Discord Spoiler Tags: Hide Text, Images & Whole Messages
Everything about Discord spoilers — the ||double bar|| syntax, spoiler images and attachments, mobile shortcuts, formatting combos, and etiquette
To make a spoiler in Discord, wrap your text in double vertical bars: ||spoiler text||. The text is hidden behind a black box until a reader clicks or taps it. For images and attachments, rename the file to start with SPOILER_ or use the spoiler (eye icon) option in the upload preview before sending.
Part of our Discord series. This page covers spoilers in depth — for bold, headers, code blocks, and every other style, see the full guide.
Full Discord Markdown guide →The Spoiler Syntax: ||Double Vertical Bars||
Two pipe characters on each side hide the text between them. The pipe | is Shift + backslash on most keyboards, right above Enter. You can spoiler a single word mid-sentence, a phrase, or an entire paragraph.
Basic spoiler
Two pipes before and two after — no spaces between the pipes.
||the killer is the butler||
Spoiler a single word
Only the word between the bars is hidden — the rest of the sentence reads normally.
The traitor this season is ||Kira||, called it in episode 2.
Spoiler a link
The link stays hidden until clicked. Wrap the URL in <angle brackets> too if you also want to suppress the embed preview.
||https://example.com/leaked-trailer||
Common gotcha: spoiler bars do not work inside inline code or code blocks — backticks disable all other formatting. Spoiler the text outside the backticks instead.
Spoiler Images & Attachments
Images, videos, and files can be marked as spoilers too — they appear blurred with a SPOILER badge until clicked. Two ways to do it:
- The upload menu (easiest): attach the file, then before sending, hover the attachment preview and click the eye icon (desktop) or tap the attachment and choose the spoiler option (mobile). On desktop you can also hold Shift while drag-and-dropping a file to mark it instantly.
- The SPOILER_ file name prefix: rename the file so it starts with
SPOILER_before uploading — Discord detects the prefix and hides the attachment automatically. This is also how bots and webhooks send spoilered attachments.
Spoiler file name
The prefix must be exactly SPOILER_ (uppercase, with the underscore) at the very start of the file name.
SPOILER_final-boss.png
Text typed in the same message is not hidden by a spoilered attachment — wrap the caption in ||bars|| separately if it also gives something away.
Spoilers on Mobile (iOS & Android)
Type the bars
The pipe | is on the symbols keyboard (often behind long-press on the slash or hyphen key). Type ||text|| exactly as on desktop — the syntax is identical.
Or use "Mark as spoiler"
Select the text in the message box before sending and choose Mark as spoiler from the pop-up menu — Discord inserts the bars for you.
Spoiler an image
Attach the photo, tap the attachment thumbnail (or its three-dot menu), and toggle the spoiler option before hitting send.
Revealing on mobile
Tap the black box once to reveal text; tap a blurred image once to unblur it, then again to open it full-screen.
Combining Spoilers with Other Formatting
Spoiler bars nest cleanly with bold, italics, underline, and strikethrough. Put the style markers inside the bars so the whole styled phrase stays hidden.
Bold spoiler
The revealed text appears bold.
||**major spoiler warning**||
Spoiler inside a quote
Quotes and spoilers combine — the quoted line shows a hidden segment.
> The ending: ||everyone survives||
Spoiler in a list
Handy for episode-by-episode discussion threads.
- Episode 1: safe to discuss - Episode 2: ||the twin reveal||
Formatted full warning
A visible bold label plus hidden underlined detail — the pattern most servers prefer.
**SPOILERS S3E4:** ||__do not read__ unless you have watched||
See the Discord text formatting guide for all the bold/italic/underline stacking rules, and remember: code blocks cannot be spoilered (details in the code block guide).
Spoiler Whole Messages & Multi-Line Text
To hide an entire message, open the bars at the very start and close them at the very end. Line breaks are allowed — each line or paragraph renders as its own black bar, so readers reveal them chunk by chunk.
Whole message spoiler
Everything between the outer bars is hidden.
||This entire message is hidden until someone clicks it.||
Multi-line spoiler
Use Shift + Enter for the line breaks. Each line reveals separately when clicked.
||The heist fails. Marcus was the informant all along. Season 4 confirmed.||
Visible label + hidden body
Keep a plain-text label visible so people know what they are choosing to reveal.
**Leaks from today's patch notes:** ||New raid drops on the 21st.||
How Revealing Spoilers Works
- Click or tap once on the black bar to reveal text; blurred images unblur on the first click and open full-screen on the second.
- Revealing is personal: it only unhides the spoiler for you, on that device. Everyone else still sees the black box until they click it themselves.
- No re-hiding: once revealed in your client there is no button to hide it again — reload the app or channel to reset it.
- Global setting:in User Settings → Chat, "Show spoiler content" can be set to On Click (default), On servers I moderate, or Always — moderators often pick Always to review content faster.
- Notifications and replies: push notifications keep the spoiler markup hidden, but be careful quoting or copy-pasting a spoiler — the copied text includes the plain content.
Spoiler Etiquette & Channel Settings
Label what you are hiding
A bare black box invites clicks. Put a visible label before the bars — like "**S2 finale:** ||...||" — so people can make an informed choice.
Respect channel rules
Many servers run dedicated spoiler channels (often age-restricted or role-gated) where tags are optional, and require tags everywhere else. Check the channel topic before posting.
Spoiler the caption too
A blurred image with the caption "can't believe they killed Marcus" defeats the point. Wrap giveaway text in ||bars|| as well.
Set a time window
Good servers post a rule like "tag spoilers for 2 weeks after each episode" — if you moderate, write the window into the channel topic so nobody has to guess.
Quick Reference
| Goal | How | |
|---|---|---|
| Spoiler text | ||hidden text|| | |
| Spoiler with bold | ||**hidden bold**|| | |
| Spoiler a whole message | ||entire message here|| | |
| Spoiler an image (file name) | SPOILER_image.png | |
| Spoiler a link | ||<https://example.com>|| |
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I make a spoiler in Discord?
Wrap the text in double vertical bars: ||your spoiler||. The pipe character | is Shift + backslash on most keyboards. When you send the message, the text appears as a black box that readers click (or tap) to reveal.
How do I spoiler an image in Discord?
Either rename the file so its name starts with SPOILER_ (for example SPOILER_ending.png) before uploading, or attach the image and use the upload preview options — click the eye icon on desktop, or the attachment menu on mobile — to mark it as a spoiler. The image then shows blurred with a SPOILER badge until clicked.
How do I do spoilers on Discord mobile?
Type the same ||double bars|| around your text — the pipe character is on the symbols keyboard. Alternatively, select the text in the message box and choose "Mark as spoiler" from the pop-up menu. For images, tap the attachment thumbnail before sending and choose the spoiler option.
How do I reveal a spoiler in Discord?
Click the black spoiler box (or tap it on mobile) and the hidden text appears with a gray highlight. Spoiler images show blurred with a SPOILER badge — click or tap once to reveal. Revealing is per-user and per-device; it does not unhide the spoiler for anyone else.
Can I spoiler an entire message in Discord?
Yes — put || at the very start and || at the very end of the message. Everything in between is hidden, including line breaks (each paragraph renders as its own spoiler bar). Attachments are not covered by text bars; mark them as spoilers separately.
Can I combine spoilers with bold, italics, or links?
Yes. Put the formatting inside the spoiler bars: ||**bold spoiler**||, ||*italic spoiler*||, or ||https://example.com||. Spoilered links stay hidden until clicked, but note that inline code and code blocks cannot be spoilered — the backticks win.
Why is my Discord spoiler tag not working?
Check that you used two pipe characters on each side with no spaces between them (||text||, not | | text | |), and that the pipes are the straight vertical bar | (Shift + backslash), not a slash or the broken-bar character. Spoiler bars also do not work inside code blocks.
Do Discord spoilers stay hidden forever?
A spoiler stays hidden until each individual reader clicks it. Once you reveal a spoiler it generally stays revealed for you in that client, but it remains hidden for everyone who has not clicked — there is no way to force-reveal a spoiler for other users.
Can I hide spoilers everywhere in Discord?
Yes. In User Settings under Chat (Text & Images), the "Show spoiler content" setting lets you choose On Click (default), Always on spoiler-free servers, or Always. Choosing Always reveals all spoilers automatically — useful for moderators.
Is there a spoiler button in Discord?
On desktop, select text in the message box and a formatting toolbar appears — the eye icon marks the selection as a spoiler. On mobile, select the text and choose "Mark as spoiler" from the context menu. Both simply insert the ||double bars|| for you.