Partly. Since March 2026 every Discord voice and video call outside stage channels is end-to-end encrypted by default, and Discord says it never holds the keys. Text is different: Discord's own pages say messages are not end-to-end encrypted, that it stores them, and that it has no current plans to change this, because moderation depends on reading them. DMs are private from other users, not from Discord. To send a message Discord cannot read, encrypt it on your phone in HushHush first and paste the ciphertext.
What Discord can and cannot see
Discord gives two different answers. For calls, the answer is good. In September 2024 it introduced DAVE, its audio and video end-to-end encryption. Its May 2026 post says that "as of March 2026, every voice and video call on Discord, whether in DMs, group DMs, voice channels, or Go Live streams, is end-to-end encrypted by default", with "no opt-in required". "Stage channels are the one exception", because they broadcast to large audiences.
For text, the answer is the opposite, and Discord does not soften it. The same post says: "We have no current plans to extend E2EE to text messages. Many of the features people use on Discord were built on the assumption that text isn't end-to-end encrypted". Its safety page puts it in four words, "messages on Discord are unencrypted", and explains why: "Messages will still be subject to our content moderation approach". In plain terms, Discord holds your messages and DMs in a form it can read, by design.
The privacy policy, effective 29 September 2025, says: "We collect and store the messages you send and display them as you direct." Discord uses content "to monitor for and take action against users and content that violate our Terms of Service, Community Guidelines, and other policies", including "responding to user reports". The Terms add that Discord "may disclose your content to third parties outside of the services when we believe we're required to do so by law". Deleting is not the end either: you can delete any message you sent, but "content may be retained by Discord for use as described elsewhere in this policy", and in some cases Discord has "a legal obligation to retain certain information".
Who sees what, then? A server's moderators see what is posted in that server. A DM is seen by the people in it, and by Discord. The connection between your app and Discord protects against someone on your wi-fi, not against the service at the other end.
| What | Discord today | With HushHush |
|---|---|---|
| The words you type, in servers and DMs | Visible to Discord | Ciphertext only |
| Who you message, and when | Yes | Still yes |
| Voice and video calls | End-to-end encrypted Since March 2026, stage channels excepted | Not covered HushHush protects text, not calls |
| Read for moderation, reports and legal requests | Yes | Partly The request still gets a copy, of ciphertext |
| Kept after you delete a message | Partly "May be retained" for policy or legal reasons | Still kept, as ciphertext |
Why this matters to ordinary people
Discord is where friends, students, hobby communities and small teams live, and a DM there feels as private as a text message. It is private from other users. It is not private from Discord, and Discord says so. A message about a relationship, a diagnosis, a visa, a job you are leaving or a problem with a moderator can be read if someone reports it, handed over if the law requires it, and may still exist after you delete it. None of that is a scandal; it is a published design choice, made so that a platform full of teenagers and strangers can be moderated. It just means Discord is a shared space, not a locked room.
Small teams that work on Discord are in the same position as teams on Slack or Teams: the server owner cannot export your DMs, but Discord can read them.
How HushHush helps
HushHush encrypts the text on your phone before it goes into Discord. Discord carries only ciphertext: a block of characters it can store, scan, hand over and retain, but cannot read. The other person copies it out of Discord and decrypts it in their HushHush. Both people need the app and pair once, in person, by scanning each other's QR code. No account, no phone number, no sign-up, no server of ours. The keys live on the two phones and nowhere else, so a report or a legal request to Discord yields ciphertext, and a request to us yields nothing, because we hold nothing.
Pair once, in person
Open HushHush, add a contact, and scan the QR code on the other phone. No account, no phone number, no server.
Type it in HushHush
Write the message and tap send. It is encrypted on your phone and copied as ciphertext.
Paste it into Discord
Discord carries the ciphertext. Your contact copies it and taps Paste in HushHush to read it. Automatic sending and decrypting exists for Telegram, Matrix and email; in Discord it is copy and paste.
What HushHush does not do. It does not hide who you talk to, when, or how often: Discord still sees that you messaged that person at that time, how long it was, and the ciphertext itself, and a legal request still gets all of that. Both people need HushHush, so it does not help in a channel everyone reads, or with a friend who has not paired. It protects the text you type, not Discord's calls, which Discord already encrypts end to end. And it is not a way around moderation: a message that breaks Discord's rules still breaks them.
Frequently asked questions
Are Discord DMs end-to-end encrypted?
Can Discord read my messages?
Are Discord voice and video calls encrypted?
Does deleting a Discord message delete it for good?
Encrypt it before Discord sees it.
HushHush is on the App Store and Google Play. Pair in person, then send in any app.
Related
Sources
- Every Voice and Video Call on Discord Is Now End-to-End Encrypted, Discord, 18 May 2026, accessed 7 October 2026.
- Making your hangouts on Discord more private and secure, Discord Safety Center, accessed 7 October 2026.
- Discord Privacy Policy, effective 29 September 2025, accessed 7 October 2026.
- Discord Terms of Service, effective 29 September 2025, accessed 7 October 2026.
- Meet DAVE: Discord's New End-to-End Encryption for Audio & Video, Discord, 17 September 2024, accessed 7 October 2026.
- Discord DAVE Protocol Whitepaper, Discord, accessed 7 October 2026.