Tutorial
Review your first held comment
The question the tray asks first, the answer that goes on the record, and the one-way door that puts a comment back.
The pictures are illustrations of the app's screens. The diagrams under each step show what happens around them.
Needs review
Needs reviewTray: HeldYouTube Studio: HeldLiveArchive
Bench & Board · Two Ways To Cut A Tenon
Hold on YouTube
Comment
In contextAssessmentTeach this assessmentModerate this commentThe record
Would hold this comment. Contempt aimed at the creator rather than the work.
Insults or mocks youaimed at you
We first saw it · The tray assessed it · We suggested a moderation action
Put it back on YouTube
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Step one
A question, not a hold
A new tray starts with everything set to Test: when a rule believes a comment should be held, it asks you and waits. The comment stays public on YouTube while it waits, and nothing changes there until you say yes. Questions wait on the Needs review tab, under the heading Waiting for your decision.
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Step two
Read the card
Each card has what you need to decide: the comment, who wrote it and their standing with you, the rule that matched, the categories it saw, how sure it was, and a one-line reason. If the comment has replies, the card warns you before you decide. YouTube hides the whole thread when the top comment is held, and the people who replied did nothing wrong.
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Step three
Hold it, or keep it on YouTube
Choose Hold on YouTube to answer yes: the tray requests the hold and shows whether YouTube confirmed it. Choose Keep on YouTube to answer no: nothing is sent. Your answer helps you judge whether a category is ready for Auto. It does not retrain the AI.
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Step four
Where the hold lands
Once YouTube confirms a hold, the comment moves to the Tray: Held tab. That tab only has your tray's holds. What YouTube holds by itself is on the YouTube Studio: Held tab. Each held card says whether the tray held the comment automatically or you did, and links to any replies hidden along with it, so you can read what those people said.
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Step five
Seen, and kept held
Most holds only need you to look at them. Mark as seen and keep held tells the tray you've looked. The comment stops counting towards the number on the tab. It stays held on YouTube and stays on the record.
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Step six
Put it back on YouTube
Only the channel owner can put a comment back, and it can't be undone. Put it back on YouTube opens a confirmation page first, which shows the comment and spells out what will happen. Putting it back makes the comment public again for everyone, and the tray can never hold that comment again. Any replies hidden with it come back too. It's recorded as your decision to allow the comment. While the change is on its way to YouTube, the card says so and doesn't offer the button again.