Direct Messaging on Discord: How to Contact Someone Not on Your Friend List

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Written by: Alex Popa

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Direct Messaging on Discord: How to Contact Someone Not on Your Friend List

Are you new to Discord and wondering if you can message anyone without befriending them first?

Well, here’s the thing:

  • You can only message people that you’re on a server with
  • If someone is not your friend and not on a common server, you can’t message them

There’s a catch, though. You’ll have to enable “Allow direct messages from direct members” before you’re able to message people from a server you’re on.

I’ll explain everything below, so keep reading!

Enable “Allow direct messages from direct members

First things first – enabling the option I mentioned above. You’ll find it in the Discord settings, on the “Privacy & Safety” page.

Better yet, follow the steps below to do this:

1. Click the Gear icon

Discord window showing the Gear icon highlighted in the bottom-left corner
Discord window showing the Gear icon highlighted in the bottom-left corner

Begin by opening Discord, logging in (if necessary), and selecting the Gear icon located in the bottom-left corner.

Check the screenshot above to find it faster!

2. Go to “Privacy & Safety

Discord settings page where the "Privacy & Safety" option is highlighted in red
Discord settings page where the “Privacy & Safety” option is highlighted in red

Now that you’re on the settings page (check the image above), look to the left, on the settings menu. Look for the “Privacy & Safety” option (second on the list) and select it.

3. Enable the “Allow direct messages from server members” and “Enable messages requests from server members you may not know” options

Discord settings page showing the "Allow direct messages from server members" and "Enable messages requests from server members you may not know" options highlighted
Discord settings page showing the “Allow direct messages from server members” and “Enable messages requests from server members you may not know” options highlighted

Once the “Privacy & Safety” menu is selected, look to the center of the page and locate the “Allow direct messages from server members” and “Enable messages requests from server members you may not know” options.

Enable them both (make them green like in the screenshot above).

Reminder – this does NOT apply to servers that you’re already on. So, you may need to leave the server and then join back in for these changes to kick in.

Don’t ask me why, it’s a moronic requirement if you ask me. But it is what it is…

DM Someone from the Members’ List

Now that you’ve enabled all the options that needed enabling, you can start messaging random people on your server 😀

First, you’ll need to right-click on a person’s name in the server list (see below).

Discord server member list showing a person highlighted in red
Discord server member list showing a person highlighted in red

As you can see in the picture above, the member list is on the right-hand side of the server. Find a person you want to DM and right-click on their name.

This will make a menu pop up…

Discord server member list showing the "Message" option inside the pop-up menu of a server member
Discord server member list showing the “Message” option inside the pop-up menu of a server member

See the “Message” option inside the menu? Yep, click it, and you’ll automatically open the private message window.

And that’s all there is to it. Now, you can DM anyone on Discord as long as you’re in the same group as them.

And now you may also want to check if someone has read your Discord DM. Follow the linked guide to learn how to.

Leave a comment below if you need help with anything else!

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Alex Popa

My name is Alex and I have a knack for social media in all its shapes and forms. I’ve dealt with such things for quite some time and I noticed that many people have issues with social media and technicalities.

Unforeseen errors, bugs, and other problems make their use of social media problematic. These things will be discussed amply in the guides on Whizcase.

I'll present the facts as they are, and offer quick and easy solutions for them.

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