# Private Message to Private Category

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/private-message-to-private-category/85937
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [April 23, 2018, 5:46am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/private-message-to-private-category/85937 "2018-04-23T05:46:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![bisley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@bisley](https://meta.discourse.org/u/bisley)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2018, 5:46am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/private-message-to-private-category/85937/1 "2018-04-23T05:46:36Z")

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Long time lurker first time poster.

I’d like to be able to move a private message directly into a category that is only visible to a small group.

At the moment I can do this by publishing the message to public using the [make public button](https://meta.discourse.org/t/convert-a-private-message-to-public-topic-or-vice-versa/) and then editing the new public post to change the category.

This has the effect of flashing the private message chain that I’d like to reserve for those in the smaller group through the public category.

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### Author: ![Biscuit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/biscuit/32/94482_2.png) [@Biscuit](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Biscuit)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2018, 9:31am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/private-message-to-private-category/85937/2 "2018-04-23T09:31:07Z")

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This has been suggested previously…

> [@Which category does "Make Public Topic" target?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/which-category-does-make-public-topic-target/73890):
>
> When I click Make Public Topic on a Private Message, the message is converted to a topic - but I can’t work out which category it will end up in. How do I set the category for the ex-message? Thanks, Nick

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### Author: ![tophee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/tophee/32/73406_2.png) [@tophee](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tophee)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2018, 2:03pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/private-message-to-private-category/85937/3 "2018-04-23T14:03:57Z")

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> [@bisley](#):
>
> private message

For what it’s worth, in discourse, PM stands for personal message because these messages are not entirely private (admins can read them).

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### Author: ![outofthebox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/outofthebox/32/83708_2.png) [@outofthebox](https://meta.discourse.org/u/outofthebox)
#### Post date: [September 18, 2018, 4:53pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/private-message-to-private-category/85937/4 "2018-09-18T16:53:00Z")

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Agreed, it would be really nice to be able to edit the location of the private message into a private Category without having it hit a public Category first.