Text Channels & Text Chat In Voice Channels

Buffy
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In Discord, there are three ways to communicate with your friends: voice, video, and text. For this article, you'll learn more about where to engage with others through text. If you want to learn more about communicating through voice, please check out the Voice Channels FAQs article.

What this article covers:

Text Channels

Text channels, distinguished by the # symbol (also known as the pound sign, hashtag, or octothorpe) in the channel list of a server, are where text communications can take place.

When you want to utilize text channels, here are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Selecting a channel in the left-hand panel will highlight it and bring the channel's content to the main view of the Discord app.
  • Pressing on the cogwheel next to the text channel's name is how you can edit a channel, if you have the permissions to do so. You may also see the Invite People icon which looks like a symbol of a person with a plus sign next to the channel name. This will allow you to send an invite to the channel.
  • Enter your message in the text box at the bottom of the client and press the Enter key to send the message to the text channel.
  • You can also send GIFs, stickers, emojis, and gifts through the text box.
  • You can interact with already-sent messages in the text channel by adding a reaction, creating a thread, replying directly to a message, and more, depending on the permissions allowed to you or the role(s) you have in the server.

Owner/Moderator permissions to edit and create Text Channels

If you’re the owner of a server, or a moderator with the permissions to edit a text channels, here is how to do that.

1. Navigate to the channel that you want to edit the permissions for and then tap on the cogwheel [] next to it to edit the permissions.

2. Next, tap on Permissions and select the role you’d like to edit the permissions for.

3. To enable a setting, tap on the checkmark and to disable a setting, tap on the x. 

4. Once you’re finished, tap on Save Changes to save.

In order for a member of your server to chat in a specific channel they at least need the following permissions enabled: View Channel, Send Messages, and Read Message History. 

There are other settings you may want to make sure are enabled or disabled, to learn more about Text Channel Settings, please check out the article Channel Permissions Settings 101.

You can also learn more about permissions in general through here.

Text Chat in Voice Channels

Using the embedded text chat in voice channels, users can send message content, comment on something being said without interrupting the speaker, and share links, memes, and more, all in the dedicated text chat within the voice channel. This feature allows users to chat without having to switch to a different text channel while in a voice channel, missing the stream you’re actively watching, or potentially distracting you from the live conversation happening in the voice channel.

Desktop/Browser

There are 2 ways to access the text chat in a voice channel, let’s go over both for desktop and browser.

Option 1

1. Select on the Open Chat bubble to the right of the voice channel name.

2. This will automatically pull up the text chat for this voice channel on the right side.

Option 2

1. Press the voice channel to fully open it.

2. Next, tap on the Open Chat bubble in the top right corner and this will open the text chat.

Mobile

1. While in a voice channel, tap on the screen so the bottom menu appears.

2. Once the bottom menu is active, tap on the Open Chat bubble to access the text chat.

3. Now you can type anything into the text chat for the voice channel!

Message Previews And Notifications

If you are in a voice channel, but the text chat within that voice channel is closed, you can see message previews in the upper right-hand corner of the voice channel. Message previews will show new messages as they are sent and will disappear after some time or if other messages appear (three messages at the most and truncated after a certain number of characters).

Message previews keep you in the loop of the active message conversation happening in the voice channel without needing to open the chat itself. However, if you want to turn these previews off for whatever reason simply press the three dots icon above and uncheck Show New Message Previews.

As for other indicators of new messages while in the voice channel - unread mentions will have a red number indicator, while unread messages will simply be indicated with a gray number indicator. Mentions within a text chat will also appear in your inbox, which can be accessed in the upper right corner of the client.

 

Left: mention notification, Right: unread notification

Channel permissions for Text Chat in Voice Channels

If a user or role does not have the correct permissions for a text chat or if the text chat permissions for a voice channel are disabled, then impacted users will be unable to write or read previous messages in the text chat.

Like many of the features on Discord, there are permissions that can be customized and managed by the server owner or a moderator to dictate how various roles or a particular voice channel can utilize the new embedded chat in voice channel feature.

Here's where to find the permissions for text chat in voice channels below.

Desktop/Browser

1. After navigating to the server you want to update the permissions for, tap on the cogwheel [] next to the voice channel you want to edit the permissions for.

2. Next, tap on Permissions.

3. Now you can go through each setting and determine what you want to enable or disable. In order for a member of the server to be able to chat in the text chat in a voice channel they at least need the Send Messages and Read Message History enabled.

4. Once you're finished managing the settings, tap on Save Changes.

Mobile

1. After navigating to the server you want to update the permissions for, tap and hold on the voice channel you want to edit and then scroll down to Edit Channel.

2. Next tap on Channel Permissions and then select a role or you can add a new role or member and edit those permissions instead.

3. Now you can go through each setting and determine what you want to enable or disable. In order for a member of the server to be able to chat in the text chat in a voice channel they at least need the Send Messages and Read Message History enabled.

4. You do not need to save your settings, as these will save automatically. You can either swipe out of this menu or tap the back button to leave the permission settings.

There is so much you can do through text communication on Discord! You can learn more about how to use text in the Text Chat section of Help Center. Here are some of the articles you'll find there:

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