---
title: "WordPress advanced comment spam clean up with query"
description: "In this article we'll discuss an even more advanced method for cleaning up spam comments from your WordPress database using phpMyAdmin. If you followed along with our 320: WordPress comment spam..."
url: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/wordpress/wordpress-comment-spam-query/
date: 2012-10-15
modified: 2022-02-23
author: "InMotion Hosting Contributor"
categories: ["WordPress Tutorials"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# WordPress advanced comment spam clean up with query

In this article we’ll discuss an even more advanced method for cleaning up spam comments from your WordPress database using phpMyAdmin.

If you followed along with our [320: WordPress comment spam clean up](/support/edu/wordpress/wordpress-comment-spam/) article this would be one of the more advanced methods mentioned in that article.

The previous article [321: WordPress advanced comment spam clean up with search](/support/email/wordpress-comment-spam-search/) explained another advanced way of cleaning up spam from the database. The method discussed in this article can be used in conjunction with those steps in order to clean things up even better.

## Multiple entry removal via advanced query

A lot of the time your spam comments are going to be mixed among good comments and hard to track down. You can use some advanced queries in phpMyAdmin to automate finding potential spam for removal using the steps below:

1. First you’ll need to [get to your WordPress database via the phpMyAdmin interface](/support/).
2. Click on the **SQL** tab at the top.[![wp-comments-sql-tab](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-tab.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-tab.png)
3. Enter in the following query, then press **Go**. You’ll want to adjust this query specific to your WordPress database and table prefix. In this example our database name is simply **wordpress**, and our table prefix is **wp_**. SELECT comment_author, COUNT(comment_author)FROM wordpress.wp_comments GROUP BY comment_author HAVING COUNT(comment_author) > 5 ORDER BY COUNT(comment_author) DESC [![wp-comments-sql-statement-and-go](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-statement-and-go.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-statement-and-go.png) The SQL query breaks-down as follows: **SELECT comment_author, COUNT(comment_author)** Selects the **comment_author** row and counts each entry. **FROM wordpress.wp_comments** Sets the database and table we’re selecting from. **GROUP BY comment_author** Groups our selection by the **comment_author** row. **HAVING COUNT(comment_author) > 5** Only select entries that have 5 or more duplicate entries. **ORDER BY COUNT(comment_author)**Order the results by the number of duplicate entries. **DESC** Sort our entries descending, showing largest entries first.  
4. Copy **(Ctrl-C)** the text of the **comment_author** entry with the most duplicate entries. [![wp-comments-sql-results](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results.png)
5. Click on the **Search** tab.[![wp-comments-sql-results-search](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results-search.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results-search.png)
6. In the first field **Word(s) or value(s) to search for:** paste **(Ctrl-v)** your copied text. Place **%** symbols in-front and behind of the text for wildcards, now any entry containing the word at all will display. Leave the **Find:** option as the default of at **least one of the words**. In the **Inside table(s):** menu click on **wp_comments** to only search within that table. Next to the **Inside column:** field enter in **comment_author**, then finally click **Go**.[![wp-comments-sql-results-search-go](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results-search-go.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results-search-go.png)
7. Click on **Browse**.[![wp-comments-sql-results-search-browse](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results-search-browse.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results-search-browse.png)
8. Now you can review the **comment_content** row for that user to determine if it’s all spam content.[![wp-comments-sql-results-search-comments-content](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results-search-comments-content.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results-search-comments-content.png)
9. In this case all comments were spam, so scroll to the bottom and click on **Check All**. If not all of the comments were spam, you can simply place a checkmark beside the ones that you wish to remove.[![wp-comments-sql-results-search-check-all](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results-search-check-all.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results-search-check-all.png)
10. Then click on **Delete** at the bottom of the page. [![wp-comments-sql-results-search-delete](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results-search-delete.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results-search-delete.png)
11. Confirm your deletions by clicking on **Yes**.[![wp-comments-sql-results-search-delete-confirm](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results-search-delete-confirm.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results-search-delete-confirm.png)
12. MySQL should now return an empty result set if the deletion was successful. [![wp-comments-sql-results-search-delete-empty](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results-search-delete-empty.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-results-search-delete-empty.png) Below you can see why this can be such an efficient method for finding spam in your WordPress database, using the different common WordPress comment rows we can find duplicate entries easily: **comment_post_ID** [![wp-comments-sql-comment-post-ID](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-comment-post-ID.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-comment-post-ID.png) **comment_author** [![wp-comments-sql-comment-author](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-comment-author.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-comment-author.png) **comment_author_email** [![wp-comments-sql-comment-author-email](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-comment-author-email.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-comment-author-email.png)   **comment_author_url** [![wp-comments-sql-comment-author-url](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-comment-author-url.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-comment-author-url.png) **comment_author_IP** [![wp-comments-sql-comment-author-IP](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-comment-author-IP.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-comment-author-IP.png) **comment_content** [![wp-comments-sql-comment-content](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-comment-content.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/phpMyAdmin_wordpress-spam_wp-comments-sql-comment-content.png)