How To Delete Messages In Discord

You can delete messages in Discord by opening the three-dot menu on any message you sent and choosing “Delete Message.” This works for individual messages on desktop and mobile, and you can also select multiple messages at once to bulk-delete your own content. Note that you cannot delete messages sent by other users, and there is no built-in way to erase an entire direct message history on both sides.

Delete your own messages on desktop

Deleting your own message on the Discord desktop app takes a few clicks. This is the standard method for correcting a typo or removing a message you no longer want visible in a channel or direct message.

1. Hover your mouse over the message you want to delete.
2. Click the three-dot menu icon that appears to the right of the message.
3. Select “Delete Message” from the dropdown menu.
4. Confirm the deletion by clicking “Delete” in the pop-up window.

Tip: You can quickly delete a message by holding the Shift key while clicking “Delete Message” to bypass the confirmation prompt. This saves a step when you are cleaning up multiple messages.

Delete your own messages on mobile

On the Discord mobile app, the process uses a touch-screen interface instead of a mouse. The steps are slightly different but just as straightforward.

1. Open the Discord app and navigate to the channel or direct message containing the message.
2. Tap and hold the message you want to delete.
3. Tap the trash can icon or the “Delete” option from the menu that appears.
4. Confirm the deletion when prompted.

Be careful with the touch screen: it is easy to accidentally tap and delete a message while scrolling through an active conversation. Double-check that you are holding the correct message before confirming.

Bulk delete multiple messages

If you need to remove several of your own messages at once, Discord offers a shift-select method that works in both channels and direct messages. This is useful for clearing out a long string of your own posts without deleting them one by one.

1. Click the first message you want to delete.
2. Hold the Shift key on your keyboard.
3. Click the last message in the range you want to delete. All messages between the first and last will be selected.
4. Right-click the selection and choose “Delete Messages.”
5. Confirm the deletion.

This bulk deletion method only removes messages you sent yourself, and it is limited to messages from the past 14 days. Older messages cannot be deleted this way, even if you have moderation permissions.

What happens after you delete a message

Once you delete a message, it is no longer visible to other users in the channel or direct message. Discord also removes the content from its systems, but there are exceptions: the platform may retain content longer if there is a legal obligation to preserve it. Public posts can be kept for 180 days to two years for use by Discord, such as helping train models that proactively detect policy-violating content.

Deleting your Discord account does not delete your messages. The content you shared with other users will continue to be retained and displayed, but it will no longer be tied to your account. There is no official, built-in way to clear an entire Direct Message history with another user on both sides with a single action.

You can only delete messages that you have sent yourself. You cannot delete a direct message that someone else has sent you, and you cannot remove messages posted by other users in a channel unless you have special moderation permissions, and even then, the 14-day limit applies unless you use a bot or other tool.