A read-only Discord channel means that members in your server will not be able to send messages.
This is useful for certain types of channels.
This includes a “Rules” channel and an “Announcements” channel.
For these types of channels, preventing members from sending messages is important.
If you have a “Rules” channel, making it read-only will allow the rules of your server to be visible.
If you allow members to send messages, the rules will no longer be visible as they start sending messages.
This is similar to an “Announcements” channel—where only you are allowed to make announcements.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to make a read-only channel on Discord and Discord mobile (for iOS/Android).
How to make a read-only channel on Discord
To make a read-only channel on Discord, you need to edit the channel.
Next, click on “Permissions”, disable “Send Messages”, and save your changes.
After you’ve disabled “Send Messages”, members can no longer send messages in the channel.
This is useful if you have a “Rules” or an “Announcements” channel and you don’t want members to send messages.
By default, the “Send Messages” permission is enabled, so you’ll need to disable it.
If you don’t disable it, anyone on your server can send messages in the channel.
A read-only channel means that only you (the server owner) can send messages in the channel.
Here is how to make a read-only channel on Discord:
1. Edit the channel
Firstly, you need to open the desktop version of Discord.
You can also use Discord mobile for this, but the steps are more complicated.
In this guide, we’ll use the desktop version of Discord to make a channel read-only instead of Discord mobile.
Once you’re on Discord, you need to navigate to your server.
Next, click on the gear icon next to the channel that you want to change to read-only.
The gear icon allows you to edit the channel.
2. Click on “Permissions”
After you’ve clicked on the gear icon, you’ll land on the channel overview.
On the channel overview, you’ll be able to edit the name and topic of the channel.
On the left sidebar, you’ll see multiple options including “Overview”, “Permissions”, “Invites” and “Integrations”.
To make the channel read-only, you need to disable members from sending messages.
You can do so in the channel permissions.
Click on “Permissions” on the left sidebar to go to the channel permissions.
3. Disable “Send Messages”
After you’ve clicked on “Permissions”, you’ll see a list of permissions.
This includes “View Channel”, “Manage Channel”, “Manage Permissions”, and more.
Scroll down the list until you reach the “Text channel permissions” header.
Under the “Text channel permissions” header, you’ll see a “Send Messages” permission.
By default, the “Send Messages” permission is enabled.
To make the channel read-only, you need to disable the “Send Messages” permission.
To do so, click on the “X” icon next to the “Send Messages” permission.
This will prevent members from sending messages in the channel.
In other words, the channel will be set to read-only.
Once you’ve disabled the “Send Messages” permission, you need to save your changes.
To save your changes, click on “Save Changes” at the bottom.
You’ve successfully learned how to make a read-only channel on Discord!
How to make a read-only channel on Discord mobile
- Open the Discord mobile app.
- Open the channel that you want to change to read-only.
- Tap on the channel’s name on the top navigation bar.
- Tap on “Settings”.
- Select “Channel Permissions”.
- Under “Roles”, select “@everyone”.
- Scroll down until you find the “Send Messages” permission.
- Tap on the “X” icon to disable the “Send Messages” permission.
After you’ve disabled the “Send Messages” permission, members will not be able to send messages.
Only you (the owner of the server) will be able to send messages.
Conclusion
As mentioned in the introduction of this guide, having a read-only channel will prevent members from sending messages.
If you have a “Rules” channel, you need to make it read-only.
This is to allow the rules to stay on top of the chat permanently.
If you didn’t set your channel to read-only, the rules will no longer be visible when members start sending messages.
An alternative to having a “Rules” channel is to set up membership screening.
Membership screening allows you to add rules to your Discord server.
When someone wants to join your server, they’ll need to agree to the rules first.
You can learn how to set up membership screening in your Discord server here: https://www.followchain.org/discord-server-rules/.
Further reading
Good Discord Server Rules to Copy And Paste
