Channels on Discord are essentially small chats that are created within servers. Each channel can either be a text channel, or a voice channel. Text channels are chats that allow text-messaging and media-sharing. Voice channels, on the other hand, only allow voice-calls, streaming, and video calls.
Creating different channels can help organise conversation within a server. For instance, you can create channels for different conversation topics. You can also lock channels to make them only accessible to members with admin privileges.
How to lock a channel on Discord
Locking a channel means preventing non-admin users from sending things in the channel. Non-admin users will still be able to see the channel. It’s something only an admin can do (you can tell if you’re the admin by looking for the crown icon next to your username).
Locking a channel basically means making it a read-only channel for non-admins. This is a useful method for channels that contain important information that you want other users in the Discord server to read.
To prevent the information from being pushed away by new content, you can lock the channel and ensure that the information is always visible. Locked channels still prevent users from sending messages.
You can lock a channel on Discord on both Desktop and Mobile. You can lock both voice channels and text channels.
For Desktop
We’ll first discuss how you can lock a Discord channel on Desktop. Locking a text channel and locking a voice channel differ slightly in method, though you can still lock both.
We’ll start by going through how you can lock a text channel.
Locking a text channel
Launch the Discord app and click on the channel you wish to lock. The list of channels should be visible on the left side tab.
Once you’ve selected the right channel, right-click on it and select the ‘edit channel’ option. This should take you to the channel settings. Navigate to the ‘permissions’ tab.

Click on the ‘advanced permissions’ option to expand the settings. Then, make sure that the @everyone option has been selected. The option should be beneath the section for ‘roles/members’.
In the advanced permissions, there should be a list of permissions. Each permission should have three symbols next to it – an ‘x’, a slash, and a tick. Clicking the ‘x’ disables the permission, and clicking the tick enables the permission.
The slash is neutral. By default, all the permissions are set to the slash symbol. In the advanced permissions, enable the ‘view channel’ permission, enable the ‘read message history’ permission, and disable the ‘send messages’ permission.
Now, you can select another role from the ‘roles/members’ section, and enable the ‘send messages’ for them. This will allow members that have that role to send things in the channel. This means that the channel will not be locked for them.
Locking a voice channel
We’ll now discuss how you can lock a voice channel on Discord. Open the Discord app and select the voice channel you wish to lock.
Then, right-click on it and select ‘edit channel’. You should now be in the channel settings. Click on the ‘permissions’ tab in the top right, and click on ‘advanced permissions’ to expand the settings.

There should be a ‘roles/members’ section beneath the ‘advanced permissions’ option. Make sure that the @everyone option has been selected.
Then, scroll through the permissions until you find the ‘connect’ permission. It should be underneath the section for ‘voice channel permissions’. Disable the ‘connect’ permission by clicking on the ‘x’ next to it. The voice channel should now be locked to everyone.
You can also choose to make the channel unlocked to certain members. Underneath the ‘roles/members’ section, click on a different role. Then, enable the ‘connect’ permission for them. The channel will now be unlocked for people in that role.
For Mobile
We’ll now cover how you can lock a Discord channel on Mobile.
Locking a text channel
Open the Discord app, and press the three lines to open the side tab. On the side tab, there should be a list of channels.
Look beneath the ‘text channels’ heading, and long-press the text channel you wish to lock. A set of options should then appear. Press on the ‘edit channel’ option to access the channel settings.

Locate the ‘user management’ section. Underneath the section, there should be the ‘permissions’ option. Select it, and press ‘add a role’.
You should now see a list of roles in the server. Select the @everyone option. You should now be able to access the channel permissions.

Enable the ‘view channel’ and ‘read message history’ permissions, and disable the ‘send messages’ permission. The text channel should now be locked.
Locking a voice channel
Open the Discord app, and press the three lines to access the side tab. Locate the voice channel you wish to lock, and long-press on it. You should then be taken to the channel settings.
Scroll until you see the option for ‘permissions’, and select it. It should be located underneath the ‘user management’ section.

Next, press ‘add a role’ and select the @everyone option. You can now access the channel permissions.

Scroll down until you see the ‘connect’ permission, and enable it by pressing the green tick. The voice channel should now be locked. That means no other users will be able to send new messages into that particular channel.
Conclusion
In conclusion, you can lock a Discord channel by enabling or disabling certain channel permissions. You can lock both text channels and voice channels. Locking a channel will make it viewable to everyone, but non-admin users will be unable to send things in the channel.
This can be extra useful if you want to keep posting privileges to just a few, which can be a great way to share information like updates or to post code in Discord without getting a barrage of responses in return.