This wikiHow teaches you how to lock Discord channels on a PC or Mac computer. With channel locking, you can keep your channel visible/discoverable while preventing other users from adding new messages or content. This option can be a good choice for channels that contain health information, but no longer requires new contributions. If you want users to not be able to see all the channel content, you can make the channel a private channel.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Lock Channels and Keep Content Viewable
Step 1. Open Discord on your PC or Mac computer
You can find the Discord application in the “Start” menu on Windows computers or in the “Applications” folder on MacOS. If you want to access your account via the web, you can visit
- You must be a server administrator (or obtain appropriate permissions from an administrator) in order to lock the channel.
- When locking the channel, server members can still see it. However, they cannot send messages or contribute on the server.
- If you want to hide channels from other users that you haven't specifically added, read this method.
Step 2. Click the server that contains the channel you want to lock
Servers are indicated by circular icons on the left side of the application window.
Step 3. Click the gear icon next to the channel you want to lock
The gear icon appears only when you hover over the channel name in the list.
Step 4. Click the Permissions tab
This tab is the second option in the menu on the left side of the Discord window.
Step 5. Click the @everyone role
This role is under the " ROLES/MEMBERS " heading in the " Advanced permissions " section. The channel permissions for each person on the server will be displayed.
The " everyone " group includes every member of the server. This means that the following steps will affect every user who joins the server, except the server owner and administrator
Step 6. Click the green tick next to "View Channel"
The tick icon is in the "General Channel Permissions" section at the top of "Advanced permissions". Thus, everyone could still see the canal.
Step 7. Disable all permissions in the "General Channel Permissions" section
If not, click the X ” in red next to all permission options in this category: “Manage Channel”, “Manage Permissions”, and “Manage Webhooks”.
Step 8. Click the green check next to "Read Message History"
This option is in the "Text Channel Permissions" section. With this option, everyone can still read the content on the channel (if you wish).
If you don't want people to see the old messages on the channel, but allow them to see the new ones that appear, click “ X ” next to this option.
Step 9. Click the red "X" button next to all other permissions in this category
Other permission options in the " Text Channel Permissions " section must be marked with a cross ("X") so that members of the “@everyone” group can only read existing content.
Step 10. Click the green Save Changes button at the bottom of the screen
The selected channel will be set as a private channel and cannot be used by anyone other than the people you specifically added to the channel.
Step 11. Allow some people to keep using the locked channel (optional)
Once the channel is locked, anyone other than the server owner and administrator cannot add messages. However, if you want to allow multiple users (or members with specific roles) to chat or message your channel, you can add those users to the permissions list. To add a user:
- Scroll to the "Roles/Members" list in the "Advanced permissions" section.
- If you don't see the member or role that needs editing, click “ + ” next to " Roles/Members ", then, select a role or member.
- As in the “@everyone” roll or group, click the “ X ” next to each permission that needs to be revoked, then select the green check next to each allowed permission. Since you are allowing certain members or roles to send messages to the chat room, make sure you check the "Send Messages" option.
- Click " Save changes " after it finishes.
Method 2 of 2: Make Channel Private
Step 1. Open Discord on your PC or Mac computer
You can find the Discord application in the “Start” menu on Windows computers or in the “Applications” folder on MacOS. If you want to access your account via the web, you can visit
- You must be a server administrator (or obtain appropriate permissions from an administrator) in order to convert a channel to a private channel.
- If you want most members to still be able to view your channel's content without making any contributions, you can lock the channel from new messages and keep old content visible.
Step 2. Click the server with the channel you want to hide
Servers are indicated by circular icons on the left side of the application.
Step 3. Click the gear icon next to the channel you want to hide
The gear icon appears only when you hover over the channel name in the list.
Step 4. Click the Permissions tab
This tab is the second option in the menu on the left side of the Discord window.
Step 5. Slide the “Private Channel” switch to the on or “On” position
The switch is at the top of the window. This way, no one can find your channel, except for the people you manually added to your channel.
Step 6. Specify the users who can still access the channel (optional)
Users with administrator or server owner roles can still view and use the channel, even if the channel is locked. If you want to allow other users to view the channel after making the channel private:
- Click the button " Add members or roles ” in blue at the top of the page.
- If you want to allow all members with a specific role to view the channel, check the box next to the role in question.
- If you want to grant permissions to specific members by name, click the checkboxes next to the desired members.
- Click " Done ”.
Step 7. Select permissions for people who can still view the channel
If you added members to a channel that is now a private channel in the previous step, you can specify the permissions those members have on the private channel.
- In the “Advanced permissions” section, click the role or member whose permissions you want to adjust under the “ROLES/MEMBERS” heading.
- To prevent selected members (or members with specific roles if you choose a role) from editing channels or managing their permissions, click the “ X ” red next to “Manage Channel”, “Manage Permissions”, and “Manage Webhooks”.
- To prevent selected members or roles from inviting people to the channel, click the “ X ” red next to " Create invite ", at the top of the page.
- If you want selected members or roles to be able to view channel content, without contributing, click the green check next to “ Read Message History ” in the " TEXT CHANNEL PERMISSIONS " section. However, if you want to hide old messages or content, click “ X ” next to “Read Message History”.
- Click the button " X ” is red next to the other options in this segment.
- Repeat the steps for all members or roles that you allow to use the private channel.
Step 8. Click the green Save Changes button at the bottom of the screen
The selected channel is now set as a private channel and cannot be used by anyone, except the members you added manually and specifically.
