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How to make a welcome channel on Discord

Make the channel, stop people typing in it, and choose what greets new members: Discord's built-in one-liners, or your own message with their name and a welcome card.

5 minute readUpdated 10 November 2026
About 5 minuteschannel and greeting
Read onlyone permission to change
FreeWelcomer and cards included

A welcome channel is where new members land and where they get greeted. Making the channel takes a minute. Discord can then post a short greeting there by itself, or a bot can post your own message with the member's name and a welcome card.

1Make the channel

  1. In your server, press the + next to a category name, like Text Channels.
  2. Pick Text, name it welcome (Discord adds the dash and lower case for you), and press Create Channel.
  3. Drag it to the top of the channel list so new members see it first.

You need the Manage Channels permission, which server owners and admins have.

2Stop people typing in it

A welcome channel stays easy to read when only the greetings go in it.

  1. Hover the channel and press the cog to open Edit Channel.
  2. Open Permissions and pick @everyone.
  3. Turn Send Messages off (the red cross) and save. Leave View Channel on.

Let your bot post. If a bot will post here, give its role Send Messages in this channel, or it hits the same block as everyone else.

3Turn on Discord's own welcome messages

  1. Open Server Settings and go to Engagement.
  2. Set System Messages Channel to your welcome channel.
  3. Switch on Send a random welcome message when someone joins this server.

What Discord sends

A one-line greeting picked at random, like "Tom just showed up!", and a Wave button members can press to say hi with a sticker. You can't change the words, add your rules, or send a picture.

4Write your own welcome message with a bot

BotGhost's free Welcomer posts your own message in the welcome channel when someone joins. Make a bot first if you don't have one: the no-code bot guide takes about five minutes. Then open the Welcomer from your bot's dashboard.

Switch on the Welcomer

Press Enable in the top right. The menu next to it picks all your servers or one of them.

  1. 1Enable the Welcomer
The Welcomer header, switched on.

Pick the channel and write the message

  1. Under Where should your message be sent?, pick your welcome channel.
  2. Under What should your message say?, write the greeting. {user} mentions the new member and {server} writes the server's name.
  3. Discord formatting works here too: bold, headings, and links. The Discord text formatter shows how it will look.
  1. 1Your welcome channel
  2. 2Your message
Pick the channel, then write the message.

Add a welcome card

Switch on Add a card for a picture with the member's avatar and name. Pick a template or design your own in Card Studio, and choose whether it goes in the message, in its own post, or by DM.

A welcome card, sent in the message.

Want to try designs first? The free welcome card maker works in your browser with no account.

Send yourself a test

Save your changes first: the test uses your saved settings. Then press Send me a test under the preview. The bot posts the message in your server as if you had just joined, so you see exactly what new members will see.

  1. 1Send me a test
The preview and the test button.

Using both? If your bot greets people, switch off Discord's random welcome message from step 3 so new members don't get two.

What to put in a welcome channel

  • A short line on what the server is for.
  • Where the rules are, and where to pick roles.
  • One channel to say hi in, so new members know where to start talking.
  • Nothing more. A long welcome gets skipped; link out to a rules or info channel instead.

Questions people ask

How do I make a welcome channel on Discord?

Press the + next to a category, pick Text, name it welcome, and press Create Channel. Then pick it as the System Messages Channel in Server Settings, or point a welcome bot at it.

How do I make a welcome channel read only?

Open Edit Channel, then Permissions, pick @everyone, and turn Send Messages off. Members can still read it, and the bot can still post if its role can send messages there.

Can I write my own welcome message without a bot?

No. Discord only sends its own random welcome lines. To write the message yourself, mention the member, or add a picture, you need a bot.

How do I welcome someone by name?

Use a variable in your bot's message. In BotGhost's Welcomer, {user} mentions the member who joined and {server} writes your server's name.

Is a welcome bot free?

BotGhost's Welcomer is free, including the welcome card. You make your own bot in a few minutes and it runs on BotGhost's servers.

Where to go next

The free WelcomerWelcome messages, cards, roles for new members, and goodbyes.Make your botSet up your own bot without code, then switch on the Welcomer.Welcome card makerDesign a welcome image in your browser and download it.

Make your own Discord bot

It's free to start, and you won't write any code.

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