SharePoint Online: Disable Page Comments in Modern Sites using PowerShell

Requirement: Disable page comments in SharePoint Online Modern Sites and Communication sites.

How to Disable Page Comments in SharePoint Online?

Modern pages in SharePoint Online have a comments section at the bottom of each page for better collaboration. Comments are a great way to interact with others and get feedback on your content. However, there may be times when you want to disable comments for a page in SharePoint Online. In this article, we will show you how to do just that.

Option 1: Disable Comments at the tenant level

Page comments can be turned off at the tenant level by the below settings:

1. Navigate to SharePoint Online Admin Center: https://yourdomain-admin.sharepoint.com 
2. Click on Settings from the left navigation
3. On the Settings page, select “Disable Comments on Site Pages.”

   

4. Click OK to save your changes.

In the modern admin center, This is moved under:

1. Settings >> Pages >> “Allow commenting on modern pages”

   

Wait for a while, and you’ll see the comments section is disabled from all pages in the tenant. You can also disable comments on modern pages at the tenant level using PowerShell.

SharePoint Online: Turn off comments by default

Use this PowerShell to disable page comments in SharePoint Online, Tenant-wide:

$AdminCenterURL="https://crescent-admin.sharepoint.com"

#Connect to SharePoint Online
Connect-SPOService -Url $AdminCenterURL -Credential (Get-Credential)

#Disable Comments on Site Pages at Tenant Level
Set-SPOTenant -CommentsOnSitePagesDisabled $True

Option 2: Disable Comments at the Page Level

Comments can be disabled at the page level. Here is how:

1. Navigate to the SharePoint Online Site page >>  Edit the page.
2. Turn off the comments by toggle the switch from ON to OFF position and publish the page.

   

This disables the comments section on the particular page.

Option 3: Disable Comments in SharePoint Online Pages using PowerShell

This PowerShell script disables the page comments for a given site:

#Load SharePoint CSOM Assemblies
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll"
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll"
 
#Config Parameters
$SiteURL="https://crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/GroupIT"
 
Try {
    #Get Credentials to connect
    $Cred= Get-Credential
 
    #Setup the context
    $Ctx = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($SiteURL)
    $Ctx.Credentials = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.SharePointOnlineCredentials($Cred.Username, $Cred.Password)
  
    #Get the Web
    $Web = $ctx.Web
    $Ctx.Load($Web)
    $Ctx.ExecuteQuery()

    #Disable Comments in Site Pages
    $Web.CommentsOnSitePagesDisabled = $True
    $Web.Update()
    $Ctx.ExecuteQuery()
    Write-host -f Green "Page Comments has been disabled Successfully!"
}
Catch {
    write-host -f Red "Error:" $_.Exception.Message
}

Please note, disabling comments doesn’t delete existing comments on pages, it just hides them. Turning ON comments brings the comments back!

PnP PowerShell to Disable Comments on All Pages in a Library

#Parameter
$SiteURL= "https://crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing/2018"
$LibraryName = "SitePages"

#Connect to PnP Online
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SiteURL -Credentials (Get-Credential)

#Get all Pages from the Library
$Pages = Get-PnPListItem -List $LibraryName | Where { $_.FileSystemObjectType -eq "File"}

#Loop through each Page 
ForEach($Page in $Pages)
{
    #Disable Comments
    Write-host "Disabling Commnets on page:"$Page["FileLeafRef"]
    Set-PnPPage -Identity $Page["FileLeafRef"] -CommentsEnabled:$False
}

Conclusion

Disabling page comments in modern SharePoint Online sites is a simple and efficient way to prevent unwanted or inappropriate comments. By automating the process, administrators can quickly and easily disable comments for multiple sites, ensuring that the content and collaboration within their SharePoint environment remain secure and controlled. Whether you are disabling comments for one page, all pages in the sites, or tenant, this guide will help you quickly and easily disable page comments in SharePoint Online using PowerShell.