BotBlind
Hidden replies, "probable spam" and every other place X puts replies
Checked on October 20, 2026, against X's Help Center and the sources linked below. X renames buttons and moves icons often. If a label here doesn't match your screen, look for something with a similar name in the same spot.
Where a missing reply usually is
A post says it has 40 replies and you can see 25. That's normal. The reply count includes replies you won't see in the main list for several different reasons, and each one has its own place:
| Where it went | Who put it there | How to open it |
|---|---|---|
| Hidden replies | The author of the post | Hidden replies icon on the original post |
| Show probable spam | X's ranking | Button at the end of the replies |
| Offensive-content fold | X's ranking | A second "show additional replies" link, when there is one |
| Far down the list | X's ranking | Change the sort, or keep scrolling |
| Muted or blocked | You | Check your mute and block lists |
| Unavailable | The replier's settings, or X | Often you can't |
1. Replies the author hid
Anyone can hide replies to their own posts. Hiding isn't deleting. X's Help Center says everyone can still open hidden replies through the hidden reply icon, which "shows up on the original post when there are hidden replies", and that the person who wrote the reply is not notified (X Help Center, About replies and mentions, September 2026).
How to see hidden replies in the X app (iPhone and Android)
- Open the post you're curious about. Tap the post itself so it opens on its own page. Hidden replies hang off the original post, so opening a reply under it won't help.
- Look at the bottom right of the original post for the hidden replies icon. It's small, and it's only there when the author has hidden at least one reply.
- Tap it. A list of the replies the author hid opens. You can read them and reply to them like any other reply.
How to see hidden replies on x.com
Same steps. Open the original post and click the hidden replies icon at the bottom right of it. X lists the feature for X for iOS, X for Android and X.com, and says it is not available in X Pro, so switch to the normal site if you use X Pro.
Two web-only shortcuts float around. Some guides say older versions of the web app also had a View hidden replies entry in the post's ··· menu (twitterapi.io, 2026). Lifewire suggested adding /hidden to the end of a post's URL (Lifewire, April 2025). I couldn't confirm that either one still works today, and X's own instructions only mention the icon. Try the icon first.
No icon?
Then the author hasn't hidden anything that X will show you. A few edge cases from X's help page:
- Hidden replies from a protected account don't appear on the hidden replies page. Protected replies are only visible to that account's approved followers anyway.
- A hidden reply that its author later deleted is gone from the page too.
- If the post author hides a reply and that account then mutes or blocks them, the post author can no longer view or unhide it.
If it's your post: how to hide and unhide a reply
On a reply to your post, open the ··· menu, choose Hide reply and confirm. To undo it, open the hidden replies icon on your post, then the ··· menu on that reply, and choose Unhide reply. You can only do this on your own posts. For the rest of the tools that keep reply sections readable, see how to hide AI and bot replies on X.
2. Show probable spam
This is the one most people miss. On busy posts, X ends the reply list with a button that says Show probable spam. X describes it this way: "This button reveals replies that are identified as potentially lower quality and spam, based on factors such as the author's previous behavior and the content of the reply" (X Help Center, September 2026).
Nobody hid these by hand. X's systems decided. That has two consequences:
- Real replies end up there. When the label changed from "Show more replies" to "Show probable spam" in 2024, The Shortcut found long, on-topic replies that disagreed with the post folded in with the spam, including some from paying Premium accounts (The Shortcut, June 15, 2024).
- Plenty of spam doesn't. X ranks the reply and the account, so a bot with a clean-looking history can land in the main list.
To open it, scroll to the bottom of the replies and tap the button. It's one tap, on the app and the web. There's no setting that turns this fold off. The Quality filter you may have heard of lives in your notification settings and only affects your notifications tab.
A second fold for offensive content
Under the probable spam replies there is sometimes one more link, worded like "Show additional replies, including those that may contain offensive content". The Shortcut described it in the same 2024 piece, and says it mostly holds actual spam and graphic posts. I didn't find it on X's current help page, so its wording may change, but if a reply you know exists isn't anywhere else, that link is worth a tap.
3. Not hidden, just ranked low
Replies aren't shown in time order by default. X says it tries to show replies that are "relevant, credible, and safe", and when it ranks a reply higher it looks at things like whether the original author replied to it, whether it's from someone you follow, and whether the person who wrote it subscribes to X Premium (X Help Center). X's Premium page lists "reply prioritization" in every tier, "larger" in Premium and "largest" in Premium+ (About X Premium, October 2026). So a paid account's reply can sit above a better one from someone who doesn't pay.
The fix is the sort control just above the first reply. X added it in August 2024 with three options: most relevant, most recent and most liked (Engadget, August 11, 2024). The exact labels differ a little between the app and the web. Switch to the most recent view to see replies newest first instead of in X's order. Expect it to reset when you open another post.
4. Your own mutes and blocks
Sometimes the filter is you. These are easy to forget because you set them weeks ago.
- Muted accounts. X's mute page has a detail most people don't know: when you open a conversation, replies from muted accounts you follow are still visible, but replies from muted accounts you don't follow are not (X Help Center, How to mute accounts, September 2026).
- Muted words. X says muting a word, phrase, username, emoji or hashtag removes matching posts from your Home timeline, your notifications and "from replies to posts" (X Help Center, advanced muting options, September 2026). A broad muted word can quietly hide real replies. Our starter list of muted words for bot replies sorts phrases by how often they catch real people.
- Blocked accounts. X says posts from accounts you block won't appear in your timeline (X Help Center, Blocking on X, October 2026).
To check your lists on the web, go to Settings and privacy → Privacy and safety → Mute and block. Muted accounts, muted words and blocked accounts are all there. In the app, the same lists are under Settings and privacy, in the privacy and safety section.
5. Replies you can't open
Some replies are counted but not shown to you, and no button brings them back. X's page on notices lists when a post is unavailable: it's from a protected account you don't follow, the account has blocked you, the post was deleted, or the account was deactivated (X Help Center, Notices on X, October 2026). Posts from suspended accounts are hidden behind a notice too.
Two notices you can click through:
- A reply you reported. X hides it behind a notice and lets you choose whether to view it again.
- Sensitive media. Some media sits behind a warning screen you can click through. X's notices page says that doesn't work in X for iOS, so try the web.
A short checklist when a reply is missing
- Open the original post on its own page.
- Look for the hidden replies icon at the bottom right of the post. Tap it if it's there.
- Scroll to the end of the replies and tap Show probable spam, then any "show additional replies" link under it.
- Switch the sort to the most recent replies and scroll again.
- Check whether you muted that account or a word in the reply, or blocked the account.
- Still nothing? The reply may be protected, deleted or from an account that blocked you. Opening the replier's profile and its Replies tab is the last place to look.
Where BotBlind fits
X's folds all work the same way: the reply leaves the conversation and goes somewhere else, at the end of the list or behind an icon. That's fine for spam you never want to see. It's annoying when a real reply ends up there, because you have to know where to go looking.
BotBlind is a free Chrome extension that hides obvious spam, scams and AI reply bots on X conversation pages. It does it in place: a hidden reply becomes a one-line bar where the reply was, with the reasons it was flagged and a Show button. Nothing is deleted, nothing moves, and one click shows it. It only works on the replies X has already loaded in your browser, so it doesn't change X's own folds or open anything X keeps from you. It runs locally and sends nothing anywhere (see the privacy policy).
It won't catch every bot, and it will sometimes fold a real person, which is why the bar is always there to open. For context, bots are a minority in most threads: when we hand-labeled 3,353 replies from ordinary X threads in October 2026, about 4% were bots (95% CI 3.4 to 4.8%). If you want to judge a reply yourself, here's how to tell if a reply on X is from a bot.
Status: BotBlind is available now, free, on the Chrome Web Store.
It hides obvious spam, scams and AI reply bots under any post. Nothing is deleted, and one click shows any reply.
Add to Chrome
FAQ
Can anyone see hidden replies on X?
Yes. Hiding a reply doesn't delete it. Anyone can open the hidden replies from the icon on the original post. The exceptions: hidden replies from protected accounts don't appear on that page, and replies their authors deleted are gone.
Is the person told when their reply is hidden?
No. X says the author of the reply is not notified when the post author hides it.
Why can't I find the hidden replies icon?
It only shows up on the original post, and only when that post has hidden replies. Open the post itself rather than a reply under it. It isn't available in X Pro. If there's no icon, the reply you're looking for is probably somewhere else, such as behind Show probable spam at the end of the conversation.
Is probable spam the same as a hidden reply?
No. A hidden reply was hidden by the person who wrote the post. Probable spam is X's own ranking: replies it sees as potentially lower quality or spam are folded behind a Show probable spam button. Real replies can end up in both places.
Sources
- X Help Center: About replies and mentions, How to mute accounts on X, How to use advanced muting options, Blocking on X, Notices on X and what they mean, About X Premium. Help Center pages don't load for automated tools, so I read the Internet Archive copies from September and October 2026.
- The Shortcut, X changes "show more replies" to "probable SPAM", June 15, 2024.
- Engadget, X now lets you sort replies, August 11, 2024.
- Lifewire, How to hide replies on X, April 15, 2025.
- twitterapi.io, How to see comments on X, 2026.