# Can I add a group of users to a PM without inviting them?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-add-a-group-of-users-to-a-pm-without-inviting-them/187671
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [April 21, 2021, 8:14pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-add-a-group-of-users-to-a-pm-without-inviting-them/187671 "2021-04-21T20:14:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@yoel.koenka](https://meta.discourse.org/u/yoel.koenka)
#### Post date: [April 21, 2021, 8:14pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-add-a-group-of-users-to-a-pm-without-inviting-them/187671/1 "2021-04-21T20:14:12Z")
Hi, I’m the admin of my self-hosted Discourse-based forum.
I’d like to restrict topic access to a certain group.
Therefore, I’ve seen that I can turn it into a PM, and then invite the users I’d like to add.
My question is: Can I skip the invitation and simply add them? I don’t want them to need to do anything (like approving, pressing buttons etc.). I simply want these users to have access to this topic.
Thanks!
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### Author:  [@osioke](https://meta.discourse.org/u/osioke)
#### Post date: [April 22, 2021, 10:40am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-add-a-group-of-users-to-a-pm-without-inviting-them/187671/2 "2021-04-22T10:40:14Z")
Have you seen and tried this guide for this?
> [@Understanding groups and category permissions](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-use-category-security-settings-to-create-private-categories/87678):
>
> bookmark This guide explains how to manage category visibility and user permissions using groups in Discourse. person_raising_hand Required user level: Administrator Groups and category permissions are crucial for managing access and content creation within your Discourse community. This guide will help you understand how to use these features effectively. Summary Category permissions control visibility and user actions Permissions are managed through group access lists Different perm…
Private categories and groups may be better than PMs, and using groups makes adding members and bulk adding them easier.
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### Author:  [@yoel.koenka](https://meta.discourse.org/u/yoel.koenka)
#### Post date: [April 22, 2021, 9:52pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-add-a-group-of-users-to-a-pm-without-inviting-them/187671/3 "2021-04-22T21:52:26Z")
Thanks for the tip!
I actually know of this option, but I’d rather use the PM method.
The reason is that I already have another categories division for the topics, and I’d like to keep it as it is.