How To View Hidden Channels In Discord

Last Updated: September 16, 2020

For the most part, Discord is an open and inclusive place to spend time. On larger or more focused servers, there are secret corners that not all members can access. These aren’t evil lairs where nefarious plots are hatched but role specific channels and muted channels. Role specific channel are the most popular type of hidden channel so let’s concentrate on those. This tutorial will show you how to create and how to view hidden channels in Discord.

Gaming

Role specific channels are exactly what the name implies. Channels reserved for specific roles within a server. Depending on the server, you can have an admin channel to talk about admin stuff. You can also set roles per game and divide channels up like that if you have a larger server population.

Muted channels are a user setting where you can remove those channels from the channel list. These would typically include channels on a server you don’t have the correct role to access or have no interest in accessing. Rather than filling up a channel list with those you would never use, you can hide them to keep only the relevant channels visible.

View hidden channels in Discord

The only hidden channels the average user has control over are those muted ones. If you have hidden muted channels and want to view them again, it’s a simple setting within Discord.

You can select the bell icon in the top of the center text window to mute or unmute a channel.

You can also change it at the server level of you have the correct permissions.

Do this in the desktop:

Select the server and access Notification Settings.
Scroll down to Notification Overrides.
Add the channel name you want to mute in the dropdown box.
Select Mute in the select box that appears and select Done.

Do this in a mobile:

Select the three dots icon.
Select Notifications.
Add a Channel or a Category.
In new a override section choose general.
Set a time to mute the channel.

You can add more than one channel at a time to this list and modify them as you see fit. You will need to select Done to save your changes otherwise they will be dropped when you leave the window. To view hidden channels, just repeat the above and deselect Mute from the channels you want to view again.

Role specific channel in Discord

A server owner can create any kind of role specific channel they like. You can keep it simple with admin and moderator channels or organize your population with game channels and use games as roles. This can be very effective for larger servers. For example, set up a WoW role, a CoD role, Eve Online role and so on. You can then create a channel and limit each to its exclusive role to better organize channels.

Let’s set up a role specific voice and chat channel. Set up the roles you want to add to your channel first and then add the channel.

Do this in the desktop:

Select the server name and Server Settings.
Select Roles and the little ‘+’ icon above it.
Create a role for each channel here with unique names and colors.
Select the server name and select Create Channel from the dropdown list.
Select # Text Channel.
Name the channel something related to the role.
Toggle Private Channel to on.
Select the Roles you want to be able to access that channel.
Select Create Channel once finished.
Repeat Steps 4-9 above but select # Voice Channel at Step 5.

Do this in a mobile:

Select the three dots icon and tap the gear icon to access settings.
Scroll down and select roles.
Set a unique role name and a role color. By clicking back it will automatically save changes.
Select the three dots icon and choose create channel.
Select # Text Channel and name the channel something related to the role.
Set the channel into private by toggling it to on.
Tap for “Who can access this channel” to select the Roles you want to be able to access that channel.
Select Create.

Selecting Private Channel limits access to that channel to specific roles. It makes sense to create roles and give the channel the same name as the role to make it easier for everyone. Once done, all you need to do is assign the roles to members or allow admins or users to add specific roles like in the example of game roles.

Finally, you may want to check the channel permissions to fine tune your new role specific channel. Muting the @here and @everyone mentions is usually a good idea for new channels until they settle down. Controlling who can do what within the channel takes a minute but could save a lot of headaches down the line.

Do this in the desktop:

Select the role specific channel you just created.
Select the gear icon to the right of it.
Select Permissions and edit those permissions as you see fit.

Do this in a mobile:

Long press the role-specific channel you just created and then choose the edit channel.
Scroll down and select Permissions.
In the Channel Permissions select the role you just created recently.
Edit those permissions as you see fit.

I would definitely suggest removing @here and @everyone mention permissions at the very least but it is entirely up to you how you set up your channel. You will need to repeat this process for every channel you want to create but it shouldn’t take too long. While there is a lot of depth to Discord, the actual setting up of servers and channels is very straightforward.

How do your servers handle hidden channels in Discord? Tell us about it below!