There are several ways to control who can join your Group. Your Privacy settings determine:
- Whether people can discover your Group in the Discover feed or need an invite link
- Whether new members can join instantly or must be approved first
These two settings work independently, so you can combine them in the way that works best for your Group.
Making your Group publicly visible
When your Group is publicly visible, it appears in the Discover feed, making it easier for others to find and request to join.
If your Group is not publicly visible, it won’t appear in Discover. People can only access it through an invite link.
Note: When someone views your Group in Discover, they’ll see basic information like the Group name, photo, description, and tags. Group content isn’t visible until they’ve joined.
To edit your Group’s visibility:
- In your Group, tap the ‘•••’ next to your Group name
- Tap ‘Settings’ in the dropdown menu
- Tap ‘Privacy’
- Change the “Group is publicly visible” toggle to your desired setting
Note: If you turn on visibility and approval is not required, pending join requests may be automatically admitted.
New member approval settings
If you enable “Approval required to join,” new members must be approved before joining.
- Anyone who finds your Group (if publicly visible) or has your invite link can request to join.
- They won’t become a member until you approve them.
- You’ll receive a notification whenever someone submits a request.
If you turn off “Approval required to join,” eligible members can join your Group instantly.
To edit your Groups approval settings:
- In your Group, tap the ‘•••’ next to your Group name
- Tap ‘Settings’ in the dropdown menu
- Tap ‘Privacy’
- Change the “Approval required to join” toggle to your desired setting
You can also add a Member application to ask new members a few questions before approving them. This can help you decide whether they’re a good fit for your Group.
How discoverability and approval work together
- Publicly visible + No approval required: Anyone can find and join your Group instantly.
- Publicly visible + Approval required: Anyone can find your Group and request to join, but you must approve them.
- Not publicly visible + No approval required: Only people with an invite link can join, and they’ll join instantly.
- Not publicly visible + Approval required: Only people with an invite link can request to join, and you must approve them.
Approving members
If “Approval is required to join,” you'll receive a notification when a member requests to join, and you can approve or reject them.
- In your Group, tap the ‘•••’ next to your Group name (it will be highlighted if there are pending requests)
- Tap ‘View Members’ from the dropdown menu
- Select “Requests” to see the list of requests
- Tap the ‘•••’ next to a member to approve or deny them, or see their responses if they filled out a New Member application
Managing invite permissions
As the owner of a Group, you control who can invite others.
Only members with the ‘Invite users’ permission can generate and share invite links. This permission is managed by role. Members without a specific role are part of the Default role.
If you don’t want members generating invite links, you can turn off the ‘Invite users’ permission for their role.
Keep in mind:
- If your Group does not require approval, anyone who has a valid invite link can join instantly
- If your Group requires approval, anyone with a link can request to join, but you decide who gets in
For more details on roles and permissions, check out our dedicated article.
Resetting your invite link
You can reset your invite link(s) from the “Invite People” screen. Resetting links will invalidate any previously shared links and generate a new, unique invite URL.
Invite links can be reset by both publicly visible and non-publicly visible Groups:
- In Groups where approval is off, the new link allows instant joins
- In Groups where approval is on, the new link allows people to request to join
For Groups where multiple members have ‘invite’ permissions:
- If you’re the owner, you can reset ‘just your link’ or ‘all links’ (which resets everyone’s links)
- If you’re not the owner, resetting will only affect your own link
Note: Resetting links does not impact existing or pending members.
To reset your invite link:
1. Tap the ‘Invite’ button near your Group name
2. Tap the Settings cog icon
3. Tap ‘Reset links’
4. Choose whether you want to reset ‘Just my link’ or ‘All links’