In this blog post I want to share how to use Private Mode in Midjourney. As I stated in my earlier blog post about Midjourney, you essentially work in a shared space (ie channels) which means your prompt is visible to others working in the same channel.
However as a Paid ad-on you can have Private Mode enabled which means you can create your art knowing that your prompts are safe from prying eyes. I have seen many times in the channels when I have been creating art, some people just copy your prompt and start to create the same work. It is very annoying and frustrating.
I don’t mind if somebody takes inspiration from my prompt and starts to create their own one and using my prompt as a resource. But straight out copy/paste is irritating.
Private Mode
To enable Private mode you need to use the switch in Discord channel (any channel where you can create art). Simply type in /private.
When you type this for the first time you will be redirected to the payment site to add this option (if not already subscribed) to your Subscription. You can see the below example shows: Standard Membership ($30) + Private Access ($20).
Once this is all setup, you can now work in complete privacy but not in any Public Channels. After the private mode is activated you will get an error if you try to run a prompt in Public Channel. In my case though after subscribing it took 4-5 days before I saw this error, until then I was able to use Public Channels (I think this maybe because they manually assign this role to you)
Update 27th December 2023: Private Access has been re-branded as Stealth Mode add-on in your subscription page. Other than that it works the same way exactly.
The message you will get will look like this:
Now that you have private mode enabled, make sure your settings are setup correctly to receive DM from the MidJourney bot.
Once you have this allowed, you can get DM from Midjourney bot by using the “envelope” emoji on any image in a Public Channel (your image or other members). I have used it from early days of Beta program so I was able to store my images in a separate channel and not have them get lost in Public channel amongst other members.
Doing this will send the selected image via DM to you. This will be the Midjourney Bot that DMs you. Afterwards you can go to your Direct Message section of your Discord and simply start sending prompts to Midjourney Bot.
Now you are working in complete Privacy interacting with the Midjourney Bot. Use /imagine prompt to start creating.
Public Mode
To revert back to using Public Mode, simply type /public in any of the Public Channels of Midjourney Discord and you will be in Public Mode. This means that you can no longer DM the Midjourney bot and your creations are Public.
Summary
Private mode is a great way to keep your creations private and secure from prying eyes. As the user base increases you may be more inclined to keep your style, prompt and artwork private from others. Its is significant addition to your monthly fee which increases by 60% but its definitely worth it.
Come and have a play with the Midjourney bot on our discord server ArtiumAI.
I am looking for a midjourney invite, been experimenting with Disco Diffusion lately and I am LOVING it. If anyone got an invite and want to share, let mo know! Thank you!
If you are into AI check out our Discord where we are running competitions – one of the rewards is a MidJourney invite. Discord link in the Menu.
I don’t know if you saw already, but Midjourney is now in open-beta. Here is the link to join. https://t.co/O1Qnl6hMgn
Hope this helps & enjoy!
Hello!
Standard Membership ($30) + Private Access ($20) is the amount per month, or one time payment?
This price is monthly. Here is the link to the information about the pricing for Midjourney.
https://midjourney.gitbook.io/docs/billing#standard-membership-usd30-month-offers
Hope this helps. Happy creating!
Will privately created images stay private when I stop paying for privacy mode?
yes
FYI you can message your imagine prompts to the midjourney bot without being private. You only need private if you don’t want your images showing up on the website. I have the standard plan without private and have been doing it this way since I started.
I can’t remember how to message the bot directly. How do I do?
Hi, i have subscribed to Standard plan, what i would like to know is that if i DM midjouney bot or DM Midjourney through my own server, where will it be present in public? there are so many sections like newbies etc.. where can i exactly find my image in public section
Thanks. Yes, it started annoying me. Just saw some creations using definitely my prompt on a deviantart account. How do I know? It’s like seeing your baby – only in a different dress. And I don’t like it, though I am a fan of open concepts. Think I’ll have to pay. 🙁
get the private options to keep your prompts secret.
Hi, can you make images created before getting private plan, private?
yes, private is optional add-on to keep your prompts private.
Bought private, dont see how to make past images private, got any tips??
correct only images created after Private mode is activated are private
Hi, where is the eye-shaped button placed? I can’t find it.
Already signed out and signed in back.
not sure what you mean.
Would love to see a step by step video on how to go private.
I have a paid account now and would not mind upgrading for privacy as I will be generating things I want to use as featured blog images as well and they should really be as unique as they can be.
I’ll still play in the public rooms but work in private.
Thanks for this post!
I’ve noticed something very odd — the FAQs still has the same pricing as what you’ve listed (and so does some discord explainers I’ve read) but the +20 option is gone when i go to / accounts? In the fine print below it, it reads: We are building a open-by-default community focused on collective exploration and fun. If you have a need to opt-out of this and be private-by-default you can upgrade to a $50/mo private plan at any time by typing /private or purchase a “Corporate” plan.
No mods are answering queries about this in the discord for some reason but the pricing discrepancy is confusing. There’s also a variable cost thingie added if you click “basic” plan (aka above the $10). I mean they can charge whatever they want but the inconsistency in what they say it costs and what they’re charging is very confusing?!
I checked the plans page > the $10 plan with Private is $30. While $30 plan with Private is $50. In both cases adding private option is $20 per month on top of the standard plan fees. As far as I know the plan fee has not changed since the initial subscriptions came out.
if you are already paying for the standard unlimited $30 account and adding $20, you are paying $50.
correct!
is private encrypted for the user or can the AI / research lab use your concept ideas and prompts to develop their AI? How private is private with that price increase?
I believe they record all prompts used in their database. You should refer to their privacy and licensing terms for more details
membership prices are not affordable for all, but fair. private mode prices are not ok. privacy should be given automatically, if desired.
Everyone has a right to choose what works for them and not. Personally I enjoy using their platform to bring my imagination to life and pay extra to keep my prompt secret from other users.
Question: if we switch to private mode after we have already created things in public mode, will it hide our previous creations or only future creations moving forward?
only new images created after Private mode activation will be hidden.
Subscribed to private, love it.
Now I’m looking for a way to select *some* images that are currently private, and make only those selected images visible to others on my profile.
How might I do that?
You cannot make select images public vs private after they are created. You need to switch to desired mode prior to creating the image.
Hi, do you know maybe if I block a user, will be still able to upscale my prompts?
not sure, sorry
Hi I have just used your instructions to sign up for private mode. However now the images are not showing up in my midjourney account. Any advice is appreciated. many thanks in advance.
You cannot make select images public vs private after they are created. You need to switch to desired mode prior to creating the image.
I cannot seem to setvup private account. When I try setting in Discord it has a link to https://midjourney.com/account but that just sends me to the midjourney signing page
Can anyone help, please
It has now been re-branded as Stealth Mode add-on. If you add this to your subscription you will be able to use Private mode.
Stealth mode is only available on the 60$/month subscription plan
It adds on to your standard plan but the prices may have gone up..the article is correct as at the time of publishing.
Hey there !
Thanks a lot for your work, is really useful. IVe a small doubt, do you know if once you go to private mood your profile in the midjourney website (where the images get stored) is it still accesible or also gets private?
Thanks a lot in advance,
Have a beautiful day
R.
Your website profile remains there but any images created in Private/Stealth mode are NOT published there. Any images created prior to activating Private/Stealth mode will remain there on the website.
Hi, If you deleted your images, will they still appear on the midjourney showcase ?
yes deleting will remove it form the site as well
Hi there, thanks a lot for this afticle, it’s very helpful. I’ve just bought the Pro Plan and activated private, however I’d like to know if there’s any way too make the previoulsy publicly generated images that are currently displayed on my homepage in Midjourney’s Gallery private as well. If not is there a way to delete them?
Thanks in advance
You can delete the images from your discord where you generated them. Use the X emoji which will delete the image.
If you are in private, are you in a private room or are you still in one of those long as! ques trying to find your updated images?
In Private mode you can DM the bot directly so you don’t have to be in the Midjourney channels provided in their discord. You can also create your own Discord Server and invite Midjourney bot to it. Then its just you and the bot in a private space.
https://weirdwonderfulai.art/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/private-server.jpg
Once you have create a private server, how do you invite Midjourney bot to it?
yes, correct.
Thanks a lot for this article, it’s very helpful.
Great stuff , we’ve been busy generating amazing MJ artwork , check out the full gallery on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/adoseofai/
If I invite the Midjourney bot to my server (not private mode), are my prompts visible to the members of my channel only, or to any other channel of Midjourney server too (e.g. newbies etc)?
Yes and No. Yes you would work in private away from other #newbie like channels in your own server but your prompt and image will still be visible in the Community feed and your own page on Midjourney website. So doing this alone is not putting you in Private/Stealth mode. You need to subscribe to this option so you can activate this Stealth mode which will hide your prompts and images on Midjourney website.
This is how I work – I have a private server where I organise and create my image and using Stealth mode I ensure no one else is able to see my prompts.
When you open your gallery on midjourney website and click on one of the images for instance, it opens a pop up showing that image. Under that there is a part that says “see related images” or something like that. Then you see other people’s similar creations.
What I would like to know is if I am using the private mode and only creating using the bot direct messages, can others see my images in their “related images” section?
Thank you!
No images created in Private or Stealth mode are private and will only show to you and nobody else.
when I publish an image (generated in stealth) on the midjourney website – would it also publish my prompts ?
yes if you publish (which looks like a new feature) the private image is published and its prompt is shared.
if I sign up for stealth mode will it hide the work and prompts I’ve already created… id like to keep it that way..?
no it does not apply in retrospect. only images created after stealth mode activation will be hidden. You can of course delete your own images from Midjourney.
Hi there! I saw on the 5th of April you replied to someone with this comment:
“no it does not apply in retrospect. only images created after stealth mode activation will be hidden. You can of course delete your own images from Midjourney.”
When you say you can delete images from Midjourney, do you mean only delete from Discord? In my experience, simply deleting the generated images from Discord has no effect whatsoever on my Midjourney website profile – every image I have ever made (and deleted) is still there. Basically, the Delete function on Discord is totally pointless…..Or do you know some magic that allows you to indeed delete the image/prompt entirely from the Server, including their Website?
Also, do you know if deleting your own account will completely delete all images and prompts you have ever made on Midjourney or will they still exist on their website, under some strange new user name that is not me?
I find the whole privacy/deletion thing on MD so infuriating. People should be allowed to work freely in an open forum and CHOOSE to share their work, not be FORCED to share their work. The fact that MD allow private functionality – but only for double the price, is daylight extortion. I hope a clever lawsuit bans them from doing it soon.
You could be right there Stu. If the image is public it is deleted from Discord but not web. However, no way for me to validate as I always use Private/Stealth mode.
In their T&Cs they state they will still store your prompts even in Stealth mode but they are not shown to any other user in public format. But I guess they need this permission to show you “your” images in the Web site when your browse it. It doesn’t specify they will use them to create new images but I’m not a lawyer.
Its like on FB/Insta the moment you upload a photo you are giving them copyright of your image.
HI,
What happens to the images that are made in stealth mode in a private chat with a Pro subscription after I cancel my subscription?
Images will still remain in stealth mode even after you cancel your subscription.
Hi,
What happens to the imaages made in stealth mode in a private chat with a Pro subscription after I cancel my subscription?
They remain in stealth – just the way you created them.
It seems stealth mode is now limited to pro subscriptions and cannot be added to lesser subscriptions (basic and standard) – Is this your experience as well?
PS (nitpick/correction): The article says “Update 27th December 2023” somewhere. Pretty sure you meant Dec 22, or you slipped up, fellow time-traveler 😉
Thanks for the info!
yes it is limited to Pro Subscription. Thanks for the pickup on the date error. I will fix it
Hi,
Does private mode mean that people will view my profile and work but not see the prompts? Or they can’t see images plus prompts? That would be great. Also, random question but is there a way to make midjourney images print size that are not 5×5? I see people making money off of it and that would be so great if I could too! I figure they are photoshopping to make them bigger but I thought I’d ask.
Hi Wendy, In private mode they would not see your images or the image prompt. Current version 5 is not able upscale images more than 1024 x 1024, you’d need to use other tools to Upscale images like PS/Lightroom or free online tools https://clipdrop.co/image-upscaler
Hi.
We have created different servers in one account and different people are using them. I want them not to be able to see each other’s work. Can we do this?
You cannot prevent them unless you create specific Discord Channels and restrict permission per user.