# Allow Category Moderator to add or remove Users from that Category
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/allow-category-moderator-to-add-or-remove-users-from-that-category/411506
**Category:** Feature
**Tags:** moderation
**Created:** [September 2, 2026, 6:13pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/allow-category-moderator-to-add-or-remove-users-from-that-category/411506 "2026-09-02T18:13:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@happyhappy](https://meta.discourse.org/u/happyhappy)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2026, 6:13pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/allow-category-moderator-to-add-or-remove-users-from-that-category/411506/1 "2026-09-02T18:13:19Z")
Our use case has many private sub-categories, each of which would ideally be managed by 1 or more category moderators specific to that sub-category. We would prefer those category moderators also manage adding and removing existing users from their sub-category. No other user level privileges are required.
If this could be a privilege the admin could enable, we would be most grateful.
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### Author:  [@mcwumbly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcwumbly)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2026, 6:33pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/allow-category-moderator-to-add-or-remove-users-from-that-category/411506/2 "2026-09-02T18:33:06Z")
How are you handling this today?
Are you already making those individuals owners of the groups that have access to those categories?
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### Author:  [@happyhappy](https://meta.discourse.org/u/happyhappy)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2026, 6:51pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/allow-category-moderator-to-add-or-remove-users-from-that-category/411506/3 "2026-09-02T18:51:21Z")
Yes, they are Owners of the Group, but I don’t think they can add and remove group members. The workaround is to give them Admin privileges which won’t work once this gets into full production. We are trying to protect each private sub-category and give very few people full admin rights.
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### Author:  [@mcwumbly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcwumbly)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/allow-category-moderator-to-add-or-remove-users-from-that-category/411506/4 "2026-09-02T20:01:20Z")
> [@happyhappy](#):
>
> Yes, they are Owners of the Group, but I don’t think they can add and remove group members.
If they are group owners they should be able to manage the membership of that group:
> [@Add group owners to manage group membership](https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-group-owners-to-manage-group-membership/36233/1):
>
> ## 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).
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### Author:  [@happyhappy](https://meta.discourse.org/u/happyhappy)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2026, 10:34pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/allow-category-moderator-to-add-or-remove-users-from-that-category/411506/5 "2026-09-02T22:34:49Z")
Ahhh, thank you.
With a little more digging, I was able to access the group’s membership page. It turns out you have to navigate to your Profile page and look carefully at the group list on the Summary page. Not so obvious, but it exists.
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### Author:  [@mcwumbly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcwumbly)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2026, 12:28am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/allow-category-moderator-to-add-or-remove-users-from-that-category/411506/6 "2026-09-03T00:28:51Z")
You can also get there this way:
- open sidebar
- click more…
- click groups
- change filter to “groups I own”
That’ll take you to a page with a URL like this: [https://meta.discourse.org/g?type=owner](https://meta.discourse.org/g?type=owner)
You could lift the groups page outside of the “more…” menu to make that a bit more discoverable if it’s a location people will need to frequent, and/or suggest that group owners bookmark the link filtered down to owners for themselves.
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### Author:  [@happyhappy](https://meta.discourse.org/u/happyhappy)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2026, 12:45pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/allow-category-moderator-to-add-or-remove-users-from-that-category/411506/7 "2026-09-03T12:45:47Z")
Since we standardized on the Pinboard theme, there is no “More” link in the sidebar so Groups is unavailable. But the bookmarking idea is good. Thanks!
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### Author:  [@Heliosurge](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Heliosurge)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2026, 6:47am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/allow-category-moderator-to-add-or-remove-users-from-that-category/411506/8 "2026-09-04T06:47:40Z")
If you’re self hosted. There is this plugin that allows banning ppl from a category for category mid and full mods
> [@Category Restrictor plugin](https://meta.discourse.org/t/category-restrictor-plugin/324765):
>
> Discourse Category Restrictorinformation_sourceSummary Allows staff and category moderators to silence users in specific categorieshammer_and_wrenchRepository Link [https://github.com/communiteq/discourse-category-restrictor](https://github.com/communiteq/discourse-category-restrictor)open_bookInstall Guide [How to install plugins in Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/t/install-plugins-in-discourse/19157)moneybagSponsored by@GotchurFeatures Allows staff and category moderators to silence users in specific categories Configuration There is a manage button in category settings - secu…
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### Author:  [@happyhappy](https://meta.discourse.org/u/happyhappy)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2026, 10:31am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/allow-category-moderator-to-add-or-remove-users-from-that-category/411506/9 "2026-09-04T10:31:37Z")
Thanks for this, Dan. I’m not sure we will need it though. We want to limit group membership but we are not worried about the content they post. The Admin will get involved in the rare case where someone needs to be removed.