> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.watx.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Comments
> The comment triage desk — filters, keyboard shortcuts, public replies, private DMs, hiding and deleting, and what happens when a comment is deleted on Instagram.
**Channels → Instagram → Comments** is a triage desk for everything people have written
under your posts. A dense list on the left answers "what needs me next"; the pane on the
right holds everything you need to decide what to say.
Comments are deliberately not in the Inbox. They are public, attached to a post, and have
no thread. A **private reply** is the bridge — it opens a real DM thread, and that thread
does appear in the Inbox.
## The tabs
| Tab | What it holds |
| --------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| **Needs reply** | Comments nobody has answered or cleared |
| **Replied** | Answered publicly, privately, or marked handled |
| **Hidden** | Hidden on Instagram |
| **All** | Everything, including comments deleted on Instagram |
Each tab carries its own count.
## Narrowing the list
| Control | What it does |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Search | Matches comment text and `@handles` |
| Post picker | Narrows to one post. Set automatically when you arrive from a post |
| Sort | **Newest first** or **Oldest first** |
| **Live** | Checks for new comments every 20 seconds without blanking the list |
| **Sync backlog** | Pulls in posts and any comments made before you connected |
### Smart filters
Four chips sit under the toolbar, each with a count.
| Chip | Matches |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Buying signals** | Mentions price, ordering, shipping, a discount or a link |
| **Questions** | Asks something — a question mark, or a question word like *how*, *what*, *can*, *price* |
| **DM window closing** | Less than 24 hours left of Instagram's 7-day private-reply limit, and the reply has not been used |
| **New people** | Not a contact yet — they have commented but never messaged you |
Two things worth knowing about them. They combine with **or**, not and: ticking several
widens the list rather than narrowing it to the intersection, which would return nothing
almost always. And they filter the comments **already loaded**, not the whole queue — the
count line says so (*12 of 80 loaded match*).
No filter here guesses at sentiment. Each one is either a plain fact about the row or a
keyword match you can predict, because misreading one line of mixed-language text with
three emoji in it costs a real customer.
## Working a comment
Selecting a row opens it in the pane. You see the post it is on, the comment, any replies
already posted under it, whether a comment funnel has already answered it, and — when the
DM deadline is close — how many hours are left.
The composer is always open, with two modes:
* **Reply publicly** — posted under the comment, visible to everyone reading it. Up to
2,200 characters.
* **Send a DM** — a private reply, which opens a DM thread with the commenter. The thread
appears in the Inbox and the pane links straight to it.
Beside them are **Hide** / **Unhide** and a delete button.
Deleting removes the comment from Instagram for everyone and cannot be undone. To take
something out of public view reversibly, hide it instead. Both actions are confirmed first.
### When the DM option is unavailable
**Send a DM** is disabled, with the reason written underneath, when:
* a private reply has already been sent — Instagram allows only one per comment;
* a comment funnel used that one private reply, and it names the funnel;
* the comment is more than 7 days old.
All three are permanent for that comment, which is why the button is disabled rather than
letting you write a message that will be refused.
### Quick replies
Under the composer are saved wordings you can drop in with one click. Press **Save** to
keep whatever you have typed, up to 12. These are **yours, in this browser** — they are
typing shortcuts, not a workspace setting, and they are not shared with the rest of the
team. For team-wide saved messages see [Canned replies](/inbox/canned-replies).
## Keyboard shortcuts
The queue is built to be worked without the mouse. Press `?` for this list in the app.
| Key | Action |
| --------- | ----------------------------------- |
| `j` / `↓` | Next comment |
| `k` / `↑` | Previous comment |
| `r` | Write a public reply |
| `d` | Write a DM |
| `h` | Hide or unhide |
| `x` | Select for a bulk action |
| `⌘↵` | Send, while writing |
| `Esc` | Close the composer, then the cursor |
| `?` | The shortcut list |
Moving the cursor opens the comment, so `j` walks the queue and reads each one.
## Bulk actions
Tick rows with the checkbox or with `x`. The bar above the list then offers:
| Action | What it does |
| ---------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Mark replied** | Clears them out of **Needs reply**. Local only — nothing is sent to Instagram |
| **Hide** | Hides them on Instagram |
| **Unhide** | Puts them back |
| **Delete** | Removes them from Instagram permanently. Confirmed first |
A selection is dropped when the rows leave the screen, so a filter change can never act on
comments you cannot see.
## Comments deleted on Instagram
Instagram sends no notification when somebody deletes their own comment. Watx can only
learn about it on the **next sync** — so a comment removed in the app stays in the queue
until then, and any action on it reports that it no longer exists and clears it out.
**Sync backlog** and **Sync comments** reconcile this: the toast says how many were found
deleted on Instagram. If you are seeing "that comment no longer exists" errors, a sync is
the fix.
## On a phone
The pane is a full-width sheet over the list rather than a second column, the filter rows
scroll sideways instead of wrapping, and the bulk buttons become icons. Everything else
behaves the same.