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Lock threads and adjust Crowd Control on Reddit posts

Moderator guide · Updated Nov 6, 2026 · about 2 minutes to read

Stop new comments on a post or comment, or filter comments on one heated thread for review.

SubMouse Editorial guide — independent and not affiliated with Reddit. Steps cite public Reddit Help pages; menu labels can change.

What Lock does

Help: locking a post blocks new comments from anyone who is not a moderator of the community or a Reddit admin. Members can still vote, and edit or delete their existing comments. Moderators can unlock the post to reopen it. Individual comments can be locked the same way.

Lock or unlock a post or comment

  1. Open the mod shield under the post (or the menu icon with mod mode on).
  2. Select Lock comments (labelled Lock on some surfaces).
  3. To reopen, use the same menu and unlock.

What Adjust Crowd Control does

Adjust Crowd Control changes comment filtering for a single post. Help says the pop-up lets you set that post’s Crowd Control level and send Crowd Controlled comments to the mod queue for review. Community-wide Crowd Control lives in community settings; this action overrides it for one thread.

Adjust Crowd Control on one post

  1. Open the mod shield under the post.
  2. Select Adjust crowd control.
  3. Choose the level, and decide whether filtered comments go to the mod queue.
  4. Save, then watch the queue for that thread.

Lock or Crowd Control?

  • The thread has run its course or is past saving: Lock.
  • Regulars are fine but drive-by commenters are flooding in: Crowd Control on that post.
  • One comment chain is the problem: lock that comment instead of the whole post.

Example: a local news post reaches the front page and outside accounts pile in. Raise Crowd Control on that post and filter to the queue. If removals still can’t keep up after a few hours, lock and leave a short mod comment.

Checklist

  • Is the goal to stop all new comments (Lock) or to slow outsiders (Crowd Control)?
  • Did I tell members why, so mod mail doesn’t fill with “why locked?”
  • Will someone review Crowd Control-filtered comments in the queue?
  • Should this be unlocked later?

Related on SubMouse

  • Working filtered items: guide Reddit mod queue workflow.
  • Answering lock complaints: guide Handle Reddit mod mail.
  • Rules-based automation: guide Get started with Reddit AutoModerator safely.

More on SubMouse

Reddit Help sources