Discord Help: Servers, Calls, Settings and Fixes

Discord help usually comes down to knowing who has which permission and where a setting lives on desktop versus mobile. Discord's own pages say deleting another member's message needs the Manage Messages permission and removes it for good, so report harmful messages before you delete them. My guides below are grouped by servers, calls and your account.

Discord makes perfect sense once you've been in a few servers, and very little sense before that. Most of the questions I see are about permissions, missing buttons or a call that won't connect. So here's what Discord's own help pages say about the bits that confuse people most, followed by every Discord guide I've written, sorted by what you're trying to do.

How Discord servers, channels and IDs fit together

A server is a community with its own channels, roles and rules. Channels sit inside it, and roles decide who can do what. Behind the scenes, Discord gives users, individual messages and servers their own long ID number. According to Discord's support pages, you can use Discord without ever knowing them, but support may ask for one if you report a problem.

To see IDs, you switch on Developer Mode. On desktop, click the cogwheel in the bottom-left corner to open User Settings, go to Advanced and toggle Developer Mode on. On mobile, tap your avatar in the bottom-right corner, tap the cogwheel in the top-right corner and find Developer Mode under App Settings, then Advanced. After that, right-click a user on desktop and choose Copy User ID, or tap the user on mobile, then the ellipsis, then Copy User ID.

Why bother? Discord points out that people can change their usernames and display names, so a name alone isn't a reliable way to identify someone. The user ID is the identifier it prefers, which matters if you're ever reporting someone who keeps changing names.

Discord moderation: deleting, reporting and two-factor rules

Deleting your own message is simple. On desktop, right-click the message, or hover over it and click the three dots, then choose Delete Message. On mobile, press and hold the message and choose Delete Message. Deleting someone else's message is different, because it needs the Manage Messages permission, and Discord says it removes the message from Discord permanently.

This is the detail I'd want every moderator to know. Discord's permissions guide says that if a message breaks its community guidelines or terms of service, you should report it, because messages deleted without the report option turned on are unrecoverable, even by Discord, and can't be used to show someone broke the rules. Delete first and the evidence is gone.

Discord also lets servers require two-factor authentication (2FA) for moderators. On those servers, sensitive permissions such as Manage Messages are switched off for any moderator who hasn't set up 2FA, so if a moderator suddenly can't delete messages, that's the first thing to check.

Discord announcement channels and the limits on publishing

Announcement channels are special text channels with a Follow button, so members can get your updates in their own servers. Discord says they're only available to servers with Community enabled, which is why the option is missing for lots of people. Here's how Discord's help centre says to set one up:

Make sure Community is enabled for the server.
Hover over the channel category, hit the plus icon and select Announcement as the channel type.
Enter a channel name and press Create Channel. To convert an existing channel instead, open Edit Channel, toggle on Announcement Channel and press Save Changes.
Post your message, then press Publish to share it with every server that follows the channel.
Don't rely on @everyone or @here. Discord says those mentions aren't pushed through to following servers.
Plan around the limit. Discord sets a rate limit of 10 publishes per hour and shows an error message if you go over.

Using Discord voice on Xbox and other platforms

Calls work much the same across desktop and mobile, but consoles have their own rules. Discord says each Discord account supports one linked Xbox account at a time, so to link a different one you remove the current connection first. You link it from User Settings, Connections, Xbox, then sign in with your Microsoft account.

To move a call over, join a voice channel on your phone, swipe up, select Join on Xbox and choose your console, and your mute and deafen settings come with you. On desktop, choose Transfer Voice to Xbox and scan the QR code with your phone. One catch: you can't stay in an Xbox Party Chat while using Discord voice on Xbox.

Discord guides, grouped by servers, calls and your account

Start with the group that matches your problem. Each guide gives Discord's own steps for desktop and mobile where they differ.

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Servers, roles and bots

For anyone running or joining a community: announcement channels, custom emoji, bots, roles and permissions, and how to join, leave or hand over a server.

Calls, voice and screen sharing

Voice and video help, from calling on your phone to sharing your screen with Go Live and playing sounds from the soundboard.

Account, friends and messages

The everyday side of Discord: names, profile pictures, friends, blocking, muting, reporting, deleting messages, finding your ID and fixing connection errors.

Where I'd start when Discord isn't doing what you expect

If a button's missing, check permissions first, because roles decide almost everything on Discord, and on some servers 2FA does too. If someone's causing trouble, report before you delete, as Discord says unreported deleted messages can't be recovered. And if a call keeps failing, the connection fixes in the account group are the place to begin. Most Discord problems I hear about are one of those three.

Frequently asked questions

Why can't I delete someone else's message on Discord?

Discord says deleting another member's message needs the Manage Messages permission. On servers that require 2FA for moderators, that permission is switched off for moderators who haven't set up two-factor authentication.

Should I delete or report a harmful Discord message?

Report it first. Discord says messages deleted without the report option turned on are unrecoverable, even by Discord, and can't be used to show someone broke its rules.

How do I find my Discord ID?

Turn on Developer Mode under Advanced in User Settings, then right-click your name on desktop, or tap it and the ellipsis on mobile, and choose Copy User ID.

Why can't I make an announcement channel on Discord?

Discord says announcement channels are only available to servers with Community enabled. Once that's switched on, choose Announcement as the channel type when you create a channel.

Can I link more than one Xbox to Discord?

Not at the same time. Discord says each account supports one linked Xbox account at a time, so remove the current connection before linking another.

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