Howdy. Librarian Husky here. A Direct Message, or DM, is a private message sent directly between two people. It doesn’t go through a server and can only be seen by the sender and recipient. These messages appear in a special channel just for them.

Starting Direct Message In Discord

There are a few ways to send a DM. The fastest way is to click on the recipient’s profile picture or username. This opens a menu where you can type your message. Hit enter to send it.

Another way is to right-click the person’s name. From the menu, select Message to open the DM channel.

If the person is on your friend’s list, you can access the DM channel there too. Click the Discord logo in the top-left corner, then choose Friends.

Look for the person on your list. You might need to switch from Online to All at the top. When you find them, click the speech bubble icon to open the DM channel.

If you already have a DM channel with them, it will show under Direct Messages on the left sidebar. Click their name there to continue the conversation.

Unable To Send DM In Discord

Sometimes, you might see an error when trying to send a Direct Message (DM).

First, check if you and the recipient are on the same server. To do this, scroll to the top of the channel. If you share a server, it will show a header with 1 mutual server at the bottom-left.

If you don’t share a server, you’ll see a different message. In that case, you can send them a friend request by clicking the button. However, you won’t be able to DM them unless they accept your request.

Disable/Enable DM In Discord

If you do share a server but still can’t DM them, they might have blocked you. If they block you, you won’t be able to message them.

Another reason could be that they turned off DMs from server members. To fix this, you can add them as a friend or ask them to enable DMs from server members again.

Disabling or Enabling Direct Messages from Server Members

You can turn off DMs from server members if you don’t want to receive them. Right-click on the server in your server list. A menu will pop up.

From the menu, choose Privacy Settings. On the next screen, click the green checkmark to disable DMs. It will turn into an X. If you change your mind, click the X again to enable DMs.

Receive A Discord DM

When someone sends you a DM, you’ll get a notification, just like when you’re mentioned (@YourName). The DM will show as an icon at the top of your server list. A badge on the icon will display the number of unread messages.

Click the DM icon to open the message and clear the notification. To stop more notifications for that DM, right-click it and choose Mute. This prevents new alerts, but unread notifications will stay until you read or mark them as read.

Group DM In Discord

You can create a group DM in three ways. A group DM lets several people send direct messages in one conversation. Everyone in the group must be on your friends list, but they don’t need to be friends with each other.

One way is to open Discord’s home screen. Click the Discord logo in the top-left corner. Then, find the New Group DM button in the top-right corner.

Another way is to use the + button next to Direct Messages on the left sidebar. Click it to open the same menu.

From this menu, you can scroll through your friends list. Select people by checking the boxes next to their names. If you want to find someone quickly, type their name in the search box at the top.

When you’re done, hit the big blue Create Group DM button. This will create your group DM.

If you already have a DM and want to turn it into a group DM, you can add friends to it. Use the icon in the top-right corner of the chat. It opens the same menu as before.