# Disable private channels and direct Messages

**URL:** <https://forum.mattermost.com/t/disable-private-channels-and-direct-messages/6642>\
**Category:** Troubleshooting\
**Created:** [February 6, 2019, 10:22am UTC](https://forum.mattermost.com/t/disable-private-channels-and-direct-messages/6642 "2019-02-06T10:22:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mohammedfazil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@mohammedfazil](https://forum.mattermost.com/u/mohammedfazil)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 10:22am UTC](https://forum.mattermost.com/t/disable-private-channels-and-direct-messages/6642/1 "2019-02-06T10:22:17Z")

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![Private%20Channel](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/mattermost/original/2X/8/8fa9b6abafb8794a994f24f331170adf96daa6f3.jpeg)

How to disable private and direct Messages from a team in mattermost?

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**Author:** ![amy.blais](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.mattermost.com/amy.blais/32/7481_2.png) [@amy.blais](https://forum.mattermost.com/u/amy.blais)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://forum.mattermost.com/t/disable-private-channels-and-direct-messages/6642/2 "2019-02-06T15:41:16Z")

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Hi @mohammedfazil,

If you are on Mattermost Server v4.9 or earlier, you can use these settings:

- [https://docs.mattermost.com/administration/config-settings.html#enable-public-channel-creation-for](https://docs.mattermost.com/administration/config-settings.html#enable-public-channel-creation-for)
- [https://docs.mattermost.com/administration/config-settings.html#enable-private-channel-creation-for](https://docs.mattermost.com/administration/config-settings.html#enable-private-channel-creation-for)

If you are on Server v5.0 or later, you’ll need to use Enterprise Edition feature called Advanced Permissions:

- [https://docs.mattermost.com/deployment/advanced-permissions.html](https://docs.mattermost.com/deployment/advanced-permissions.html)

These features restrict who is allowed to create private and direct message channels, but otherwise these types of channels cannot be completely disabled.