Reporting
Also called: report button, reddit report, report a post, report abuse
Definition
Reporting is how Reddit users flag a post, comment, message or profile that may break a subreddit's rules or the Reddit Rules. Reports go to the subreddit's moderators, and reports for sitewide rule violations can also be reviewed by Reddit's safety teams.
Every post and comment on Reddit has a Report option in its overflow (three-dot) menu. What happens next depends on the reason you pick.
How it works
Two destinations. A subreddit's own rules appear as report reasons, because when mods create a rule they also write its report reason. Reports under those reasons go to the community's mod queue. Reports for Reddit Rules violations, such as harassment, spam or impersonation, can also be reviewed by Reddit's admins, the safety team.
What gets reviewed. Reddit says that when you report specific content, the person who posted it, the community it came from, and others who interacted with it can all be part of the review. You can also report a profile: username, display name, avatar, banner or bio.
Not every report is actioned. Reddit's transparency report for July to December 2025 says 6.9% of all user reports were found actionable and led to removal. Reddit gives duplicate reports and content found to be non-violating as reasons a report may not be actionable.
Abuse of reporting is itself a violation. Reddit's Disrupting Communities policy lists sending a high volume of reports at non-violating content in a community or by a user, using reports to send abusive messages to mods, and coordinating others to do either. Mods can also turn on a Hidden reports queue that separates out the lowest-quality reports.
For issues the report button does not cover, Reddit points users to its report form, with a description, direct links and usernames.
Why it matters for marketers
Reports are how communities defend themselves against promotion. A product comment that reads like an ad can draw spam reports from regular members, even in a subreddit whose rules technically allow it, and reports put it in front of a mod who may remove it.
The flip side: reporting a competitor's posts because they compete with you is report abuse. If their content breaks a rule, report it once with the right reason. If it does not, leave it.
Reporting genuine spam is useful. Reddit says reporting spammy content, in addition to removing it, helps improve its behind-the-scenes spam detection.
Example
A brand account posts the same "we built a tool for this" comment in six threads in one subreddit. Members report each one as spam. The mod queue shows six spam reports on near-identical comments from the same user. The mod removes all six, marks them as spam, and bans the account from the community.
Frequently asked questions
What happens after you report something on Reddit?
The report goes to the subreddit's moderators, and if you chose a Reddit Rules violation, Reddit's admins can review it too. Mods can remove the content or ban the user from the community; admins can remove it or act on the account sitewide.
How many Reddit reports lead to removal?
Reddit's transparency report for the second half of 2025 says 6.9% of user reports were actionable and resulted in removal. Duplicates and reports on content that turned out to be fine account for many of the rest.