Disable Comments

Turns the WordPress comment system off across the whole site — front end, admin screens and the REST API — with nothing to configure.

Free

Available

Version 1.03 · GPL-2.0-or-later

What it does

Activating it closes comments and pingbacks on every post type, hides any comments already in the database from the front end, and takes the comment meta boxes, the Comments menu and the admin-bar bubble out of wp-admin. A request for the Comments screen is redirected to the dashboard. The REST API's comment endpoints are removed as well, so a comment cannot be posted through the API either.

There is no settings screen and nothing to fill in: it does the one job, site-wide, from the moment it is activated. Comments already in the database are hidden rather than deleted — deactivate the plugin and they are back exactly as they were.

Most sites we look after have never wanted comments and get nothing from the system but spam and a screen to ignore. This is that switch on its own.

What free means here

  • The plugin itself, under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or later. Use it on as many sites as you like.
  • New versions published on this page as and when it needs one. If we look after your site, we install them with the rest of your updates.
  • Bug reports are read and welcome by email. Free plugins carry no support commitment — support in the price is what the paid listings are for.

What it does not do

  • It is all or nothing. Comments go off site-wide, on every post type; there is no per-post or per-post-type exception, and no screen on which to make one.
  • It deletes nothing. Comments already in the database stay there, hidden — deactivating the plugin makes them visible again.
  • It does not stop spam reaching a form. It removes the comment system; anything else on the site that accepts input is that plugin's business.
  • On multisite it has to be activated per site. It is not network-aware.

Requirements

WordPress
5.0 or later (tested to 6.7)
PHP
7.4 or later

Version and changelog

1.03 6 February 2026

  • Meta boxes are removed on add_meta_boxes and for every post type, not only posts.
  • Comment support is removed on init rather than admin_init, so front-end and REST API requests are covered as well as the admin.
  • The disabled Comments screen redirects to the dashboard instead of showing an empty page.

1.02 28 November 2025

  • REST API comment endpoints blocked.
  • Direct file access prevented, text domain added, and an uninstall handler added for clean removal.

1.01 28 November 2025

  • First release: comments closed on all post types, existing comments hidden, and the comment menus, meta boxes and admin-bar item removed.

Getting it

Disable Comments is free. Download the zip, install it from Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin in wp-admin and activate it. There is no licence key, nothing to register and no account to make.

If we already look after your site, you do not need to do any of that — ask your usual contact and we install it, and new versions arrive with the rest of your updates. Anything wrong with it goes to [email protected], where it is read, though a free plugin carries no support commitment.

Download

Disable Comments 1.03

Download the zip

disable-comments-wpcare-1.03.zip · 5 KB · GPL-2.0-or-later