Popular videos collect comments for years. The first comments under a music video were written by people who saw it the day it came out; the ones from last week are mostly "who's here in 2026?". If you want to read what people said at a particular moment, such as launch day, the week a song went viral, or right after a news event, scrolling isn't going to get you there.
Our Comment Search tool has a date filter that does exactly that. Here's how to use it.
Step 1: Load every comment
Paste the video link on the Comment Search page and press Load comments. Every comment and reply loads automatically.
This step matters for date searches. YouTube hands out comments newest first, so if you only load the first page you'll only have recent ones. Loading everything lets the date filter see the whole history of the video.
Step 2: Set the From and To dates
Once comments are loaded, you'll find From and To date boxes under the search box.
- Set From to the first day you're interested in and To to the last. Both days are included.
- Leave one blank for an open range. From alone shows everything posted on or after that date; To alone shows everything up to and including it.
- To see a single day, set both boxes to the same date.
The count line updates straight away, telling you how many comments fall inside the range. Press Clear dates to go back to the full list.
Step 3: Sort oldest first
Change Sort by to Oldest. Combined with a date range, this reads like a timeline: the first comment posted in that window at the top, the last at the bottom.
To find the very first comments ever posted on a video, you don't even need dates. Load everything and sort by Oldest.
Step 4: Combine dates with a keyword
The date filter works together with the search box. Some useful combinations:
- Launch week + "first" to find who claimed to be first and whether they actually were.
- A date range + "timestamp" or a number like "2:15" to find the moments viewers pointed out at the time.
- A date range + "Also search usernames" to see what one person said during a particular week.
Tip: Dates are matched in your own time zone, using the day the comment was first posted. Editing a comment later doesn't change its date, though YouTube will mark it as edited.
Why dates only apply to top-level comments
The date filter checks the date of each top-level comment. Replies stay grouped under their parent comment, even if they were written months later, so you never lose the context of a conversation. If you need replies from a certain period, search with Comments and replies selected and check each reply's date beside the name.
Common questions
I set a range but nothing shows up. Check that the comments are fully loaded, since the progress bar should say "All comments and replies loaded". Also check the From date isn't after the To date.
Why are there gaps in the dates? Comments that were removed by the creator, deleted by their author, or filtered as spam can't be loaded. Quieter periods on older videos can also have long gaps.
Can I find a comment I posted years ago? If you know the video, yes: load it, set a range around when you think you posted, and tick Also search usernames with your name. If you don't know the video, see the tip about your comment history in our username search guide.
Try it now on the Comment Search page. Load a video you love, sort by Oldest and see what people said on day one.
