YouTube Comment Notifications: Turn On, Fix or Mute Them (2026)

Someone answered your YouTube comment this morning, and your phone never made a sound. Or the opposite happens, and it buzzes every time a stranger likes a comment you wrote years ago.

In this guide:

• What triggers a YouTube comment notification
• How to turn on comment notifications on a phone or computer
• 7 reasons you're not getting comment notifications
• What a notification with no comment means
• How to mute comment alerts and keep upload alerts
• Comment notifications for creators

What triggers a YouTube comment notification

A YouTube comment notification tells you about activity on a comment you wrote. If you run a channel, it also covers new comments on your own videos. YouTube's help pages list these triggers:

• A reply to your comment. Anyone's reply can trigger one. YouTube Help groups these alerts as activity on your comments, "including likes and replies."
• A creator's reply, heart or pin. The commenter "may get a notification that you responded, depending on their notification settings," YouTube Help tells creators. A heart alert says the channel owner "loves your comment" (YouTube Help).
• A like. A creator's like may bring a notification that says "Someone liked your comment." Likes are anonymous, and dislikes never notify you.
• A mention. A channel can tag your @handle in a video title or description, which may send you an inbox notification (YouTube Help).
• A moderation notice. YouTube may tell you a comment was removed, or that your commenting is paused for up to 24 hours (YouTube Help).

One alert you can't get: YouTube has no setting to follow new comments on someone else's video, so you only hear about comments you wrote.

How to turn on YouTube comment notifications

To turn on YouTube comment notifications, switch on the comment toggles in YouTube's settings, then let YouTube notify you on your device. YouTube Help gives the same two steps.

On iPhone, iPad or Android:

1. Open the YouTube app and tap your profile picture.
2. Tap Settings, then Notifications.
3. Turn on the comment switches, such as Activity on my comments. Labels vary a little between app versions.
4. Open your phone's settings. On iPhone, go to Notifications, then YouTube, and turn on Allow Notifications. On Android, go to Notifications, then App notifications, and turn YouTube on.

On a computer:

1. Go to youtube.com, click your profile picture, then Settings.
2. Click Notifications in the left menu.
3. Under General, go to Your preferences and turn on notifications about activity on your comments, "including likes and replies."

Browser pop-ups also need your browser's permission. If they fail, see YouTube desktop notifications not working. Every other switch on that screen is explained in our YouTube notification settings guide.

7 reasons you're not getting YouTube comment notifications

Missing YouTube comment alerts usually come down to a setting, your phone, or YouTube choosing not to send one. Work through these seven causes in order.

1. A comment switch is off. Open Settings, then Notifications, and turn the comment toggles back on.
2. Your phone blocks YouTube. If the phone denies YouTube notifications, no in-app switch helps. Allow them in the phone's settings.
3. The thread is busy. YouTube Help says "consecutive comments on a video may not lead to notifications for each. We send you an occasional notification instead."
4. The scheduled digest is on. It bundles a day's push alerts into one, and YouTube Help says it includes "upload and comment notifications." Quiet hours also mute sounds from 10 PM to 8 AM by default, though the alerts still arrive (YouTube Help).
5. You're signed in to a different account. If you commented from another account or channel, switch to it. YouTube Help advises: "Make sure that you're signed in to the account with the notification settings you've set."
6. Your comment was held or removed. Creators can hold comments for review, and YouTube holds likely spam, per YouTube Help. Held comments aren't public, so nobody can reply to them.
7. The mention didn't qualify. "Not every mention triggers a notification," per YouTube Help. "Important ones" do, "like when a creator with a similar number of subscribers mentions you."

Got a comment notification but can't find the comment?

If a YouTube comment notification leads nowhere, the comment is most likely gone. YouTube Help names two common reasons: "the user deleted their comment, or it was removed due to policy."

The notification stays in your list after the comment disappears. If the comment still exists, open it from the notification, which takes you straight to it, instead of scrolling a long thread.

How to mute comment notifications without losing upload alerts

To mute YouTube comment notifications, switch off the comment toggles inside YouTube and leave your phone's permission for YouTube alone. Blocking YouTube in your phone's settings silences everything at once, including new-upload alerts from the channels you follow.

Three ways to cut comment noise, from lightest to strongest:

• Turn off the comment switches. Go to Settings, then Notifications. On youtube.com, YouTube Help describes one preference for "likes and replies," so muting likes may mute replies too.
• Stop mentions. In Settings, then Privacy, switch off Allow users to mention me, which stops channels from tagging you at all (YouTube Help).
• Use the scheduled digest. It turns a day of pings into one daily notification, but it delays your upload alerts too.

For the rest of YouTube's noise, such as recommended-video alerts, follow how to turn off YouTube notifications.

Keep upload alerts when you mute YouTube

Sublark does not send comment notifications. It does one job: it emails you when a YouTube channel uploads, usually within the hour, and no YouTube setting can switch that email off.

That matters because YouTube's upload alerts have gaps. New subscriptions start on Personalized notifications, per YouTube Help. YouTube sends at most 3 notifications per channel in 24 hours. And if your bell is on All but you haven't watched a channel in a while, YouTube Help's phone guide says "you'll only receive notifications for that channel inside the app." PPC Land reports that rule became permanent on April 21, 2026. Our YouTube notifications not working guide covers every cause.

Setting up an email alert takes under a minute:

1. Search a channel by name or @handle on Sublark. Searching @veritasium, for example, brings up Veritasium.
2. Enter your email address.
3. Get an email when the channel posts its next video.

It is free for viewers and needs no Google account. It works for channels like Veritasium, MrBeast, Mark Rober and Marques Brownlee.

YouTube comment notifications for creators

Creators get alerts about comments on their own videos from the YouTube Studio app or the main YouTube app. In Studio, per YouTube Help, tap your profile picture, then Settings, then Push notifications, and turn on Comments. Then allow YouTube Studio notifications in your phone's settings.

Don't rely on push alone after an upload, because busy videos get "an occasional notification" rather than one per comment. In YouTube Studio, open Community to see every Published comment, and check Held for comments waiting on your review (YouTube Help).

Your own replies, hearts and pins may notify fans too. If you pin one comment, make it count: how to pin a comment on YouTube explains what to put there.

YouTube comment notifications: the bottom line

YouTube comment notifications depend on two switches: the comment toggles in YouTube's settings and your phone's permission for YouTube. When replies go missing, check those first, then the digest, the account you're signed in to, and the bell inbox.

When comment pings get loud, turn off the comment toggles, not YouTube. And for the channels whose uploads you can't miss, add a free email alert that works however you set up YouTube.

Frequently Asked Questions