Use the shared inbox to manage comments and replies on your connected YouTube channel's videos. Reply, edit or delete your own text, and approve or reject other people's comments. ContentMate does not offer YouTube direct messages or the ability to like comments.
Requirements and permissions
Three things determine which actions you see:
- Channel connection: The intended YouTube channel is connected to the current workspace, and the connection is valid.
- Google authorization: The connection has permission to manage comments. A complete new connection requests this together with uploads and analytics.
- Workspace role: Your role permits reading, replying, or moderation. Google authorization does not automatically extend your workspace role.
ContentMate also checks whether the comment was written by the connected channel, its moderation status, and whether YouTube allows replies in that thread.
Find comments
- Open the Inbox in the intended workspace.
- Select Comments and filter by the connected YouTube channel.
- Open the video post and the intended comment thread.
- Check the Moderation status filter if a comment is missing.
- Use View on YouTube to open the comment in its video context.
If no entries appear, check the channel and filters first. New comments or changes made outside ContentMate may only appear after synchronization. The display is not a guarantee of a continuous live feed.
What do the moderation statuses mean?
| Status | Meaning in the inbox | Typical next step |
|---|---|---|
| All comments | Available comments without restricting results to one moderation status | Use when an entry is missing from the current filter |
| Published | Approved for public display | Reply or moderate if needed |
| Held for review | Awaiting a moderation decision | Read and approve or reject |
| Likely spam | Flagged as potentially unwanted | Review the content; the flag does not replace your judgment |
| Rejected | Excluded from public display | Review the moderation action already taken |
| Thread rejected | The parent comment was rejected | Do not send another reply through that thread |
| Author banned | An additional channel ban was recorded for the author | This also affects the author's future comments |
All comments and the other filters show entries available in ContentMate. They are not a complete archive of every comment ever deleted or rejected on YouTube.
Send replies
- Open a published comment and read the thread.
- Choose the reply action and enter your text.
- Review the content and send the reply.
- Wait for the result and check that the reply appears in the thread.
Your response is published as the connected YouTube channel. When responding to an existing reply, YouTube places the new reply under the top-level comment thread. It does not create an indefinitely nested conversation.
The reply field is unavailable if the comment or parent thread was rejected, YouTube disallows replies, or your role cannot reply. A held comment may need to be approved first.
Edit and delete your own comments
An own comment means a comment or reply written by the connected channel. Another person's comment does not become your own merely because it appears under your video.
Edit text
- Choose Edit on your own comment.
- Change the text in the dialog. It must be nonempty and contain no more than 10,000 characters.
- Choose Save and wait for the result.
Unchanged text or whitespace alone cannot be saved. You cannot edit another person's text.
Delete your own comment
Choose Delete, review the confirmation dialog, and confirm removal. This removes the comment on YouTube; it does not merely hide it from your personal inbox. For someone else's comment, use the moderation action Reject instead.
Approve or reject other people's comments
Approve: Publishes a held or likely-spam comment. The button appears only when its status and your permissions allow it.
Reject: Opens a confirmation dialog. Rejection removes the comment from public view; rejecting a top-level comment also hides its replies. ContentMate cannot undo rejection.
Also ban this author from the channel: This option in the rejection dialog instructs YouTube to reject that author's future comments on your channel too. Leave it unchecked if you only intend to reject this comment. Google's interface describes these effects under comment moderation.
Example: constructive criticism or repeated spam
A critical but constructive comment can remain published and receive a reply. For one unwanted comment, choose Reject without banning the author. If you also intend to prevent future comments by the same author, deliberately review the additional author-ban option in the dialog.
The technical moderation tools do not determine the content rules you choose for your channel.
Understand missing actions and errors
| Message or problem | Cause or next step |
|---|---|
| Grant access | Google authorization for comments is missing. A member with account-connection permission must add it |
| Check account connection | Review the channel in workspace settings and reconnect if needed |
| No Edit or Delete button | Check that the comment belongs to the connected channel and that your role allows managing your own comments |
| No Approve button | Already published or rejected comments cannot be approved again here |
| No reply field | Check moderation status, a rejected parent thread, your workspace role, and commenting availability on YouTube |
| No comments with this moderation status | Change the filter to All comments; the message does not describe other statuses |
| Comment no longer available | It may have been removed since the last synchronization. Reload comments |
| Change could not be confirmed | Check the current thread before sending the same reply again, then review the error message |
| Refresh failed | Existing entries may be outdated. Use Reload |
Private videos cannot receive comments. Comments are also disabled on videos made for kids. Check these settings when comments are generally unavailable. See YouTube's guides for private videos and made-for-kids content.
Why does the inbox count differ from analytics?
The inbox shows available comment threads with the selected filter and synchronization state. The Comments metric in analytics describes comment activity supplied by YouTube for a reporting period. A current list and a period metric answer different questions, so their values need not match. See Understand YouTube analytics.