# What can moderators do to users?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-can-moderators-do-to-users/398136
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [March 11, 2026, 7:24am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-can-moderators-do-to-users/398136 "2026-03-11T07:24:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Ethsim2](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Ethsim2)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2026, 7:24am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-can-moderators-do-to-users/398136/1 "2026-03-11T07:24:05Z")
Hi,
I just wanted to confirm the default permissions behaviour in Discourse.
Can moderators delete user accounts, or is that restricted to admins only?
I just wanted to confirm there are no edge cases (for example users with zero posts).
We are running Discourse **2026.3.0-latest** with only official plugins.
Thanks!
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### Author:  [@NateDhaliwal](https://meta.discourse.org/u/NateDhaliwal)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2026, 7:29am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-can-moderators-do-to-users/398136/2 "2026-03-11T07:29:07Z")
Why not try? 🙂
Also see:
> [@Deleting a user account](https://meta.discourse.org/t/deleting-a-user-account/312021/1):
>
> 🙋 Required user level: Administrator or Moderator
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### Author:  [@Ethsim2](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Ethsim2)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2026, 7:39am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-can-moderators-do-to-users/398136/3 "2026-03-11T07:39:12Z")
Thanks - I tested this on my own forum and confirmed that moderators can delete users.
For my use case I would prefer that only admins can delete accounts.
Is there a recommended way to prevent moderators from deleting (or anonymising) users (for example a site setting, theme component, or plugin), or is moderation policy normally used for this?
Thanks!
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### Author:  [@ToddZ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ToddZ)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2026, 10:27am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-can-moderators-do-to-users/398136/4 "2026-03-11T10:27:34Z")
Is that the _only_ moderator ability you’d want to limit?
Or would it make sense to use Category Moderators? Those permissions stop short of _delete user_ and a few other things.
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### Author:  [@Lilly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Lilly)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2026, 11:01am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-can-moderators-do-to-users/398136/5 "2026-03-11T11:01:18Z")
this table shows everything moderators and other trust levels can do
> [@Trust Level Permissions Reference](https://meta.discourse.org/t/trust-level-permissions-reference/224824):
>
> bookmark This reference aims to be a comprehensive list of Discourse features, marked by Trust Level, and including the relevant admin settings which influence them. Trust Level Grid - Defaults TL = Trust Level dependant gear = Can be enabled or adjusted by an admin setting gearTL0 TL1 TL2 TL3 TL4 Category Moderator Moderator [[1]](#footnote-1091734-1) Post Replieswhite_check_markwhite_check_markwhite_check_markwhite_check_markwhite_check_markTLwhite_check_mark[[2]](#footnote-1091734-2) Post Topic…
also worth noting that all staff admin activity is recorded in the staff action [logs](https://meta.discourse.org/t/where-does-discourse-store-and-show-logs/58022) at `admin/logs/staff_action_logs`
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### Author:  [@Ethsim2](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Ethsim2)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2026, 3:22pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-can-moderators-do-to-users/398136/6 "2026-03-11T15:22:29Z")
Thanks - **category moderators ended up being the right solution for my use case.**
On my forum I set this up as follows:
- I created a group `@mods`.
- I enabled the site setting `enable category group moderation`.
- I assigned that group as the **moderator group for each category**.
This gives the moderators the tools they need for **category-level moderation** , while avoiding some of the global moderator permissions (such as deleting users).
For visibility, I also allowed the group to appear on `/about` by ensuring it is **not listed in `about page hidden groups`** , and adding the `Mods` group
As a small presentation tweak, I adjusted the group’s display name and currently have it set to **“Our Moderators”** so the `/about` page reads more naturally. The group slug remains `@mods`.
Finally, I added the `admins` group to the **`about page hidden groups`** setting, which helped tidy up the `/about` page layout. After doing that the page looked much cleaner.
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### Author:  [@ToddZ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ToddZ)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2026, 4:07pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-can-moderators-do-to-users/398136/7 "2026-03-11T16:07:23Z")
Sweet! Thanks for sharing your resolution.
I believe that’s largely what was done for us new volunteer mods here.
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### Author:  [@system](https://meta.discourse.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2026, 4:08pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-can-moderators-do-to-users/398136/8 "2026-04-10T16:08:20Z")
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