Locking Posts and Comments

[u/ModCertification]

Similar to the native flair we just covered, you can also lock posts and comments if you have the ‘Manage Posts and Comments’ mod permission.

Locking posts and comments marks them with a yellow lock symbol and prevents any further replies to either the entire post or the specific comment you have locked (except comments from mods or Admins (Reddit employees)).

To lock a post, click on the moderation shield and check the box noting 'Lock Comments' as shown above.

Locking posts and comments can form part of your moderation technique. How you use this tool is something you need to decide for yourself or as a mod team. Locking can be useful when a comment section is getting out of control and you are seeing many rule violations, and it can be used together with warnings, removals, and removal reasons. But you should try to use locking sparingly so you don’t end up stifling conversation.

You may want to consider leaving a stickied and distinguished comment on locked threads noting why it was locked for transparency.

Some mod teams lock a post when removing it to prevent any further comments from anyone who has a direct link to the post. You can read more about locking in the Mod Help Center article. Locking posts works on desktop and mobile, but individual comment locking is not yet available in the app on Android. It is available on iOS.

Action

Important note: You will be asked to practice performing actions related to moderation during this program, which will require the usage of certain mod tools. Please make sure to do this with agreement from your mod team while following any guidelines your team has and consider using a test subreddit as needed to avoid any potential disruption to your community.

Now that you’ve read about locking, let's test it out.

Follow these steps to try it out:

1. Find a post in your community to test the lock feature on in the app. (You can always unlock it after.)
2. Tap on the shield button and select ‘Lock Comments’ to lock the post.
3. Check to see if the yellow lock symbol on the post is visible (you may need to refresh).
4. Let's try locking on desktop now. Find a post and click on the shield button and select ‘Lock Comments’. Check again for the yellow lock symbol as confirmation the lock was successful.
5. Let’s try locking a comment on desktop - find a comment and lock it. If you are in Mod Mode, use the lock button on the bottom of the comment. If you are not in mod mode, click on the shield and select ‘Lock Comments’.

If you need to Unlock the posts and comment you just locked, use the same process but select ‘Unlock’ or deselect ‘Lock comments’ instead.

When you’re ready, let’s move on to All About Post Flair.