---
title: "Breaking Change: Default Channels"
date: "2017-08-03"
breaking: true
---

After today, we are changing how default channels function. The "default" channel for a given user is now the channel with the highest position that their permissions allow them to see. New guilds will no longer have a default channel with the same id as the guild. Existing guilds will not have their #general channel id changed. It is possible, if permissions are set in such a way, that a user will not have a default channel in a guild.

We saw a use case in many servers where the previously-default #general channel was being repurposed as an announcement-only, non-writable channel for new members by using bots to clear the entire message history. Now, that channel can simply be deleted and re-created with the desired permissions. This change also allows dynamic default channels for users based on permissions.

We are also rolling out a change in conjunction that will allow Discord to remember your last-visited channel in a guild across sessions. Newly-joined users will be directed to the guild's default channel on first join; existing members will return to whichever channel they last visited.