---
title: "Moderating a chat room"
description: "Group managers and room administrators can delete any member's message in the rooms they moderate, one at a time or in bulk. A notice replaces every deleted message."
category: communication
section: chat-essentials
type: Tutorial
lastUpdated: 2026-08-26
locale: en
canonical: https://support.talkspirit.com/en/communication/moderating-a-chat-room
---

# Moderating a chat room


Moderating a room means deleting messages that are inappropriate or were shared by mistake. In a group's room, the group managers hold this right; in a room created directly in Chat, the room administrator does. A moderator can delete any member's message, one at a time or in bulk, and a notice replaces each deleted message so every participant knows it was removed.

## Who can moderate a room?

Moderation rights depend on the type of conversation:

- **Group rooms**: the group managers can delete any message.
- **Rooms created in Chat**: the room administrator (by default, the person who created the room) can delete any message.
- **Direct conversations**: nobody holds moderation rights; each participant deletes only their own messages.

To add or remove participants, rename a room, or transfer the room administrator role, see [Managing a chat room](/en/communication/managing-a-chat-room).

## How do I delete a member's message?

1. Open the room.
2. Hover over the message you want to remove.
3. Click the **Other actions** icon (three dots) that appears next to the message.
4. Select **Delete message**.
5. Click **Delete** to confirm.

The message disappears for everyone, including its author, and the notice "This message has been deleted by a manager." takes its place in the conversation. When you delete one of your own messages, no confirmation is asked and the notice reads "This message has been deleted." instead.

## How do I delete messages in bulk?

You can clean up a whole room by deleting its messages by age:

1. Open the room.
2. Click the **Settings** icon in the panel to the right of the conversation.
3. Click **Delete messages**.
4. Under **Messages to remove**, keep **All messages** or select an age: **Older than one day**, **Older than one week**, **Older than one month**, **Older than 3 months**, or **Older than one year**.
5. Click **Confirm**.

> **Warning:** Deleted messages cannot be recovered. Nobody, including their authors, will be able to see them again.

![The Delete messages dialog, warning that deletion cannot be undone, with the Messages to remove selector defaulting to All messages and the Cancel and Confirm buttons](/images/communication/moderating-a-chat-room/01-delete-messages-dialog.png)

## What's Next?

- [Managing a chat room](/en/communication/managing-a-chat-room)
- [Seeing who read a chat message in a room](/en/communication/see-who-read-a-chat-message-in-a-room)
- [Setting up chat message editing](/en/administration-security/set-up-chat-message-editing)