Steam comment "awaiting analysis": what it means

You post a comment on a Steam profile, and instead of your text the profile shows a notice that the comment is awaiting analysis. Steam has held it back for a check. Rep4Rep checks every comment posted through it, so we see a lot of these. Here's what they mean and what actually helps.

What "awaiting analysis" means

Steam runs new comments through an automatic content check, mostly to stop scam and phishing links. When the check isn't sure about a comment, Steam hides its text behind a notice. The comment isn't deleted: it's still there, but nobody can read it, including the owner of the profile.

Why Steam holds a comment

Steam doesn't publish its rules, but the held comments we see usually have something in common:

• Links, or anything that looks like one. A domain name is enough, even without https://.
• ASCII art and blocks of symbols. Long runs of unusual characters look a lot like spam to an automatic check.
• The same text everywhere. A comment that many accounts post on many profiles in a short time.

The words alone don't decide it, though. Most of the comments we've seen Steam hold were word for word the same as comments that had passed the check many times before. So the check seems to look at more than the text: probably when it was posted, by which account, and how often Steam has seen it lately.

How long does it take?

Steam doesn't give a time, and the honest answer is: don't wait for it. We follow held comments for a week, and none of them has ever become visible again on its own. Treat a held comment as gone.

What you can do

• Your comment was held: delete it and post something else, in your own words, without links or symbols.
• Don't retry the same text. It will probably be held again, and every attempt uses one of your daily comments. See Steam's comment limit.
• Keep formatting simple. A bit of bold text or a heading is fine; see what your comment will look like with the Steam Text Formatting Preview.
• A held comment is on your profile: you can delete it like any other comment. Here's how to delete comments on your Steam profile.

Held comments on Rep4Rep

On Rep4Rep you earn points when your comment shows up on the other profile. If Steam holds your comment back, our moderators review it, so you don't lose out for a comment you posted in good faith. Comment texts that Steam keeps holding are taken out of the comment lists, so fewer people run into them.

Frequently asked questions

What does "awaiting analysis" mean on a Steam comment?

Steam's automatic content check flagged the comment, so Steam hides its text behind a notice until the comment is cleared. The comment isn't deleted, but nobody can read it.

How long does "awaiting analysis" take?

Steam doesn't say. In what we've seen on Rep4Rep, a held comment practically never comes back: none of the held comments we followed for a week became visible again.

How do I stop my comments being held?

Leave out links, web addresses and blocks of symbols or ASCII art, and write your own words instead of text that many people post at the same time.