Friends? Friends are great. Communities too. But, maybe not everyone in your Discord world is your cup of tea. Luckily, we've updated Discord's privacy settings to give you more control over your experience.
Blocking Direct Messages
On Desktop/Browser
1. To take control of your privacy settings on desktop or browser, select the cogwheel [] in the bottom left corner.
Cogwheel Icon: Access User Settings
2. Then select Content & Social.
3. In the Social permissions section:
- By default, anyone in a shared server can send you a direct message (DM). If you prefer to limit who can contact you, you can adjust these settings.
- To block DMs from non-friends in your servers, toggle off the Direct messages setting. You'll then be asked if you want to apply this change to all your existing servers.
Managing Direct Messages: Controlling Who Can Contact You
NOTE: To adjust Social permissions for specific servers, use the Social permissions drop-down menu to select and modify settings for each server. You can also fine-tune your DM settings by adjusting Privacy settings in individual servers. For more information, see the detailed guide.
Customizing Direct Messages for Individual Servers on Desktop or Browser
On Mobile
1. On mobile, select your profile icon in the bottom right corner.
2. Then, tap the cogwheel [] in the upper right corner to head into your Settings.
Navigation Icons: Profile icon (left) and Cogwheel icon (right)
3. In Settings, select Content & Social and scroll to Server Settings where you can toggle the Direct messages option.
Settings: Content & Social (Left) and Direct Messages Setting (Right)
4. To adjust direct messages for individual servers, use the Server Settings drop-down menu. This allows you to select and modify settings for each server separately.
Customizing Direct Messages for Individual Servers on Mobile
Blocking Users
On Desktop/Browser: Using the Members List
1. To block specific individuals, open a user's profile from the Members list by selecting the member.
2. Then, press the ellipsis [] and choose Block.
3. Once you confirm your action, the user will be blocked.
Blocking a User via the Members List on Desktop or Browser
Once you’ve blocked a user, their profile details will not be visible by default. If you wish to view a blocked user profile, you can select View Profile. This action will not notify the blocked user and will keep them blocked.
If you've blocked someone and then join or return to a shared group chat for the first time, you'll see an alert notifying you of the blocked user's presence. Likewise, if a blocked user joins the group chat and you return to it, you'll see the same alert.
This notification appears only the first time you access the group chat, giving you the option to leave or stay. Should you choose to leave, it will not inform the blocked user or any other group members.
Blocking a User within the Friends List (Left) and Within DMs (Right)
On Mobile: Using the Members List
1. Navigate to a channel within a server and tap the channel name at the top to view the Members list.
2. Select a user, tap the ellipsis [], and choose Block to instantly block the user.
Blocking a User via the Members List on Mobile
NOTE: On mobile, you can also block a user by opening their profile in the Friends List or within DMs. Then, tap the ellipsis [] and select Block.
On Friend Requests
Last stop on the tour of Discord's privacy & safety settings is adjusting friend request privileges. To find this menu on desktop or browser, open your User Settings, then navigate to Content & Social > Friend Requests. Here, you can choose which options to enable or disable.
Configuring Friend Request Permissions
Here you can set who's allowed to send you a friend request.
Everyone: Selecting Everyone means that anyone who knows your Discord username or is in a mutual server with you can send you a request. Having this selected will automatically include both Friends of Friends and Server Members options.
Friends of Friends: Selecting Friends of Friends means that for anyone to add you, they must have at least one mutual friend with you. You can see if you share mutual friends with another user in their user profile by pressing the Mutual Friends tab.
Server Members: Selecting Server Members means users who share a server with you can send you a friend request. De-selecting this means that you can only be added by someone with mutual friends as you.