How to Make a Slack Channel Private, and Why It Can Fail for Members

To make an existing Slack channel private, open the channel, click the channel name at the top, select the Settings tab, click Change to a private channel, and confirm with Change to Private. Slack keeps the channel's name, members and history. The catch is permission. On 2 November 2026 we tried it on our own free-plan workspace as a regular member who had just created the channel. Slack showed the option and the confirmation, then refused with "Something went wrong". Below are the steps, the error we got, what it means, and the two channels that can never go private.

Steps on desktop or in a browser

• Open the public channel.
• Click the channel name in the header (or right-click the channel in the sidebar and choose View channel details).
• Select the Settings tab.
• Scroll to the bottom and click Change to a private channel.
• Read the confirmation and click Change to Private.

This is the Settings tab we saw as a regular member, on a channel we had created a minute earlier. The option sits at the bottom, under the channel name, huddle and tab settings:



The confirmation tells you two things before you commit. The channel's history and members do not change. And every file already shared in the channel stays "publicly accessible to everyone" in the workspace, because the files keep their public share. Through the API, our test file still reported is_public: true with a public share after the attempt. If a file must stop being visible, delete it or share it again inside the private channel after the switch.

The error a member gets: "Something went wrong"

When we clicked Change to Private as a member, the dialog stayed open with a red box: "Something went wrong. Sorry about that - please try again later, and contact Slack if this problem persists."



Trying again does not help, because it is not a temporary fault. We recorded the request the web app sent, conversations.convertToPrivate, and Slack answered {"ok":false,"error":"restricted_action"}. The channel stayed public: conversations.info gave is_private: false before and after, with the same channel ID.

So if you see "Something went wrong" on this dialog, check your role before anything else. Slack's help center says workspace owners and admins can make a channel private by default, and owners can widen or narrow that. Creating the channel did not give our member the right on the free plan. Ask an owner or admin to do it, or to change who may. Our Slack workspace Owner vs Admin page lists who holds which rights.

Channels you cannot make private

The workspace's default channel (often called #general, or #all- on new workspaces) has no conversion option at all. In our #all-slack channel, the Settings tab listed posting permissions, huddles, tab permissions and member suggestions, and nothing else:

Slack Connect channels shared with another company follow that company's rules as well, so check with both sides before you change one.

What changes after the switch

When an owner or admin converts the channel:

Going the other way is more restricted. Only owners can make a private channel public by default, and our make a private Slack channel public test as an owner shows each screen and the notice Slack posts.

If you only want a quieter channel rather than a hidden one, muting it or archiving it may fit better.

FAQ

Can I make a Slack channel private on the free plan?

Yes, the option exists on every plan. Who can use it is the limit: on our free workspace a regular member got restricted_action.

Will members be notified when a channel goes private?

Slack posts a notice in the channel itself. Members are not removed, so they keep reading it as before.