Trustpilot Removal Guide
How to Remove a Trustpilot Review: Fake, Unfair, or Your Own (2026 Guide)
Three different people search for how to remove a Trustpilot review. One wrote the review and wants it taken down. One runs the business and just took an honest one star from a real customer. One runs the business and is looking at a review from someone nobody can find in the customer records. Trustpilot handles those three cases differently, and only two of them have a removal path. This guide covers all three, and it starts with who wrote the review, because that decides which route is open to you.
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Quick answer
If you wrote the review, you own it. Trustpilot says the author can edit or delete a review at any time, so sign in and remove it from your own account. If the review is about your business, you cannot delete it. You can flag it, and Trustpilot removes flagged reviews for five published reasons only: harmful or illegal content, another person's personal information, advertising or promotional content, no genuine experience behind the review, or a review about a different business. Trustpilot states that not liking a star rating or disagreeing with a negative review is not a valid reason to flag, and that it does not remove reviews just because a business thinks they are unfair. Before flagging a review you do not recognise, use the tool that asks the reviewer for a name, reference number, email or phone number. Trustpilot gives them three days to answer, and if nothing comes back you can then flag the review as not based on a genuine experience.
The removal process, step by step
Work out which of the three situations you are in
Trustpilot splits removal by who wrote the review. If it is yours, you can delete it yourself at any time. If it is an honest negative from a real customer, Trustpilot will not take it down and says so in writing. If it breaches one of five published rules, you can flag it and ask for removal. Name the situation before you touch anything, because the flag route only works on the third.
Read the review against Trustpilot's Guidelines for Businesses and find the rule it breaches. Trustpilot lists five flagging reasons and nothing else.
Not grounds for removal: a one star review from a real customer. A review from a name you do not recognise, because Trustpilot says a reviewer may use a username that is not their real name, does not need an invitation, and does not need to have bought anything. A review that mentions a competitor or compares you to one. A review with no detail that never names your business. Trustpilot addresses each of those in its guidelines and keeps the review up.
Grounds for removal, in Trustpilot's own categories: harmful or illegal content, which it breaks down into hate speech or discrimination, terrorism, threats or violence, obscenity, and defamation, which Trustpilot says only businesses can report. Another person's personal information, such as the name of one of your employees, a phone number, an email address, or photos of other people. Advertising or promotional content, including links to an unrelated business, promo codes, reviews written purely to push a political or religious view, scams, spam, and AI generated content. A review with no genuine experience behind it. A review that clearly belongs to another business.
If you would rather have the case built for you, our Trustpilot review removal service names the rule, gathers the documentation, and charges only when the review comes down.
To remove a Trustpilot review you wrote, delete it from your own account
Trustpilot's Guidelines for Reviewers say that as the author of your reviews, you can edit or delete them at any time. Sign in to the account that posted the review, open your reviews, and use the edit or delete control on it. Deleting your whole Trustpilot user account also deletes every review you have written, and Trustpilot says that step is permanent.
Trustpilot recommends editing a review rather than deleting it when your opinion changes or a problem has been resolved, and it says a business should never pressure you to do either. If you write a second review after a new experience with the same business, Trustpilot groups your reviews with the newest on top and counts only the most recent one toward that business's TrustScore.
There is a reason a business owner cannot shortcut this step. Trustpilot's Guidelines for Businesses put pressuring, blackmailing or threatening a reviewer to write, edit or delete a review on the list of things businesses must not do, and they ban offering anything in exchange, naming discounts, promo codes, prize draw entries, refunds and freebies. Fix the problem, reply in public, and leave the decision with the customer.
Ask the reviewer for details before you flag a review you do not recognise
Trustpilot gives businesses a tool that asks a reviewer for more information about themselves or their experience, specifically a name, a reference number, an email address or a phone number. Trustpilot tells the reviewer they have three days to respond. If nothing comes back and you still believe there was no genuine service experience, Trustpilot says you can then flag the review for not based on a genuine experience.
This is the strongest sequence available to a business on Trustpilot, and most owners skip straight past it to the flag. The order matters. Ask first, wait the three days, then flag with the silence as part of the record.
Run your records search while the clock is going. Check the order system, the CRM, the support inbox and the phone log for the name, the transaction and the dates the review describes, and write down which systems you searched and what came back. Trustpilot says it may ask the reviewer for documentation that supports the experience, so a flag that already shows the gap in your own records is easier for its team to act on.
Keep the expectations right. Trustpilot states that a review can be genuine even when you do not recognise the reviewer, and that a genuine experience is not limited to a purchase. A phone call, an email, an online chat or a visit to your online store all count, and reviewers never need an invitation. An unfamiliar name on its own is not a case.
Flag the review from your business account with the correct reason
Flagging happens in your Trustpilot business account, and Trustpilot says you can also flag by contacting it directly, with or without a claimed profile. Pick the single reason the review actually breaches and attach the documentation you gathered. Trustpilot says a request is created in its system, that it will look into it as soon as possible, and that complex cases may require additional time.
What Trustpilot publishes about the next stage is worth reading before you file. Flagged content stays visible online during the investigation. The exception is a review flagged as harmful or illegal, which Trustpilot hides while it looks into it, because it says the law requires that for certain content. If Trustpilot needs the reviewer to change the review or produce documentation, it contacts them and asks for action within three days. You are notified of the outcome.
For a review flagged as not based on a genuine experience, Trustpilot runs it through its detection software, which it says looks at a variety of data points about the review rather than the text alone. If the review looks suspicious, Trustpilot removes it and requests documentation from the reviewer. If it cannot confirm a breach, the review stays online.
Two rules to work inside. Trustpilot asks businesses to flag fairly and consistently, which it spells out as flagging five star reviews for the same reasons you flag one star reviews. And it says it does not tolerate misuse of the flagging function, naming flagging too quickly, flagging for the wrong reason, and flagging in a way that shows you have not properly considered how the review breaches the guidelines.
Reply in public while the flag is open, and appeal a decision you think is wrong
Trustpilot recommends replying to a review you disagree with when it does not breach the guidelines, so readers can decide how much weight to give it. Keep the reply polite and professional, because Trustpilot says it removes replies containing personal information, threats or aggressive language. If a flag is rejected, you can reply to the decision email and say why, and Trustpilot will look again.
The reply is written for the next person reading your profile. Three sentences covers it: what you can confirm, what you have done about it, and how to reach you. Trustpilot takes a neutral stance between a reviewer and a business and says it does not get involved in factual disputes about what happened unless the law requires it, which makes the reply the only place your side of the story appears.
On the appeal, Trustpilot tells businesses what actually helps. If the review refers to a product you do not sell, or a location your business does not have, put that in the reply to the decision email, because it points at a review that is not genuine. If you still disagree after the second look, Trustpilot says you can submit a formal dispute using the link in the footer of its decision email.
When flagging stalls, hand it to a specialist
If a review that genuinely breaches the guidelines is still up after you flagged it, appealed it and documented it, the remaining option is a team that builds these cases daily and files them under its own authority. That is the work Repvive does, on pricing tied to the result. No removal, no fee.
The difference between a DIY flag and a prepared case:
- DIY flag: one reason picked in a hurry, no documentation, filed by someone doing it for the first time.
- Prepared case: the exact rule from Trustpilot's published list, the records search behind it, the reviewer information request already sent and unanswered, and a filing written for a team that reads these all day.
Worth it when your flag came back rejected, when you cannot tell which of the five reasons fits, when you are looking at a cluster of reviews rather than one, or when the content reaches the defamation line and you want it assessed before you spend on lawyers. A specialist also keeps you clear of the two things that cost businesses their TrustScore, which are pressuring reviewers and over-flagging. Start with a free audit from our Trustpilot review removal service. You are charged only when a review comes down.
Can a business remove a Trustpilot review?
No. Trustpilot's Guidelines for Reviewers tell consumers that businesses have no control over review removal, whether or not they pay for Trustpilot's services, and that Trustpilot will not remove a review just because a business dislikes or disagrees with it. The Guidelines for Businesses say the same thing from the other side, that not liking a star rating or disagreeing with a negative review is not a valid reason for flagging. Reviews are user generated content owned by the people who wrote them.
What a business controls is the flag, the reply, the information request, and the quality of what it puts in front of Trustpilot's Content Integrity team. Trustpilot also makes flagging visible. Its Guidelines for Reviewers point consumers at a Company activity page where they can see how a business has flagged its reviews over the past 12 months.
Over-flagging carries a published price. Trustpilot's Action We Take policy describes a warning first, then restricted flagging functionality on the account, then a Consumer Warning on the profile. A Consumer Warning hides the TrustScore, and Trustpilot says it also stops sharing review data with certain third parties, naming search and answer engines, so the rating and star data drop out of search results. Trustpilot says it usually runs for six months.
Is removing a Trustpilot review legal?
Yes, inside the rules Trustpilot publishes. Deleting a review you wrote is always allowed. Flagging a review that breaches the guidelines is the process Trustpilot built for businesses. On fake reviews Trustpilot goes further and says they are illegal and that it does not tolerate them on the platform.
Defamation is one of the five flagging reasons, and Trustpilot says only businesses can report it. It defines defamation as a false statement about a person or business which harms their reputation and leads to significant financial loss. It draws the line in the same paragraph, saying that expressing an opinion such as not liking a service is not defamation, because opinions are not statements of fact. Trustpilot also says it takes a neutral stance and generally stays out of disputes about what happened unless the law requires otherwise, so a letter arguing that a review is wrong rather than unlawful does not move the platform.
What is not legitimate: paying anyone to make an honest review disappear, pressuring or threatening a reviewer into editing or deleting one, offering a refund or a discount in exchange, and posting reviews of your own business or having family or staff post them. Trustpilot names all four, and the consequences it publishes run from review removal through a Consumer Warning to contract termination and legal action.
How long does Trustpilot review removal take?
Trustpilot does not publish a turnaround time. It does publish the shape of the process, so plan against that.
- Deleting your own review: immediate, and available at any time.
- Information request to a reviewer: Trustpilot tells the reviewer they have three days to respond.
- After you flag: a request is created and Trustpilot says it will look into it as soon as possible, and that complex cases may require additional time. The review stays online meanwhile, unless it was flagged as harmful or illegal, in which case Trustpilot hides it during the investigation.
- If Trustpilot needs something from the reviewer: it contacts them and asks for action within three days, which extends the clock.
- Appeal: a reply to the decision email gets a second look, and a formal dispute runs through the link in the footer of that email.
Anyone quoting you a fixed number of days for a Trustpilot removal is quoting their own average, not a commitment from Trustpilot.
When to hire a specialist vs DIY
Do it yourself when one review breaches a rule you can point at, such as a staff member's name, a threat, or a link to an unrelated business. The flag takes ten minutes and the reason picks itself.
Bring in a specialist when the flag you filed came back rejected, when you cannot tell which of the five reasons fits, when you are facing several reviews at once, or when a review states something false about your business that is costing you money. Repvive audits the profile, names the rule for every review that has a case, sends the information requests, gathers the documentation, and files through the channels Trustpilot provides. Trustpilot decides every case, which is why the filing has to be right the first time. The audit is free and you are charged only when a review comes down.
Frequently asked questions
How do I delete a Trustpilot review I wrote?
Sign in to the Trustpilot account that posted it, open your reviews, and use the edit or delete control on that review. Trustpilot's Guidelines for Reviewers say the author can edit or delete a review at any time. Deleting your user account removes every review you have written, and Trustpilot says that is permanent.
Can a business delete a Trustpilot review?
No. Trustpilot says reviews are owned by the people who wrote them and that businesses have no control over review removal. A business can flag a review under one of Trustpilot's five published reasons, reply to it in public, and ask the reviewer for more detail. Trustpilot decides whether it comes down.
Can you pay Trustpilot to remove a review?
No. Trustpilot says it treats flagged content the same regardless of who it is about and regardless of whether the business uses its paid services, and that businesses have no control over removal whether or not they pay. Paid plans buy features such as widgets and AI tools, not removals.
What are the valid reasons to flag a Trustpilot review?
Trustpilot lists five. Harmful or illegal content, covering hate speech or discrimination, terrorism, threats or violence, obscenity, and defamation, which only businesses can report. Another person's personal information. Advertising or promotional content. Not based on a genuine experience. About a different business. Anything outside that list is not a flagging reason.
What happens after you flag a review on Trustpilot?
Trustpilot creates a request and investigates it. The review stays visible during the investigation, except for one flagged as harmful or illegal, which Trustpilot hides while it looks into it. If Trustpilot needs the reviewer to change the review or supply documentation, it asks them to act within three days, then notifies you of the outcome.
Will Trustpilot remove a defamatory review?
Defamation is one of Trustpilot's flagging reasons and only a business can report it. Trustpilot defines it as a false statement that harms reputation and leads to significant financial loss, and it says an opinion such as not liking a service is not defamation. A review flagged as harmful or illegal is hidden while Trustpilot investigates.
Can I ask a customer to remove a bad Trustpilot review?
You can ask a reviewer for more information about their experience, and you can reply in public. You cannot pressure, blackmail or threaten a reviewer into editing or deleting a review, and you cannot offer a refund, a discount, a freebie or a prize draw entry for it. Trustpilot lists all of that as misuse and invites consumers to report a business that does it.
How long does Trustpilot take to remove a review?
Trustpilot does not publish a turnaround. It says a flag creates a request that it looks into as soon as possible and that complex cases may require additional time. The published deadlines belong to the reviewer, who gets three days to respond to an information request or a request for documentation.
Want to know which of your Trustpilot reviews can come down?
Send us your Trustpilot profile. We tell you which reviews have a case under Trustpilot's published rules, which do not, and what we would file for each one. Pricing is tied to the result. No removal, no fee.