When I delete my messages from a discord server, can the mods still see them? What about admins? Just trying to figure out what who can still see my deleted messages once they are removed.
That’s a good question about what happens when you hit that delete button on Discord. The straightforward answer is that no, by default, server mods and admins cant see the content of messages you delete. Once a message is gone, it’s gone from Discord’s official systems as far as users and mods are concerned. The server’s built-in Audit Log will only show that a message was deleted, and who did it, but it won’t show the actual text.
HOWEVER, a lot of Discord servers, especially larger ones, use 3rd party mod bots (like MEE6, Dyno, or Arcane) which changes things. These bots are set up to “log” each message in a private channel as soon as it’s sent. So even if you delete your message a second later, the bot has already saved a copy of the content for the moderators to review. So Discord itself doesn’t keep it visible for them, the bot effectively acts as a logging system.
The answer boils down to basically if the server is using a logging bot, assume they can still see what you wrote. If it’s just a basic server with no bots, your deleted messages are likely gone for good.
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The only people who can see deleted discord messages are Discord admins. Unless they have a server log bot like trigger control said. One of the most popular logging bots is called Better Discord, another one is called Dyno Bot. A lot of the big Discord servers use one of these bots, and the ones who use them can indeed read your deleted messages.
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I was a mod in our DnD discord server and all the mods could see. We used a recording bot though, I don’t think it can be done without a bot.
Server admins can see and so can Discord employees. I don’t think mods can see, I don’t think admins even have the ability to grants mods that ability but not 100% sure about that.
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How do you know Discord staff can see it? I mean for sure some of the higher ups, but I’m sure there are tight privacy controls at Discord offices, don’t you think?
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I honestly hadn’t thought about the third-party bots logging everything, but that makes total sense. I guess the safest bet is just to assume that if I’m in a big server, someone probably has a record of what I wrote even if I delete it.
Appreciate the help!
I’ve heard some of those 3rd party apps are actually against Discord TOS
I know Better Discord is not against TOS, I was a mod in a massive Discord group and our admins had several interactions with Discord staff relating to the Better Discord bot. They knew we were recording all activity and it was never brough up as an issue once. And yeah, they could see all of the deleted messages, images, everything.
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God I hope not, I’ve shared some doozies in PM