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5 Ways To View Deleted Reddit Comments In 2025 (The Post-API Change Guide)

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The mystery of the [deleted] or [removed] tag on Reddit is one of the platform's most enduring curiosities. As of late December 2025, the quest to uncover these hidden comments has become significantly more challenging due to major Reddit API changes that took effect in mid-2023, which crippled many popular archiving tools. This guide cuts through the noise to provide you with the most current, effective methods, and the crucial context you need to successfully view deleted Reddit comments and posts today.

The ability to recover deleted content is essential for transparency, understanding community moderation, and simply satisfying a burning curiosity about a thread's full context. While the golden age of easy data retrieval via tools like Pushshift is largely over, several powerful alternatives and workarounds remain, leveraging cached data and web archives to bring the hidden text back into the light.

The Post-API Landscape: Working Tools for Deleted Reddit Content

The 2023 Reddit API controversy and subsequent changes had a profound impact on third-party tools, including those that archived user and moderator-removed content. Services that relied on continuous, free access to the Reddit data stream, such as Unddit and the original Removeddit, faced significant limitations. However, a few key players have adapted or rely on different data sources, making them the most reliable options for 2025.

1. Reveddit: The Moderator Transparency Tool

Reveddit remains one of the most effective and widely used tools for viewing removed content. Unlike services that focus on deleted user comments, Reveddit primarily highlights content that was *removed by moderators* or Reddit's internal spam filters, which is a crucial distinction.

  • How it Works: Reveddit operates by comparing the current state of a Reddit thread with a previous snapshot it has cached or by using the Reddit API to check for posts that have been marked as 'removed' but whose content is still technically available for a short period.
  • The Method: The easiest way to use Reveddit is to change the URL of the Reddit post you are viewing. Simply replace the "reddit" part of the URL with "reveddit". For example, change www.reddit.com/r/... to www.reveddit.com/r/....
  • Key Feature: It clearly color-codes comments: red for moderator-removed, blue for automatically-removed, and yellow for user-deleted.

2. Unddit: The Quick URL Fix (With Caveats)

Unddit, which stands for "undelete," was once a direct competitor and alternative to Reveddit. While its functionality has been severely impacted by the API changes, it still works for content that was successfully cached before the data access restrictions.

  • How it Works: Unddit attempts to fetch the removed content from various archives, including its own internal cache. Its success rate is lower for very recent content but can be surprisingly effective for older, popular threads.
  • The Method: Similar to Reveddit, you can try replacing the "reddit" part of the URL with "unddit" (e.g., www.unddit.com/r/...). Many users also employ a Greasy Fork userscript that adds a convenient "Unddit" button directly to the Reddit interface.
  • Current Status: Consider Unddit a secondary or backup method. If Reveddit fails, it’s always worth a try.

3. The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine

The Wayback Machine is the most reliable, non-Reddit-specific method for viewing any type of deleted web content, including Reddit posts and comments. Its effectiveness depends entirely on whether a user or the archive itself captured a snapshot of the page *before* the content was deleted or removed.

  • How it Works: The Wayback Machine is a digital library that archives the world wide web. If a Reddit thread was popular or linked to frequently, there is a higher chance it was crawled and saved.
  • The Method: Copy the full URL of the Reddit post and paste it into the search bar on the Wayback Machine website. The site will display a calendar of dates where a snapshot of that page was taken. Click on a date to view the archived version of the thread.
  • Limitation: This method is highly manual and only works if the specific page was archived. It will not work for very obscure or recently deleted comments.

Understanding the Impact of Pushshift and API Changes

To truly understand why viewing deleted comments is now so difficult, you must grasp the role of Pushshift and the implications of the 2023 API changes. This context is vital for setting realistic expectations for content recovery.

The End of the Pushshift Era

For years, the Pushshift archive was the backbone of virtually all deleted comment recovery tools. Pushshift was a massive, independent archive of Reddit data, collecting posts and comments in real-time.

  • The Change: In 2023, Reddit restricted Pushshift’s access to the API, effectively cutting off the primary data source for historical content.
  • The Consequence: Tools that relied on Pushshift's historical data, including many third-party bots and websites, lost their ability to retrieve content that was deleted more than a few days old. This shift is why current methods are less reliable for deep historical dives.

Emerging Alternatives and Workarounds

The community has sought alternatives to fill the void left by Pushshift's limited access. One notable entity is PullPush.io, which has been mentioned as a fork of the old Removeddit and an alternative that attempts to work with the current API structure.

  • PullPush.io: This service, and others like it, attempt to leverage alternative access points or methods to scrape and archive data, providing a potential (though often inconsistent) source for retrieving deleted comments by users and moderators.
  • Google Cache: For very recently deleted posts or comments, a quick check of Google's cached version of the page can sometimes reveal the original content before it was removed. Simply search for the Reddit post's title on Google and look for the "Cached" link next to the result.

4. Using Search Engines and Archival Sites

Beyond the dedicated tools, general web archiving and search engine functions can sometimes succeed where specialized tools fail. This method requires a bit more detective work but can yield results for content that was highly visible before deletion.

  • Search Engine Fragments: Even after deletion, snippets of the comment or post might remain in search engine indexes. Searching for a unique phrase you remember from the comment, along with the subreddit name, might reveal the text in a cached search result or a forum discussing the content.
  • Archival Subreddits: Some subreddits, particularly those focused on drama or transparency, have their own mechanisms for archiving controversial or quickly-deleted content. Searching within these communities for the original post's title can sometimes lead to a screenshot or direct copy of the text.

5. The User Profile Method (If You Know the User)

If you are trying to find a comment deleted by a specific user, and you know their username, there is a targeted method you can use with the remaining archival tools.

  • Targeted Search on Reveddit/Unddit: Both Reveddit and Unddit often allow you to search by username within a specific subreddit. By entering the username, you can see a history of that user's posts and comments that were removed by moderators, or in some cases, deleted by the user themselves, provided the content was successfully cached.
  • Checking User History: While a user's own profile will not show deleted content, using an archival tool to query their username can be a powerful way to trace their activity and uncover removed contributions that are not visible through the standard Reddit interface.

Ultimately, the landscape for viewing deleted Reddit comments in 2025 is one of persistence and adapting to the limitations imposed by the platform's API changes. While no single tool offers the guaranteed success of the pre-2023 era, combining the use of Reveddit, Unddit, and the Wayback Machine provides the best chance of satisfying your curiosity and recovering the content you seek.

5 Ways to View Deleted Reddit Comments in 2025 (The Post-API Change Guide)
reddit view deleted comments
reddit view deleted comments

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