Do you keep seeing DM conversations from years ago, with people you no longer need or want to be in touch with? Has someone sent something inappropriate or not relevant to a group server, that you wish removed? Is your Discord account simply clogged up with old messages and in dire need of a facelift? Whatever your reason, just follow the steps laid out below in order to learn how to delete Discord messages. For any additional queries, see the FAQs at the bottom of the page.
Table of Contents
How to delete Discord Direct Messages on the desktop app
Technically, there is no way to permanently delete entire Discord Direct Message threads. The platform simply doesn’t allow its users to do so. Fear not, however, for the next best thing does essentially the same job – here’s how to hide DM conversations from your personal feed.
- Open up the Discord app on your PC, and if prompted, sign in.
- In the left-hand sidebar, click on the ‘Home’ icon top-left, and then under ‘Direct Messages’, locate the DM conversation from the list which you wish to ‘delete’
- Now, in order to hide the conversation from this sidebar, all you need to do is hover your mouse over the name of the user, and click the ‘X’ to the right of their name. This will hide this DM from your feed, until either you choose to engage with it again, or the other user messages you (at which point it will appear in your feed again).
You can also delete messages you’ve sent accidentally in a DM.
- To do so, click on the DM conversation you need to alter.
- Next, locate the message you wish to delete (Note: this must be one of yours. You cannot delete the other user’s messages)
- Hover over it, and click the three horizontal grey dots. From the pop-up menu, select ‘Delete Message’
- Confirm your deletion by clicking ‘Delete’ in the next window
- You have successfully deleted a DM message
How to delete Discord Direct Messages on the mobile app
Here’s how to hide a DM thread on the mobile app
- Open up the Discord app on your mobile, and if prompted, sign in
- Tap the Messages icon in the bottom-left of your screen
- Tap the Direct Messages icon in the top-left
- Select the DM thread you wish to hide by tapping on it
- Next, tap the icon in the top right which looks like two people/avatars
- Tap the three vertical grey dots
- Tap ‘Close DM’
- This will hide this DM from your feed, until either you choose to engage with it again, or the other user messages you (at which point it will appear in your feed again).
You can also delete messages you’ve accidentally sent in a DM
- Tap on the DM conversation you need to alter
- Locate the message you wish to delete (Note: this must be one of yours. You cannot delete the other user’s messages)
- Tap and hold the message, and from the pop-up menu, select ‘Delete’ (Note: you can also choose to ‘Edit’ the message, if you prefer)
- You have successfully deleted a DM message
How to Delete Discord Messages in a group server
You can also delete individual messages from a group server, but note: you can either only delete your own messages, or only delete messages from others if you are the server host, or have been given these specific privileges by the server host.
- Open up the Discord app on your desktop PC or mobile app, and if prompted, sign in
- Open your chosen channel/server, and locate the message(s) you wish to delete
- On a PC, hover your mouse over the chosen message, and click the three grey dots to the right. On a mobile, tap and hold the message.
- From the pop-up menu, select ‘Delete Message’ (or ‘Delete’)
- When prompted to confirm your deletion, tap or click ‘Delete’ once more
- You have successfully deleted one of your own, or one of your community’s unwanted messages. It will disappear from the server channel for everyone, and cannot be recovered, so remember to make sure before following the above steps.
And there you have it! Whether you want to hide DM threads, delete individual messages from a DM thread, or delete messages in a Discord server/channel, you can do so, on both desktop and mobile app, just by following the above steps! For further information, see the FAQs below.
Frequently asked questions
What is Discord?
Discord is one of today’s most popular chat-room and community-based instant messaging platforms, allowing its users to take part in, create, and manage any number of unique servers, which act as online communities. The app – available for both desktop and mobile – is popular for different reasons among different groups. Teachers may create a Discord server so that their students can work through homework online together. Gamers might enter into a Discord server discussing various elements of their new favourite game – a fan club, if you will. Or content creators, like storytelling podcast Stories from the Hearth, for example, might create their own servers so that supporters of their work, on Patreon perhaps, can have a safe and secure place to chat with the host/creator, and discuss the content among fellow fans. Discord allows for text-based chat, as well as audio, video, and image messaging.
Why would I want to delete Discord messages?
There are any number of reasons why you might want to delete Discord messages. You may be the host or moderator of a particular server, and deem a message inappropriate or offensive, and thus feel the need to remove it from the chat. Perhaps you’ve been a Discord user for many years, and have a huge backlog of messages which are no longer relevant to you. Or, you may no longer talk to some of the people in your DM (direct messages) feed, and wish to clean it up to show only those you are in active communication with.
Can I restore messages I have accidentally deleted?
Simply put, no. Be careful when deleting messages in Discord, because there is no backup, undo, or restore option, so when you delete a message, it’s permanent.
Can I bulk delete unwanted messages?
Unfortunately not. Or at least, not on your own. When Discord was first established, there was a quick and easy way to delete as many messages from either your server, or from your DMs. However, in time Discord realised that this was directly affecting their database. As such, the company has established a host of rules and regulations regarding what you can and can’t alter or interact with. One such change was disabling users’ ability to bulk delete messages. You can still do so, by turning to a bot, and giving access to it via an outside service provider, but we recommend sticking to the manual tutorials above, so as to ensure your privacy and security.
