How to Delete Yelp Review: A Complete Guide

How to Delete Yelp Review: Have you ever written a Yelp review you later regretted? Maybe you visited a restaurant again and had a much better experience, or perhaps your initial critique was a bit too harsh in the heat of the moment. On the other hand, if you’re a business owner, you know the sting of a negative review and have likely wondered if there’s any way to remove it. You’re not alone in asking these questions. Understanding the process of how to delete a Yelp review is crucial, whether you’re a customer wanting to edit your past feedback or a business owner managing your online reputation.

This comprehensive guide will walk you through every scenario. We will cover the step-by-step process for customers who want to remove their own words. We will also dive deep into the options available for business owners who need to know how to delete bad Yelp reviews that might be unfair, fake, or violate Yelp’s policies. By the end, you’ll have a clear roadmap for managing reviews on one of the most influential customer feedback platforms.

Table of Contents

Understanding Yelp’s Review Policies

Before we jump into the “how-to,” it’s essential to understand Yelp’s fundamental philosophy on reviews. Yelp’s mission is to connect people with great local businesses, and a core part of that mission is providing authentic, first-hand consumer experiences. Because of this, Yelp is very protective of the reviews on its platform.

For consumers, this means you have full control over the content you create. You can edit it, update it, or delete it at any time. For business owners, however, the situation is different. You cannot simply delete a negative review because you don’t like it. Yelp believes that all legitimate customer experiences—good, bad, and neutral—are valuable for the community. Therefore, a business’s ability to remove a review is limited to situations where the review violates Yelp’s Content Guidelines.

Knowing this distinction is the key to navigating the platform effectively. If you’re a customer, the process is straightforward. If you’re a business, your focus should be on identifying policy violations rather than simply disagreeing with the opinion.

For Customers: How to Delete Yelp Review

If you’ve written a review and want to take it down, Yelp makes the process simple. You have complete control over the content you’ve posted. There are two primary ways to go about this: deleting the review permanently or updating it to reflect a new experience.

Why Might You Delete Your Own Review?

Your opinion has changed: You revisited the business and had a completely different experience.
The business resolved your issue: The owner reached out, apologized, and fixed the problem, and you feel the negative review is no longer fair.
You made a mistake: You might have reviewed the wrong business location or realized your initial assessment was based on incomplete information.
Privacy concerns: You no longer want your name or profile associated with that particular review.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Delete a Yelp Review You Wrote

Deleting your own review is a permanent action. Once it’s gone, you can’t get it back, though you can always write a new one. Follow these steps carefully.

On a Desktop Computer:

Log In to Your Yelp Account: Navigate to yelp.com and log in using your credentials.
Go to Your Profile: Click on your profile picture in the top-right corner of the page. A dropdown menu will appear. Select “About Me.”
Find the Reviews Tab: On your profile page, you will see several tabs like “Friends,” “Photos & Videos,” and “Reviews.” Click on the “Reviews” tab.
Locate the Review: Scroll through your list of reviews to find the one you wish to delete.
Click the Delete Option: Below the review text, you’ll see three options: “Useful,” “Funny,” and “Cool.” To the right of these, you’ll find three dots representing “More Options.” Click the dots and select “Remove Review.”
Confirm Deletion: A pop-up window will ask you to confirm that you want to permanently delete the review. Click “Confirm” to complete the process.

On the Yelp Mobile App (iOS and Android):

Open the Yelp App and Log In: Make sure you are signed into your account.
Access Your Profile: Tap the “Me” icon in the bottom navigation bar.
Navigate to Your Reviews: On your profile screen, tap on “Reviews.” This will show you a list of all the reviews you have written.
Find the Specific Review: Scroll to find the review you want to remove.
Select the “More Options” Menu: Tap the three dots located in the top-right or bottom-right corner of the review card.
Choose “Remove Review”: From the menu that appears, select “Remove Review.”
Confirm Your Choice: The app will ask for confirmation. Tap “Remove” or “Confirm” to finalize the deletion.

This process ensures that as a user, you are empowered to manage your contributions. If you’re wondering how to delete a review on Yelp that you wrote, this is the most direct and effective method.

Alternative to Deletion: Updating Your Review

Sometimes, complete deletion isn’t necessary. If your experience changed or the business made things right, updating your review can be more helpful for the community. It shows that the business is responsive to feedback and gives other potential customers a more complete picture.

To update a review, follow the same initial steps as deleting it. When you find the review in your profile, instead of choosing “Remove Review,” select “Edit Review.” You can change the star rating, rewrite the text, and add new photos. This can be a powerful way to acknowledge a business’s efforts to improve.

For Business Owners: How to Delete Bad Yelp Reviews

This is the million-dollar question for many business owners. A string of negative reviews can impact foot traffic, sales, and overall brand perception. However, as mentioned earlier, you cannot delete a review just because it’s negative. Your only recourse is to report the review for violating Yelp’s Content Guidelines.

Yelp’s software also automatically analyzes reviews and may move some to a “Not Recommended” section. These reviews are not factored into the overall star rating but are still visible via a link at the bottom of the business page. You cannot request a review be moved to this section; it’s an automated process.

Your primary strategy is to learn Yelp’s rules and identify reviews that break them.

What Qualifies as a Removable Review?

Yelp will consider removing a review if it violates its terms of service. Here are the most common violations:

Conflicts of Interest: The review was written by a competitor, a former employee with a grudge, or someone paid to write a fake review (either positive or negative).
Not Based on a Personal Experience: The reviewer is recounting a story they heard from a friend or commenting on a news article about the business without ever being a customer. Reviews must be about a first-hand consumer experience.
Inappropriate Content: The review includes hate speech, threats, harassment, lewdness, or other graphic content.
Private Information: The review reveals someone’s private information, such as their full name, home address, or phone number, without their permission.
Promotional Content: The review is essentially an advertisement for another business or contains commercial content.
Irrelevant Content: The review complains about the wrong business, or rants about political ideologies, the parking situation in the neighborhood, or other topics that aren’t about the specific experience with the business itself.

Understanding these violations is the first step in learning how to delete bad yelp reviews. If a review clearly fits one of these categories, you have a legitimate case to present to Yelp.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Report a Review for Removal

If you’ve identified a review that you believe violates Yelp’s policies, you can report it for evaluation by Yelp’s moderators.

Log In to Your Yelp for Business Account: Go to biz.yelp.com and sign in.
Navigate to the Reviews Section: On your business dashboard, find the “Reviews” tab on the left-hand side and click on it.
Find the Review in Question: Scroll through the reviews to locate the one you want to report.
Find the “Report Review” Option: Next to the review, you will see a flag icon or a “More Options” menu (three dots). Click on it and select “Report Review.”
Choose a Reason for Reporting: Yelp will present you with a list of potential violations. Choose the one that best describes why the review should be removed. Be accurate here; selecting the wrong reason could cause your report to be dismissed.
Provide a Detailed Explanation: This is the most critical step. You will be given a text box to explain why the review violates the selected policy. Be clear, concise, and objective. Provide facts, not emotions. For example, instead of saying “This user is a liar,” say “This review describes an event on a day we were closed for a private function. We have no record of this customer’s visit.”
Submit Your Report: After filling out the information, click “Submit.”

Yelp’s moderators will review your report and the review in question. This process typically takes several days. You will receive an email notification with their decision. It’s important to note that just because you report a review doesn’t guarantee it will be removed. The moderators make the final call based on their interpretation of the guidelines. Learning how to delete a review on Yelp as a business owner is a matter of process and patience.

Summary of Steps for Reporting and Deleting Reviews

Likelihood of Success: Offer to resolve the issue offline by asking them to contact you directly. A well-written response shows other potential customers that you are attentive and care about customer service.

Respond Privately: You can also send the reviewer a direct message to address their concerns. This can be a good way to get more details about the issue and offer a concrete solution, such as a refund or a complimentary future service. If you resolve the issue, the customer may choose to update or delete their review on their own.
Bury the Bad Review with Good Ones: This is the most powerful long-term strategy. Focus your energy on providing such an excellent customer experience that you naturally accumulate a large number of positive, 4- and 5-star reviews. A single negative review has much less impact when it’s surrounded by dozens of glowing ones. Actively (but ethically) encourage happy customers to share their experiences on Yelp. You can do this by placing Yelp signage in your store or adding a link to your Yelp page on your website and email signature. Note: Never offer incentives for reviews, as this is against Yelp’s policies.

Final Thoughts: A Proactive Approach is Best

Whether you are a customer trying to figure out how to delete my yelp review or a business owner tackling negative feedback, understanding the rules of the platform is paramount. For customers, the power is entirely in your hands. You can edit or remove your contributions at will, giving you the freedom to ensure your public feedback accurately reflects your experiences.

For businesses, the path is less direct but still manageable. The key is to shift your mindset from “deleting” to “managing.” Focus on identifying clear policy violations when reporting reviews and dedicate the rest of your energy to proactive reputation management. By responding professionally to criticism and consistently delighting your customers, you can build a strong, resilient online reputation that isn’t easily tarnished by a few negative comments. The most effective method for how to delete yelp review impact is to drown out the noise with a chorus of positivity.