Add this code to your functions.php it removes the comment hooks that are default with WordPress. If you ever want to reenable the comments just remove this code from your functions.php
// Add to existing function.php file
// Disable support for comments and trackbacks in post types
function df_disable_comments_post_types_support() {
$post_types = get_post_types();
foreach ($post_types as $post_type) {
if(post_type_supports($post_type, 'comments')) {
remove_post_type_support($post_type, 'comments');
remove_post_type_support($post_type, 'trackbacks');
}
}
}
add_action('admin_init', 'df_disable_comments_post_types_support');
// Close comments on the front-end
function df_disable_comments_status() {
return false;
}
add_filter('comments_open', 'df_disable_comments_status', 20, 2);
add_filter('pings_open', 'df_disable_comments_status', 20, 2);
// Hide existing comments
function df_disable_comments_hide_existing_comments($comments) {
$comments = array();
return $comments;
}
add_filter('comments_array', 'df_disable_comments_hide_existing_comments', 10, 2);
// Remove comments page in menu
function df_disable_comments_admin_menu() {
remove_menu_page('edit-comments.php');
}
add_action('admin_menu', 'df_disable_comments_admin_menu');
// Redirect any user trying to access comments page
function df_disable_comments_admin_menu_redirect() {
global $pagenow;
if ($pagenow === 'edit-comments.php') {
wp_redirect(admin_url()); exit;
}
}
add_action('admin_init', 'df_disable_comments_admin_menu_redirect');
// Remove comments metabox from dashboard
function df_disable_comments_dashboard() {
remove_meta_box('dashboard_recent_comments', 'dashboard', 'normal');
}
add_action('admin_init', 'df_disable_comments_dashboard');
// Remove comments links from admin bar
function df_disable_comments_admin_bar() {
if (is_admin_bar_showing()) {
remove_action('admin_bar_menu', 'wp_admin_bar_comments_menu', 60);
}
}
add_action('init', 'df_disable_comments_admin_bar');
and if any comments already exist you can remove the tables themselves from the database using phpMyAdmin or MySQL console.
TRUNCATE wp_commentmeta;
TRUNCATE wp_comments;
Its probably safer to just use
DELETE FROM wp_comments;
DELETE FROM wp_commentmeta;