Organization administrators and [channel
administrators](/help/configure-who-can-administer-a-channel) can see and manage
metadata for private channels. However, if they aren't subscribed to a private
channel, they cannot gain access to its content, or grant access to others,
unless specifically permitted to do so.

This means organization administrators and [channel
administrators](/help/configure-who-can-administer-a-channel) can:

- See and modify the channel's [name](/help/rename-a-channel) and [description](/help/change-the-channel-description).
- See who is subscribed to the channel, and
  [unsubscribe](/help/unsubscribe-users-from-a-channel) them.
- See the channel's permissions settings, and modify settings that do not affect
  content access (e.g., [who can post](/help/channel-posting-policy) or [message
  retention policy](/help/message-retention-policy)).
- See how much message traffic the channel gets (but not its contents).
- [Archive](/help/archive-a-channel) the channel.

However, the following actions require specific permissions.

- **Seeing messages and topics**: Restricted to channel subscribers, and user
  who are allowed to subscribe themselves or any user.
- Subscribing [yourself](/help/configure-who-can-subscribe) or [other
  users](/help/configure-who-can-invite-to-channels)
- Modifying settings that affect content access (e.g., making a channel
  public, or changing who can add subscribers).