# Add group owners to manage group membership

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-group-owners-to-manage-group-membership/36233
**Category:** Site Management
**Tags:** groups, how-to
**Created:** [December 2, 2015, 5:59am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-group-owners-to-manage-group-membership/36233 "2015-12-02T05:59:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Discourse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/discourse/32/148734_2.png) [@Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Discourse)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2015, 5:59am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-group-owners-to-manage-group-membership/36233/1 "2015-12-02T05:59:52Z")

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> 🔖 This guide explains how to add group owners who will manage group membership in your Discourse community.
> 
> 🙋 Required user level: Administrator

Admins can add users as group owners, allowing them to control the membership of specific groups in the Discourse community. This guide will walk you through the steps of adding group owners and the various management tasks they will be able to perform.

## Understanding the role of group owners

Group owners are users granted special permissions to manage the membership of a particular group. While admins have full control over all groups, group owners can:

- Add or remove members from the group
- Approve or reject membership requests
- Manage group membership settings (such as public admission, public exit, and membership request options)
- As of Discourse version 3.1, group owners may add other group owners, but group owner removal must be done by a staff member (admin or moderator).

## Assigning group owners

To assign a group owner, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the groups page in your Discourse community (`/groups`).
2. Select the group you want to manage.
3. On the “Members” tab, click the wrench icon next to the member you want to assign group ownership to.
4. Click the “Make Owner” option.

 ![The image shows a group management interface with member details, including usernames, ownership status, join dates, last posted dates, and actions to add or remove members or change ownership for a group named "Test Group". (Captioned by AI)](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/5/6/56d038708ef6479a588dcb64f3c5b81d19c18c33.png)

Admins can also grant group membership when adding users to a group using the “Add Users” button.

 ![The image shows a user interface with input fields for entering a username or email, and buttons labeled "Add Users" and "Invite" enclosed in a red rectangle. (Captioned by AI)](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/6/f/8/6f8fbfd643ebff15f608c6ee5df5242c895b6de9.png)

 ![The image shows a dialog box allowing the user to enter a list of users to invite to a group, with options to set them as owners of the group or notify them about the invitation. (Captioned by AI)](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/1/6/a/16a5a85ae7518e6e350e609f20b89a54e20d989f.png)

## FAQs

### Can group owners create new groups?

No, only administrators can create new groups. Group owners can only manage existing groups they have been assigned to.

### How do I know if a user is a group owner?

Group owners will be marked with a 🛡 “Owner” icon on the group’s “Members” page.

 ![The image shows a user interface with an input field for entering a username or email, options to add users or invite people, and a table displaying information about an existing primary owner user, including the dates when they were added, when they last posted content, and when they were last seen on the platform. (Captioned by AI)](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/4/b/a/4ba0f9f155037b0883d1232f1edd9bc82c92eaf5.png)

> Last edited by @SaraDev 2024-07-09T20:11:12Z
> 
> > **Check document**
> >
> > Perform check on document:

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### Author: ![pHneutre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/phneutre/32/326831_2.png) [@pHneutre](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pHneutre)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2026, 7:43am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-group-owners-to-manage-group-membership/36233/34 "2026-04-29T07:43:16Z")

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> [@Discourse](#):
>
> Group owners will be marked with a 🛡 “Owner” icon on the group’s “Members” page.

Is this information supposed to be visible to other group members? It is not the case on my instance. I’m logged with Henri (member) and I cannot see group ownership of user phneutre (owner).

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/8/b/a/8bab4bf1a0aafdb9f7ade628dab5a6930b66473f.png)

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### Author: ![NateDhaliwal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/natedhaliwal/32/313494_2.png) [@NateDhaliwal](https://meta.discourse.org/u/NateDhaliwal)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2026, 8:39am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-group-owners-to-manage-group-membership/36233/35 "2026-04-29T08:39:29Z")

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From my testing, only group owners can see who the owner is. I believe the relevant logic is here. Not sure if this is intended?

> <https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/main/frontend/discourse/app/templates/group/index.gjs#L191-L211>