Skip to content

Choose how much history new members can read

Set how far back into a silo's past a newly joined member is allowed to read — from nothing before they arrived, up to the silo's full history.

Security note: History visibility controls which past messages a new member is allowed to see. In an encrypted silo, members only receive the decryption keys for messages inside that allowed window, so this setting genuinely limits what someone can read — it isn't just a display filter.

What the options mean

A silo's history visibility has three settings:

  • Since they were invited — a new member can read messages from the moment they were invited, but nothing before that.
  • Since they joined — a new member can read messages only from the moment they accepted and joined. Anything sent while their invite was pending stays hidden.
  • Shared (all history) — a new member can read the silo's history all the way back, including messages sent long before they arrived.

Pick based on the trade-off: Shared helps new people get full context (useful for a long-running project silo), while Since they joined keeps earlier discussion private from newcomers (better for sensitive or need-to-know silos).

On Web & Desktop

  1. Open the silo, then click the silo name at the top to open Silo info.
  2. Click Settings, then the Security & Privacy tab.
  3. Find Who can read history.
  4. Choose Since they were invited, Since they joined, or Shared.
  5. The change saves automatically and applies from now on.

On iOS

  1. Open the silo and tap the silo name at the top to open Silo info.
  2. Tap Settings, then Security & Privacy.
  3. Under Who can read history, tap your choice: Since they were invited, Since they joined, or Shared.
  4. The setting saves as soon as you select it.

On Android

  1. Open the silo and tap the silo name at the top to open Silo info.
  2. Tap Settings, then Security & Privacy.
  3. Under Who can read history, tap your choice: Since they were invited, Since they joined, or Shared.
  4. The setting saves as soon as you select it.

Good to know

  • Changes aren't retroactive. A new setting applies to history from the point you change it forward. If a member could already read a stretch of messages, tightening the setting later doesn't claw back what they were already allowed to see; loosening it doesn't hand out keys for messages that were sent while a stricter setting was in force.
  • It's a per-silo setting. Each silo has its own history visibility. Setting it on one silo doesn't change any other silo, and workspaces don't override it.
  • You need permission to change it. Editing Security & Privacy is an admin-level action. If the options are greyed out, ask a silo admin — see Roles & permissions.
  • Encryption is the enforcement. Because a member only ever receives keys for messages inside their allowed window, they can't decrypt earlier messages even if they obtain the encrypted copies. This is why the setting is meaningful rather than cosmetic.
  • Don't rely on it to hide already-sent secrets. If something confidential was posted and then you widen visibility, new members will be able to read it. Treat history visibility as a forward-looking policy, not a way to undo a past message.

Related: