How to Ban/Unban Someone on Twitch?‍

To ban someone on Twitch, use the command /ban [USERNAME] in the chat box. Alternatively, click on their username, then select the 'Block' option from the three vertical dots.

To unban someone on Twitch, type /unban [USERNAME] in the chat. You can also manage bans through your Creator Dashboard under 'Settings' > 'Moderation' > 'Banned Chatters', where you can unban users.

If you're a Twitch streamer or are a moderator of a community who has been tasked with preserving the decorum of the chat, you might be wondering how to ban/ unban certain members from the chat.

is a great place to build an engaging community of like-minded people on the internet. However, these days, every online community will at times be subject to more than its fair share of annoying or intrusive members who troll others or spout hatred. In fact, mainstream social media has now become a place where people can just post inappropriate or incendiary comments without repercussions. Further, there is usually minimal effort from the platform's creators toward curbing such practices.

However, on Twitch, communities are more closely-knit, and the platform offers the ability for trusted members of a channel (aka moderators) to manually weed out negative comments and ban members from the chat. Twitch has provided a range of tools to broadcasters and moderators to police the actions of others in the chats.

So in this article, we take a look at how moderators and streamers can ban or block people, both temporarily and permanently. We also layout the process for unbanning people in the future.

When should we ban people on Twitch?

There are several reasons why you might want to ban or block someone from your community on Twitch. For instance, you can consider banning certain users if they engage in any of the following acts on your channel's chat box:

• Spamming the chat box with unwanted messages
• Sharing pornographic content
• Spreading negativity or chaos
• Sending inflammatory or derogatory messages to others
• Posting content that is abusive, violent, or self-harming
• Behaviour that is discriminatory in any way, or hate speech
• Leaking private messages
• Any other inappropriate or illegal activity

How to ban someone on Twitch

Twitch allows channel owners and moderators to ban or block people temporarily or permanently via simple commands that can be entered within the chat box, which we discuss below:

How to block people from within the chat

Moderators or streamers can easily ban people from within the chat. Here is how:

Step 1. Open the stream window and click on the chat's rectangular message box

Step 2. Type in ‘/ban' in the chat box followed by the username of the user whom you want to ban, and press enter

Syntax: /ban [USERNAME]

Note: There is another way you can ban users from within the chat. Follow these steps:

Step 1. Click on their username in the chat to open up their profile card

Step 2. Click on the three vertical dots and select ‘Block' to hide that user and all their messages in the chat

Once you block a user from the chat, all their previous messages in the chat box will automatically disappear.

How to Timeout a user

If you would rather ban a user from the chat temporarily, only for a short period of time until things cool down, you can do so as well. Streamers and moderators can use Twitch's ‘timeout' feature to prevent a misbehaving user from posting anything for a while, before they can be allowed into the chat again. This is particularly helpful, as if someone's actions in the chat are undesirable, but not worthy of a permanent ban, moderators can give them a timeout, which serves as a warning and helps cool things down.

If the timeout function is used on a user, they are prevented from sending messages to all chats on your channel for any period of time, determined by you.

Here's how you can timeout users:

Step 1. In the chat box, type in ‘/timeout' followed by the username of that user, and the number of seconds you want to block them for

Here's the syntax for the command: /timeout [USERNAME] [SECONDS]

Note that you can also timeout users by clicking on their username in the chat box and selecting the clock symbol.

How to shun users on Twitch using the Ignore feature

Unlike some of the aforementioned commands like /ban and /timeout, the /ignore feature on Twitch is available to everyone - not just streamers or moderators. Using this feature, users can choose to mute other users' messages from the chat.

This is particularly useful in situations where the moderators aren't taking action on the misbehaviour of certain users. This way, if someone is posting harassing messages, or annoying messages on the chat, you can ignore them to stop seeing their messages. Here's how to use the /ignore command on Twitch:

Step 1. In the chat box, type in ‘/ignore' followed by the username of the user whom you want to ignore, and press enter

Syntax of the command: /ignore [USERNAME]

You can also ignore users by clicking on the ‘Ignore' button on their user card, which you can access by clicking on their usernames in the chat.

That's it, their messages in the chat will no longer be visible to you. However, note that all other users in the chat, including the moderators, will still be able to see their chat messages. They will only be hidden to you.

How to unban users on Twitch

Unbanning or unblocking users on Twitch is as easy as banning them. Here are ways you can unban users on Twitch:  

/unban command

Just like we used the /ban command in the chat box, we can also use the ‘/unban' command to lift their ban.

Syntax: /unban [USERNAME]

Note that the unban chat command, will immediately end the ban applied to the user, and they will be allowed to start sending messages on the chat again.

Unban users from your block list

Streamers can manage all the banned users on their channel via the channel settings. Here's how to access and manage the list of all banned users on their channel:

Step 1. Go to your Creator Dashboard and click on the ‘Settings' menu 

Step 2. Select ‘Moderation'

Step 3. At the bottom of the page, click on ‘Banned Chatters'

This will open up a page that lists every user that's currently banned from your channel, along with details like which moderator banned them, and the reason for the ban.

You can also unban someone from this list. Just click on the trash can icon next to their username to unban them from your chat room.

Additionally, you'll be able to add users to your ban list on the same page by typing their name into a text box at the top and selecting the “Add” button to the right of that box.

FAQs

How to block users on Twitch if they change accounts?

For now, there's no way to block or ban users on Twitch if they change their accounts and enter your stream that way. Streamers and moderators can only ban users via the chat.

How to activate Twitch's ‘follower-only' mode?

However, note that streamers can choose to leave out all their non-followers from entering their stream chats by using a simple command. For streamers, this follower-only mode ensures that only their trusted followers can post messages to the chat. Here's how to activate it:

Step 1. Type in ‘/followers' followed by the period of time for which you want to restrict access to the chat only for your followers

Syntax for the command: /followers [TIME PERIOD]. For example, /followers 30 minutes or /followers 2 months.

Note that the maximum duration of time for which you can activate the follower-only mode is 3 months.

You can disable the followers-only mode by entering ‘/followersoff' in the chat.

How can I control the chat?

Note that as a moderator or owner of the channel, it is always best to openly set and declare some ground rules for the chat. Doing so will inform the users of the decorum that they need to maintain in the chat, and give them an adequate warning to not go against the set rules.

How to block whispers and DMs from strangers on Twitch

You can also choose to block Twitch ‘whispers' or DMs from other users. You can do so via the privacy section in the ‘Security Settings' page of your account or use the ban user button directly.

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