14 Fixes For Discord Lagging Or Running Slow Issues

Would you watch a stream that’s laggy and stuttering to the point of giving you a headache? No, you wouldn’t. So, when streaming on Discord, you need to make sure that it’s smooth for your viewers.

But if they are complaining about Discord screen-sharing lags, there is something to fix. Use this guide to solve the Discord lagging issues during streaming, video chatting, and general app lags.

Why is My Discord Lagging So Bad?

• Discord server outage
• Other resource-hungry apps are open
• Discord app cache is corrupted
• Power settings of your computer are not optimized
• Discord app is out of date
• The graphics driver requires an update
• Incorrect Discord voice settings
• Discord animation and GIFs
• The internet connection is slow
• Network settings of the device are bad
• A modest PC or mobile

How to Fix the Discord Lagging Issue on Computers and Mobile Devices?

1. Check the Discord Server Status for Discord Issues
2. Restart Your Computer 
3. Optimize Your Internet Connection
4. Close Other Programs/End Other Tasks
5. Enable or Disable Hardware Acceleration
6. Change Your Device’s Power Settings
7. Update Graphics and Other Drivers
8. Clearing Discord Cache Files
9. Reset Discord Voice Settings
10. Enable Reduced Motion on Discord
11. Update the Discord Application Version
12. Reinstall Discord to Fix Discord Server Lagging
13. Reset Network Settings to Fix a Bad Network
14. Use a VPN Connection/Disable Your VPN

Fix 1: Check the Discord Server Status for Discord Issues

What if the Discord streaming stuttering issue is completely external and your computer and internet are totally fine? So, quickly navigate to the Discord Server Status page and find out who is responsible for the stream lag. Go through the status of all the features and make sure everything is in green.

Fix 2: Restart Your Computer 

If you ask somebody why a restart works and why people recommend it every time there is an error, there may not be any definite answer, but a restart does work. So, quit your Discord app along with the game and reboot your computer.

Fix 3: Optimize Your Internet Connection

If you’re sure about your internet connection’s speed, check what is clogging up the speed because slow internet is one of the obvious reasons for Discord screen share low FPS and lags. 

Stop downloads and uploads on your computer and check other connected devices. Remove devices from the network that are not in use and then restart your router or modem. If you can’t find a button, plug it out of the outlet and keep it off for a minute. Then plug it back in.

Fix 4: Close Other Programs/End Other Tasks

There have been reports where Discord lags happen due to the high CPU usage of other apps. This doesn’t leave much power for the game and Discord to stream it properly.

In other cases, the issue was the conflict between Discord and other applications. Whatever the case, if you’re experiencing Discord stream lag for viewers, close all the applications except Discord and the game.

End Unnecessary Programs on Windows 8, 10, and 11

1. Right-click the taskbar and select ‘Task Manager.

2. You will see a list of programs. Right-click the program that’s using a lot of memory or CPU and choose ‘End task’.

3. Perform this action for all the apps you want to close.

Force Quit Applications on Mac

1. Open the Apple menu and choose ‘Force Quit’.
2. Choose the apps you need to close and press the ‘Force Quit’ button one by one.

You can also close applications from Activity Monitor on Mac if you only want to quit programs that are using more than enough percentages of memory.

Fix 5: Enable or Disable Hardware Acceleration

Hardware acceleration lets your applications use other hardware components of your computer system as well for better performance. This feature mostly improves performance and, in some cases, it can drag down the speed of your computer. 

The Discord client for desktop offers the option of hardware acceleration and it’s enabled by default. To stop Discord glitching out, we will turn off hardware acceleration if on and vice versa.

1. Open the Discord application on your Windows or Mac computer.
2. Click the settings icon near your username and profile picture at the bottom of the app.

3. In the user settings, go to ‘Advanced’ from the side panel.

4. Toggle off the switch for ‘Hardware Acceleration’. If it was already off, toggle it on.

Fix 6: Change Your Device’s Power Settings

Operating systems on laptops use ways to keep a balance between battery usage and performance. This has many benefits but while gaming and streaming, you need your system’s full performance. If it’s blocked by power options, you might face Discord video lagging. So, let’s revise some power settings on your PC.

Enable Full Performance Battery Settings on Windows

1. Click Start, type ‘Control Panel’, and click it.
2. On the Control Panel, select ‘Hardware and Sound’.
3. Click ‘Power Options’.
4. From the side panel, choose ‘Create a Power Plan’.

5. Select ‘High Performance’, type a name for the power plan, and click ‘Next’.

6. Click the ‘Create’ button.

Change Energy Saver Settings on Mac

Except for the MacBook Pro, you can’t manually choose a high-performance mode. Your macOS switches to performance mode when it detects a power-intensive task. However, you can change when your computer and hard disk sleep.

1. Click the Apple menu and choose ‘System Preferences’.
2. Select ‘Energy Saver’.
3. On the ‘Battery’ tab, move the ‘Computer Sleep’ and Display Sleep’ slider to ‘Never’. And uncheck the box for ‘Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible’.
4. Perform the same steps for the ‘Power Adapter’ tab.

Fix 7: Update Graphics and Other Drivers

A computer with out-of-date graphic drivers is directly linked with lags and freezing. The same goes for other drives on your computers such as audio and network drivers. You can check for updates one by one for each driver or directly use the Windows Update program.

Check for Graphics Driver Updates Manually on Windows

1. Click Start, type ‘Device Manager’, and select it.

2. Look for ‘Display adapters’. Double-click it to open your graphics drivers below it.
3. Right-click your graphics driver and select ‘Update driver’.

4. Choose ‘Search automatically for drivers’.
5. It will find updates online and install if available.

If it doesn’t show any updates, or to update all the device drivers, use the below method:

Use Windows Update to Update Drivers

1. Click Start, type ‘Windows Update’, and click ‘Windows Update Settings’.
2. Select ‘Check for updates’.

3. When it’s done, click ‘View all optional updates’.

4. Select ‘Driver updates’, checkmark the drivers to update, and click ‘Download and install’.

Fix 8: Clearing Discord Cache Files

An application cache is the temporary data a program saves on your computer. It’s advised to delete the cache data of apps every month or so. But beware, deleting cache may log you out of your applications and remove your preferences.

Clear Cache of Your Discord Application on Windows

1. Quit the Discord application from the notification icon.

2. Press CTRL + R from your keyboard.
3. Type ‘appdata’ on the search bar and press Enter.
4. Then, go to the ‘Roaming’ folder.
5. Open the ‘Discord’ folder and find ‘Cache’.

6. Right-click the ‘Cache’ folder and select ‘Delete’ while pressing and holding the Shift key on your keyboard.
7. Perform the same for the ‘Code Cache’ and ‘GPUCache’ folders.
8. Open Discord and log in.

How To Clear Discord Cache on Mac?

1. Open Finder by clicking the ‘Go’ option and then ‘Go to Folder’.
2. Type or paste ~/Library/Application Support/discord/ in the search box.
3. It will take you to the Discord folder.
4. Right-click the ‘Cache’ folder and select ‘Move to Bin.
5. Do the same for ‘Code Cache’ and ‘GPUCache’ folders.
6. On the desktop, right-click the ‘Trash’ folder and select ‘Empty Bin’.
7. Open your Discord application and try streaming again.

Fix 9: Reset Discord Voice Settings

Some voice settings can cause your Discord stream to lag. It’s an unexpected fix but many users reported that it fixed their problem. Possible reasons were that their audio bitrate was too high or too low, their current voice server wasn’t responsive or not compatible with their streaming, and recent changes to voice or video settings. To reset your Discord voice settings on Windows, Mac, and Linux, follow these steps:

1.  Open Discord and click the Settings icon (a cog wheel) at the bottom, near your profile photo.
2. From the side pane, select ‘Voice & Video’

3. Scroll down the voice and video settings. Click ‘Reset Voice Settings’ in red.

4. Confirm the action by pressing ‘Okay’.

Fix 10: Enable Reduced Motion on Discord

Before we tell you to enable it, you would ask what is the Enable Reduced Motion option on Discord? Mostly, GIFs and in-app animations make the experience smooth.

But during streaming or chatting, you don’t need excessive animations and your computer needs to focus on streaming or gaming more than the animation. For this, you can Enable Reduced Motion to have your Discord app use lesser resources.

1. On your Discord app, find the settings option at the bottom next to the headphone and microphone icons.
2. Choose ‘Accessibility’.
3. Find the ‘Enable Reduced Motion’ and turn it on.
4. Turn off ‘Automatically play GIFs when Discord is focused’ and ‘Play animated emoji’.

Fix 11: Update the Discord Application Version

Using the latest version of Discord is super important because updates make sure that the app is evolving and bugs are being fixed. Application updates don’t solve every problem, but it’s worth a try. And keeping every application up-to-date is necessary to be secure so you would be doing it anyway.

Automatic Method to Update Discord on Windows and Mac

Quit your Discord application from the notification area and then reopen it. Discord automatically checks for updates on every start.

Manually Update the Discord Application on Windows

1. Press CTRL + R and type ‘appdata’.
2. Go to Local > Discord.
3. Find ‘Update.exe’ and double-click it.

Fix 12: Reinstall Discord to Fix Discord Server Lagging

In case you can’t update your Discord application or it is updated but the Discord lagging problem persists, then we need to completely uninstall Discord and then install it again. This will fix any update issues and corrupted app data.

Reinstall Discord on Windows

1. Click Start, type ‘add or remove program’, and click the application.
2. From the list of apps, find Discord and click it.
3. You will see the uninstall button, select it to uninstall the Discord application.

4. Now, press CTRL + R, type ‘appdata’, and hit enter.
5. Navigate the ‘Local’ Folder and delete the ‘Discord’ folder.
6. Go back to the previous folder, double-click ‘Roaming’, and delete the folder named ‘Discord’.
7. Go to your Recycle Bin and click ‘Empty Recycle Bin’.
8. Restart your computer.
9. Open your web browser and go to Discord.com.
10. Download Discord for Windows and install it.
11. Open Discord and start your Discord server streaming.

Uninstall and Install the Discord application on Mac

1. Quit Discord from the notification area. If you can’t quit it, do it from ‘Force Quit’ or ‘Activity Monitor’.
2. Go to ‘Finder’ and click ‘Applications’ on the side panel.
3. Select ‘Discord’ from the list of applications and drag it to the ‘Trash Bin’. Close it.
4. Navigate to Go > Go to Folder and type ~/Library/Application Support/ followed by pressing Enter.
5. Find the ‘Discord’ folder. Right-click it and choose ‘Move to Bin’.
6. Afterward, right-click the ‘Trash’ folder and select ‘Empty Bin’.
7. Go to the Discord website and download and install Discord for Mac.

Fix 13: Reset Network Settings to Fix a Bad Network

We recommended optimizing your network in one of the above fixes. If your internet speed is slow and causing the Discord lagging issue, try resetting your network settings to default. This will fix any error or incorrect settings that might be triggering the lag.

Warning: This will delete your internet passwords and settings. You will need to set up your Wi-Fi or ethernet again on this computer.

Reset Your Network Settings on a Windows PC

1. Click your Ethernet or Wi-Fi icon on the notification area and select ‘Network & Internet Settings’.
2. Scroll down to see ‘Network reset’ at the bottom. Click it.

3. It will inform you about the action that you will have to set up everything again after this. Select ‘Reset now’.
4. Wait while it resets and restarts your computer.

Reset Network Settings on Mac

1. Click the Apple icon and select ‘System Preferences’.
2. Choose ‘Network’.
3. Select your connection. For example Wi-Fi.
4. Choose the minus icon ‘-‘ under the list of connections.
5. Click ‘Apply’.

Fix 14: Use a VPN Connection/Disable Your VPN

Gaming and streaming use a lot of bandwidth. Some ISPs (Internet Service Providers) block or throttle a connection when it’s using more than usual bandwidth. This internet problem could be making your Discord lag. 

But how to avoid this problem? You can do this using a VPN (Virtual Private Network). A VPN hides your internet traffic from your ISP and unblock regional restrictions.

To find a VPN, check out this article Best Free VPN and check them one by one to find a good VPN.

On the flip side, a bad VPN service may slow down your internet speed and leave you wondering why your new Ferrari is behaving like a 90s Toyota car. In this case, turning off the VPN would be a wise move. You can choose another VPN or try Discord server streaming without any VPN.

How To Fix Discord Screen Share Lagging for iPhone and Android Mobiles?

1. Restart Your Smartphone
2. Check the Discord Server Status
3. Close Unnecessary Apps
4. Check Your Internet Connection
5. Enable Reduced Motion
6. Check for Discord App Updates
7. Clear Discord Cache
8. Install a VPN App/Uninstall Your VPN

Fix 1: Restart Your Smartphone

If you’re experiencing Discord lagging while streaming on mobile, the first thing you should be doing is to restart your mobile.

Fix 2: Check the Discord Server Status

The lag could be due to a Discord server outage. Go to DiscordStatus.com to find out the real-time status of Discord services.

Fix 3: Close Unnecessary Apps

Streaming on Discord requires processing and memory juice. So, start streaming after closing all the apps that are unrelated to streaming or gaming.

Fix 4: Check Your Internet Connection

Since multiple devices/people are mostly connected on a Wi-Fi connection, some will face slow speed if any device is downloading loads of stuff. Moreover, some Wi-Fi devices might cause interruptions to other devices or the router. So, restart your router and disconnect unnecessary Wi-Fi devices from the router.

Fix 5: Enable Reduced Motion

When Reduced Motion is enabled, it will block animations and GIFs to reduce the resources needed for running the Discord app and reduce lags.

1. On the Discord app, tap your profile picture at the bottom.

2. Swipe down and select ‘Accessibility’.

3. Turn on ‘Enable Reduced Motion’.

Fix 6: Check for Discord App Updates

Updates keep an app bug-free. If it’s been a while since you updated your Discord app, check for updates now.

1. Go to Google Play Store or App Store.
2. Search ‘Discord’ and select it.
3. You’ll see an ‘Update’ button if there is any update available. Tap it to update Discord.

If updating the Discord app doesn’t work, try uninstalling and reinstalling it.

Fix 7: Clear Discord Cache

An app cache is temporary files stored by the app. A corrupted cache can induce lags on your Discord app. To clear Discord cache on Android, duplicate these steps:

1. Go to Android Settings and tap ‘Apps & notifications.
2. Tap ‘See all apps’ or ‘All apps’.
3. Select ‘Discord’ from the list.
4. Choose ‘Storage’.

5. Tap ‘Clear Cache’ and confirm.

For iPhone and iPad, completely delete the app and reinstall it to clear cache and all of its data.

Fix 8: Install a VPN App/Uninstall Your VPN

VPNs let you bypass the restrictions of your internet service provider (ISP). Try installing a VPN to see if it fixes Discord server lagging. In case you’re already using a VPN, uninstall it and check your Discord streaming again.

Conclusion

Before your viewers leave your Discord streaming due to lags, apply the above fixes for PC and mobile to get rid of lags and freezes.