Fix: Discord Screen Share Black Screen/Not Working (6 Easy Solutions)

The Discord screen share might not be working for you and it shows a black screen when you are using the latest Discord technologies or when you do not have sufficient permissions. The screen share feature is pretty useful when you are on a call with someone as it enables you to share your screen with the person on the other end of the call. However, at times, this functionality might stop working and you will have to deal with it.

This issue has plagued many users and without an official fix from the Discord development team, it is up to the users to figure out temporary fixes until the issue has been addressed. Fortunately, there are a few solutions that you can implement to get fix your discord screen share not working and that’s the aim of this guide. But, before we start enlisting the solutions that will solve your issue, let us get into the causes of the issue so that you have a better understanding what causes a black screen share on discord.

* Why does Discord Screen Share Stops Working and Shows a Black Screen? 

We went through multiple user reports to grasp all the possible causes of the discord screen share not working. After having a look, we found out that the following reasons often result in the said issue:

With that said, you hopefully have a better understanding of the said problem. Now, let us get into the solutions that will help you in getting rid of the issue.

1. Run with Admin Privileges 

As we have mentioned above, the issue is often triggered due to the permissions conflict. This happens when the programs i.e the Discord app and the program that you are trying to share have different permissions. For example, you are trying to share the screen with your friend while playing a game. The game is running as an administrator while as for the Discord app, it does not have admin privileges. This conflict often causes this issue.

To resolve this problem, you will have to run both of the programs with admin permissions or neither with admin privileges. Otherwise, you will stumble on the said issue again. Of course, before you proceed with the following instructions, make sure the account you are using has administrative privileges. In the conflicting scenario, you will have to log out and log back in as an administrator.

To run Discord as an admin, do the following:

1. Press the Windows Key to open up the Start Menu.
2. Once the Start menu has opened up, type in Discord in the search bar to search for the Discord application.
3. After that, once the results are displayed, right-click on the Discord search result and select ‘Run as administrator’.

   

4. Once you have done that, make sure you are running the other program with admin privileges as well. To do so, just find right-click on the .exe file of the program and select ‘Run as an administrator’ from the drop-down list.

Check if you are still getting the black screen share issue on Discord.

2. Disable ‘Using Latest Technologies’ Option

As it turns out, the issue can also be caused by making use of the latest technologies option. This seems to be due to a fault with the API that they are using. However, we are not sure and the actual reason behind this remains hidden for now. What we do know is it tends to be the culprit in some scenarios, so you should try disabling the feature and then see if it fixes the discord screen share not working issue. To do this, follow the below instructions:

1. Open up your Discord application.
2. Once the application has loaded up, click on the Settings icon on the bottom left corner.

   

3. After that, navigate to the Voice and Video section from the list on the left-hand side.
4. Once you are there, scroll all the way to the bottom. Under the Video Diagnostics section, turn off the ‘Use our latest technologies for screen sharing’ option.

   

See if that resolves the issue. If not, move to the next solution.

3. Disabling Hardware Acceleration

Hardware acceleration is used by discord to smooth out the animations and transitions in discord. So, the overall program feels smooth and responsive. However, sometimes this feature can show you a black screen when Screen sharing because of GPU limitations. To disable hardware acceleration, follow these steps:-

1. Open Discord and click on the Gear icon to open Discord Settings.

   

2. Now head over to the “Advanced” tab and uncheck the “Hardware Acceleration” option.

   

3. Check to see if the issue persists.

4. Enabling Reduced Motion

Reduced motion is an option responsible for animations and transitions in your Discord. Enabling that option will decrease the animation timing which will make your discord smoother and snappier overall. Follow these steps:-

1. Open Discord and click on the Gear icon to open Discord Settings.

   

2. Now head over to the “Accessibility” tab and uncheck “Sync with Computer” and then enable option named “Enable Reduced Motion”.
   

   

3. Press and hold the CTRL key then press the R key to restart your Discord.
4. Check to see if the issue still persists

5. Switch to Windowed/Borderless Mode

If the above solutions have not worked for you, then this is your final resort for now. In order for the screen share feature to function properly, you will have to make sure that the program you are trying to share is not in fullscreen mode. This functionality is intended as per the development team. Thus, the Discord application does not support fullscreen sharing, for now, however, maybe in the future it will, who knows? Nonetheless, to resolve the issue, make sure that you have the program in windowed mode or borderless mode. Having it in fullscreen mode will cause the feature to not work properly and that might be why your partner is seeing a black screen rather than what you intend to share.

6. Disabling Aero Theme

If nothing worked for you this far, we can try disabling the Aero Theme on your Windows. Historically, Aero themes are known to have problems with the Windows operating system. Make sure to restart your computer after making changes and see if the black screen share issue on discord is fixed.