comments on a video. The label of a highlighted comment is displayed above the commentator’s name in a light grey shade.

YouTube labels comment replies as well and call it “Highlighted Reply.” You can see this tag above the replier’s name in the same color tone.

Part 3: How to Make My Comment Highlighted?

Now, making YouTube highlight your comment on a popular video is nothing less than an art. YouTube doesn’t make it easy for you. The advantage of getting your comment highlighted on YouTube is limitless.

Thus, anybody who wants to get their YouTube comment an HC tag has to follow a few simple steps, which we will discuss below in another section. Finding the correct or relevant video content that can benefit your channel from such a comment is an excellent place to start.

For example, if you are a YouTuber who deals in tech information, you need to look for a popular video or channel with a similar genre, in this case, technical knowledge. The more popular the channel is, the more is the chance of a viewer checking the comments on its videos. You will only benefit if you’re comment is highlighted on pages of Youtuber’s who are huge.

Part 4: How to Get the URL of Highlighted Comments?

The ways to acquire the URL or link for a highlighted comment are different for both parties- viewer and host.

Suppose you are a viewer who is going through the comments section of a video. If you want to get the highlighted URL for the comment, simply click on the timestamp (e.g., 2 weeks ago) beside the commentator’s username.

On the other hand, for a YouTuber, getting access to the comment URL is relatively straightforward. The host will get a notification on his or her registered email-id when a viewer publishes a comment on their posted video. You will find the link to the highlighted comment in the notification

Part 5: How to Reply to Highlighted Comments?

Replying to “highlighted comments” on your YouTube channel is pretty easy since this feature was developed, keeping the user’s convenience in mind. If you want to follow up or reply to such comments, you can do so from your email or YouTube Dashboard.

If you click the notification bell icon, whenever a viewer drops a new comment on one of your videos, YouTube will send you a notification via email. On opening the email, you will find a clickable “Reply” option. Or else, if you follow the comment section in the YouTube Dashboard, you can directly view or reply to highlighted comments from here as well.

Have you ever wondered why a highlighted comment always shows at the top of the comment list? Both the above options will lead you to the comment thread on YouTube. To help you find the new activity easily, it appears with the highlight tag on it. The purpose is to remind you that you are here for that specific comment.

Part 6: How to Remove Highlighted Comments?

Can you, as a video maker, remove highlighted comments on YouTube? The direct answer to this would be a ‘No.’ It is because based on how you have opened the specific video, YouTube does it automatically.

Alternatively, you can try out a few temporary solutions.

1. You can edit the particular URL of the video where the highlighted tag is showing. Remove the red part of the URL (example given below) starting with “&”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA&lc=Ugya-89WYAlutJurKGh4AaABAg After removing the above parameter, reload the original video link (below):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA

1. Try logging out from your Google Account and browse YouTube (anonymously). Doing this will ensure that you no longer see any highlighted comments. However, at the same time, this will restrict you from interacting in any way with that video, let alone leaving a comment.

Part 7: Tips for Writing a Comment that will be Pinned as a Highlighted Comment?

Many frequently inquire on the internet about how they can improve the chances of getting their comment pinned, as highlighted on YouTube. The secret lies in how you write the statement. We’ve listed a few pro tips below that can help:

• First, go through all the posted comments under the video. It will help you identify what is missing. You can comment or write the missing point in comprehendible and straightforward words. Also, never forget to acknowledge the YouTuber’s talent.
• Remember, no one has the time to read long comments. So, when you know what you want to write, try to shorten your sentences. A short and crisp comment draws more attention.
• After you have framed your comment, make sure that it is grammatically correct. YouTube and Google hate grammatical errors.
• Do not hit the post option already. Before publishing it, you must cross-check that your comment has all the above points in place.
• Lastly, you have to wait after publishing on the video’s comment section. YouTube will highlight your comment if it passes according to the YouTube policy and if the search engine finds it unique.

Part 8: Are Highlighted Comments Beneficial?

Being a convenience feature, a highlighted comment on YouTube is 100% beneficial. That is especially true if you are looking for ways to optimize your channel.

YouTube is undeniably the second largest search engine on the web. Highlight comments can potentially increase the outreach of your content and, consequently, your brand presence.

As said earlier, these comments always show first on the comment section. Needless to say, many people who watch the videos also scroll down to the comments section to start a conversation or see what other viewers are saying about this video.

In the process, alongside the interaction, they also check out the channels or profiles of the commentators. Viewers often visit the pages of these channels, and if they happen to enjoy the video content, they will subscribe to the YouTuber’s channel. If your comment gets highlighted, your YouTube channel can be one of them.

Conclusion

YouTube can be an intimidating tool for marketing and more so for newcomers. Every YouTuber wishes that their channel performs better than the previous day. Even though the highlighted comment or highlighted reply feature doesn’t have any direct benefits, it can indeed help in optimizing your YouTube channel.

It can connect you with potential viewers and increase the number of people that visit your channel regularly. However, how many of them stay and hit the “Subscribe” button is a different story altogether and is wholly based on whether they like what you share through your videos.

In this article, we have shared facts on YouTube’s commonly seen highlighted comment feature. Yet, the term is a heavily misleading one, as far as viewers and Youtuber’s are concerned. We have also covered all other aspects and queries related to this term. Here’s hoping they clarify all your doubts.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Discovering Your YouTube Comments on Various Devices

How to Find Your Comments on YouTube?

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Have you ever felt worried about any YouTube comment that you published long ago, and later you realized that it was a mistake? Or, do you want to know what comments did you post and when? If so, YouTube offers a simple way of finding your past remarks, and making any changes to them if need be.

That said, the following sections teach you how to find your YouTube comments on a desktop or laptop computer, and also on a mobile device if you are a gadget freak.

• Part 1: How to Find Comments You’ve Posted on YouTube?
• Part 2: How to Find All YouTube Comments Your Channel Has Received?
• Part 3: How to Find Someone’s YouTube Comments by User Name?
• Part 4: How to Edit and Reply to YouTube Comments?
• Part 5: How to Moderate YouTube Comments?
• Part 6: Tips for Writing Good YouTube Comments

Part 1: How to Find All the Comments You’ve Posted on YouTube?

YouTube allows you to post comments on any video only if you are signed in to your Google account while browsing the streaming platform. Because of this, the portal is able to keep a record of your activities, thus enabling you to track all your comments, and take necessary action such as deleting or modifying them as required.

You can learn how to find all the comments you have posted on YouTube while using your preferred device by following the instructions given below:

1. Find Your YouTube Comments on a Desktop or Laptop Computer

Step 1: Sign In to Your YouTube Account

Launch your favorite web browser, go to the YouTube page, click SIGN IN from the top-right corner, and follow the on-screen instructions to enter your credentials and sign in to your Google/YouTube account.

Step 2: Get to the History Page

Click the Menu button from the top-left corner of the page, and then click History from the categories available in the navigation bar in the left.

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Step 3: Access/View Your Past Comments

Click Comments from the right of the History page to view all the comments that you have posted earlier.

2. Find Your YouTube Comments on an iPhone

Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, the YouTube app for iOS doesn’t have the feature to view your comments history. However, there is a workaround where you can use a web browser on your smartphone to get this done. The process that is given below explains how to view your past YouTube comments on an iPhone:

Step 1: Sign In to Your YouTube Account on an Internet Browser

Launch your favorite web browser on your iPhone (Safari, the default one, is used here for illustration), go to https://m.youtube.com , tap the profile icon from the top-right corner, tap Sign in from the menu that appears, and follow the on-screen instructions to use your Google account credentials to sign in to YouTube.

Step 2: Access the Desktop Version of YouTube

Tap the More Options icon from the top-left corner of the browser, and then tap Request Desktop Website from the menu that appears to access the desktop version of YouTube on your iPhone.

Step 3: View Your Past YouTube Comments

Tap the Menu icon from the top-left corner of the YouTube page, and tap History from the menu that appears. On the History page, tap Comments from the right pane to view/access your YouTube comments that you posted in the past.

3. Find Your YouTube Comments on an Android Smartphone

As it is with iOS, the YouTube app for Android doesn’t allow you to view your comments history either. However, the workaround of using a web browser works pretty well on Android smartphones too, but with a few tweaks. The process of doing so is given below:

Step 1: Use a Web Browser to Sign In to Your YouTube Account

Launch Google Chrome on your Android smartphone (you can use any other web browser of your choice), and go to https://m.youtube.com . Notice how the interface automatically changes to the desktop version. Note: If the desktop version of the website isn’t visible, you can tap the More button (with three vertical dots) from the top-right corner of the browser, and check the Desktop site box.

Next, tap SIGN IN from the top-right corner of the YouTube page, enter your Google account credentials in the box available on the Sign in screen, enter your password when prompted, and sign in to your YouTube account.

Step 2: Choose a Web Browser (for Confirmation)

When the confirmation box pops up at the bottom, choose your preferred web browser, and tap the frequency of its usage for accessing YouTube. For instance, choose Chrome and Just once to use Google Chrome to access YouTube only for this session.

Step 3: View/Access Your Past YouTube Comments

Once you are signed in to your account, tap the Menu icon from the top-left corner of the YouTube page, and tap History from the menu that appears. When the History page opens up, tap Comments from the right pane to view and/or access your past YouTube comments.

Part 2: How to Find All YouTube Comments Your Channel Has Received?

If you own a YouTube channel and have posted several videos there, it is likely that you also have received a decent number of comments. Usually, these remarks are pretty helpful as they tell you how to improve your production quality, and what your audience prefers to watch in the future. Therefore, it is imperative to learn how to find all the comments that your YouTube channel has received, and the process given below explains exactly that:

1. Find Your Channel’s YouTube Comments on a Desktop or Laptop Computer

You can use your favorite web browser on a PC to easily find all the comments that the videos on your YouTube channel have received as long as you are signed in to your Google account. The step-by-step instructions on how this can be done are given below:

Step 1: Go to the Your videos Page

Open your favorite Internet browser, go to https://www.youtube.com , and sign in to your YouTube account as explained in the previous sections. Next, click the Menu icon from the top-left corner of the YouTube homepage, and click Your videos from the menu that appears.

Step 2: View the Comments

Make sure that the Uploads tab is selected on the Channel content window, and check the number under the Comments column of each video to see how many comments that particular film has received. You can click the number for any video to view its comments.

Step 3: Hide or Hold a Comment for Approval

Click the More icon from the right of the comment you want to moderate, and click Hide user from channel or Always approve comments from this user to hide the comments from the selected user or keep their comments on hold until you review and approve them respectively.

Note: To view all comments received on your YouTube channel, go to the Comments tab under YouTube Studio, and you will find all Channel comments & mentions.

2. Find Your Channel’s YouTube Comments on a Mobile App

This process is comparatively simpler than the previous one as all that you need to do is download the YT Studio app, and access a central location where all the comments for all the videos can be viewed. The process is given below:

Step 1: Obtain a Mobile App

Go to App Store or Google Play Store, and search and download the YT Studio app on your iPhone or Android smartphone (iPhone X is used here for illustration).

Step 2: View/Access All the Comments

Launch the YT Studio app, and sign in to your YouTube account. Tap the Menu icon from the top-left corner of the interface, and tap Comments from the menu to view all the published comments for all the videos that you have received on your YouTube channel.

Step 3: Hide Users and View Held Comments

Tap the More button from the right of an inappropriate comment, and tap Hide user from channel from the menu that comes up. In addition, you can tap the More button next to Published from the top, and tap Held for review from the box that pops up to view the comments that are waiting for your approval.

Note: Unfortunately, you cannot hold the comments for approval using the YT Studio app. As a workaround, you can follow the procedure given earlier to access the desktop version of YouTube on your smartphone, and then use the method explained in the previous section to get this done. However, it is recommended that you do all such sensitive tasks on a laptop or desktop computer to avoid any errors.

Part 3: Find Someone’s YouTube Comments by User Name

If any of your YouTube videos has thousands of comments and you need to find a particular one from a specific user, checking each remark manually would be an extremely time-consuming and tedious task. Therefore, it is a good idea to let an efficient application do the job for you.

One program, a Google Chrome extension called YCS – YouTube Comment Search to be precise, can help you with this. All you are required to do is, install the extension, go to the video, and search the comment by the name of the user. The step-by-step instructions on how this can be done are given below:

Step 1: Install YCS – YouTube Comment Search

Launch Google Chrome on your desktop or laptop computer, search for YCS – YouTube Comment Search, click Add to Chrome, and click Add extension on the notification box that pops up to install the YCS – YouTube Comment Search extension on your instance of Google Chrome.

Step 2: Load All Comments

Go to your or any other’s YouTube video, and click Load All from the top-right corner of the YouTube Comment Search panel that is present under the description box to allow YCS to scan all the comments the video has received.

Step 3: Search Comments from a Particular User

Choose Comments from the search type drop-down list, enter the name of the user in question in the Search box, and click Search to fetch all their comments on the video.

Part 4: How to Edit and Reply to YouTube Comments?

Editing an existing YouTube comment that you have posted earlier, or replying to the one published by someone else is simple. The process is given below:

Step 1: Edit an Existing Comment

Use any of the methods explained above to locate your YouTube comment that you want to edit. Next, click the More icon from the right of the comment, click Edit from the menu, make the required changes to the text, and click SAVE.

Step 2: Reply to a Comment

Locate the comment that you want to reply to, click REPLY from under the comment, type your text in the available field, and click REPLY.

Part 5: How to Moderate YouTube Comments?

If you publish videos on YouTube that may put some impact on people’s lifestyle, you are likely to face criticism quite often. Therefore, you might want to moderate all your comments before they become visible to the audience so as not to spread negativity among the mass. Fortunately, YouTube helps you get this done easily, and the instructions that teach you the process are given below:

Step 1: Get to Your Channel’s Settings Box

Sign in to your YouTube account, click the Menu icon from the top-left corner of the homepage, and click Your videos from the menu that appears.

From the bottom of the navigation bar on the left of the YouTube Studio page, click Settings to open the channel’s Settings box.

Step 2: Moderate YouTube Comments

Go to the Community category from the left pane, and go to the Defaults tab from the right. Next, choose Hide all comments for review from the Comments on your new videos drop-down list, and click SAVE from the bottom-right corner of the box to moderate all YouTube comments that your new videos receive from this point onward.

Part 6: Tips for Writing Good YouTube Comments

While posting a comment on a YouTube video, it is imperative to keep a few things in mind. Some important tips that might come in handy in this regard are suggested below:

• Make your comment as relevant to the video as you possibly can
• Avoid using harsh language or slangs to maintain decency
• Be genuine while leaving feedback. However, make sure to choose polite words while typing a comment
• In case you want to add some suggestions, make sure to be humble
• Ignore the replies with inappropriate content

FAQs About YouTube Comments

Q1) Why can’t I see the comments I posted?

A: If you cannot see your comments, this could be because the owner or moderator has configured the channel or the video to hold all the comments for review before they are visible on YouTube.

In such a case, you are advised to wait for the authorized person to approve your remark before it is published. Another possibility is that the moderator/owner has added you to the ‘hidden users’ list due to some reason. Even in this case, your comment won’t be visible until you are removed from that list.

Q2) I have enabled ‘Notify me’ about comments and other activity on my channel or videos, but can’t see the comments on my video. Why?

A: You won’t be able to view the unpublished comments or those from the users you have added to the ‘hidden’ list. To fix this problem, you may want to disable moderation from your channel or the videos, and also unhide the users. The processes of both these configurations are explained in detail in the above sections.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett