Why you have negative karma on Reddit, and how to fix it

Reddit karma can go below zero, but only one half of it.

Reddit's AutoModerator documentation notes that post karma doesn't go below zero and comment karma doesn't go below minus 100. So if your total is negative, your comments did it.

Here is what causes it, what it blocks and how to climb back, in 4 parts, with 2 things you can copy.

Save this. Read it before you write another comment.

Short answer

You have negative karma on Reddit because your comments got more downvotes than upvotes. Post karma can't go below zero, so the minus comes from comments. Negative karma can trigger Reddit's slowdown for low-karma accounts and fails subreddit minimums that check karma. To climb back, stop doing what drew the downvotes, then write short, helpful comments in small subreddits until the number turns positive. It takes weeks, not days.

Key takeaways

• Only comment karma goes negative. Post karma stops at zero.
• Downvotes cost karma the same way upvotes earn it, roughly.
• Low karma brings Reddit's posting slowdown and fails subreddit karma minimums.
• The fix is new comments that people like, in rooms that are kind to newcomers.
• A new account usually makes things worse, not better.

1. What sends Reddit karma below zero?

Downvotes on your comments. Reddit's karma page says karma reflects the upvotes and downvotes on what you post, and the AutoModerator documentation says post karma stops at zero while comment karma can fall to minus 100. So a negative number always comes from comments that more people voted down than up, usually in rooms that didn't like what was said or how.

Reddit's karma page describes karma as an approximate reflection of the votes you receive. Its page on upvotes and downvotes says a downvote means a person thinks the content should never see the light of day. That is a strong vote, and people use it freely.

The floors come from Reddit's full AutoModerator documentation, in its notes on the karma checks.

Downvoted comments tend to share a few habits:

• Arguing to win, especially after the other person has made their point.
• Being confidently wrong about something the room knows well.
• A joke in a thread where someone needs help.
• A link or a product mention nobody asked for.
• The same comment pasted into several threads.
• Breaking the room's rules or its unwritten tone.

None of these breaks Reddit's sitewide rules on its own. They just tell the room you aren't one of them yet.

Rankhog is built around the opposite habit: slow, helpful history in rooms that fit. Rankhog warms up accounts you own, slowly, in your own browser.

2. What does negative karma block?

Three things: Reddit's own slowdown for low-karma accounts, subreddit minimums that check karma, and the trust of the mods who read your profile. Negative comment karma fails any minimum above zero, and Reddit says accounts with little karma are the ones its posting limit catches. Mods can see your full history in their room for 28 days after you post.

Here is what each one does and what helps. Copy it.

The first row comes from Reddit's help page on the "you're doing that too much" message. It says the limit catches accounts that are new or have little karma, and that even a small amount of karma from commenting in the community can help.

The last row comes from Reddit's profile settings page, which explains that mods get your full history for 28 days after you post in their subreddit.

If posts keep vanishing, why AutoModerator removed your Reddit post shows how to tell which rule did it.

3. How do you climb back from negative karma?

Stop the pattern first, then add comments people like. Read your most downvoted comments and name what they have in common. Then spend a few weeks in small, friendly subreddits, writing short answers to real questions and replying politely to replies. Each upvoted comment chips away at the minus. Avoid the rooms and topics that cost you points until the number turns positive.

Here is the climb-back plan I would follow. Copy it.

1. Open your profile and read every comment with a minus score.
2. Write down the one habit they share, from the list in part 1.
3. For two weeks, avoid the subreddits and topics where those comments sat.
4. Pick three small subreddits about your job or hobbies. Reddit's karma page also points new users to r/NewToReddit's list of welcoming communities.
5. Write two or three short, helpful comments a day. Answer first, opinion second.
6. Reply to anyone who replies to you, kindly, even if they disagree.
7. Check the total once a week, not once an hour.

Step 7 matters more than it looks. Reddit hides vote counts for the first few hours on new posts, according to its help page on hidden votes, and karma only roughly tracks votes. Checking hourly just makes you anxious.

If you want the longer version of steps 4 and 5, how to get karma on Reddit has the comment shapes that tend to earn upvotes in small rooms, and the Reddit marketing guide covers the same take-part-first approach for a product.

4. Should you start over with a new account?

Usually not. A new account starts at zero karma and zero age, and many subreddits check both. A slightly negative account with weeks of good comments ahead of it is in a better spot than a blank one. The exception is an account you can't use at all. Even then, if the old account was banned, a new one can count as ban evasion.

A new account also has to be warmed up from scratch. How to warm up a Reddit account shows what that takes, and it is more work than climbing out of a small minus.

If the account is so deep in the minus that every room rate limits it, it may be worth asking why before choosing. A pattern of downvotes can come with removals too, and those leave a history mods will read.

What I don't know yet

• Reddit doesn't publish how votes turn into karma, so I can't tell you how many upvotes it takes to cancel a downvote.
• I don't know whether deleting a downvoted comment changes your karma. Reddit doesn't document it, so I wouldn't count on it.
• I don't know how much a negative total weighs in Reddit's sitewide filters next to everything else they look at.

Who this is not for

If you're at minus 2 after one bad comment, you don't need a plan. Write a few good comments this week and it will sort itself out.

If your account was suspended or banned, karma isn't the problem. Read the notice and the rule it names first.

What to do next

Today, in this order:

1. Read every comment of yours with a minus score.
2. Name the habit they share.
3. Pick three small, friendly subreddits.
4. Write two helpful comments.
5. Check the total again next week.

Read. Name. Pick. Help. Wait.

Thanks for reading. If you'd rather not climb back by hand, that is the job I built Rankhog for. Rankhog warms up accounts you own, slowly, in your own browser.