Fix: “Stream Failed to Start” or “Camera Failed to Start” Error in Discord

When you try to use Discord’s camera or start a screen/game stream, the process may fail with the errors “Stream failed to start” or “Camera failed to start”, followed by one of the following codes:

• 2001 – Stream Start Failure
• 2007 – Stream Connection Timeout
• 2012 – Stream Setup Timeout
• 2015 – Video Viewer Timeout

These codes indicate that Discord’s streaming system or camera capture process (depending on what you’re trying to do) cannot establish or maintain a stable connection between the host and viewers within the required time frame.

The most common cause is unstable or inconsistent internet connectivity. However, other possible reasons include outdated GPU or camera drivers, hardware acceleration conflicts, or firewall/antivirus interference that blocks Discord’s network communication.

Now that you understand why this issue occurs, let’s go through the most effective ways to fix it.

1. Disable VPN

If you’re using a VPN, it may interfere with Discord’s ability to connect directly to its servers. Disabling the VPN allows Discord to create a more stable, low-latency connection and helps prevent timeouts that trigger these streaming errors.

1. Disconnect any active VPN connection.
2. Restart Discord and try streaming again.

2. Update Graphics Drivers

Your graphics drivers play a key role in how Discord handles video rendering and streaming. If these drivers are outdated or corrupted, Discord may struggle to initialize your stream or camera properly, resulting in repeated start failures or blank preview screens.

Keeping your GPU drivers up to date ensures that Discord can fully communicate with your graphics hardware using the latest rendering instructions. It also restores proper hardware acceleration support and removes driver conflicts that often lead to video initialization errors.

If you’re unsure how to update them, follow our detailed step-by-step guide on updating graphics drivers for different GPUs to make sure your system is running the latest version.

3. Disable IPv6

Streaming issues can sometimes occur because of how Discord communicates using network protocols. Disabling IPv6 forces your system to rely on IPv4, which tends to be more reliable with most routers and ISPs. This adjustment helps prevent packet routing mismatches that cause timeouts during video initialization.

1. Press Windows + R, type ncpa.cpl, and press Enter.
2. Right-click your active network connection and choose Properties.
3. Uncheck Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6).
4. Click OK and restart your computer.

4. Delete Cache

Corrupted or outdated cache files may prevent Discord from correctly initializing the camera or stream. Deleting the cache removes these problematic temporary files, allowing Discord to relaunch cleanly and operate as intended.

1. Completely close Discord.
2. Press Windows + R, type %appdata%, and press Enter.
3. Open the Discord folder.
4. Right-click and delete the following folders:

   Cache, Code Cache, and GPUCache

   

5. Restart Discord and test your camera or stream again.

5. Turn Off Video Codec Settings

Hardware acceleration and video codecs such as H.264 can cause errors when your GPU fails to handle video encoding properly. Disabling these features forces Discord to use a simpler, more stable configuration that doesn’t depend on GPU processing, which often resolves the problem.

1. Open Discord and click the Settings icon.
2. Go to Voice & Video under App Settings.
3. Scroll down and disable OpenH264 Video Codec.
4. Restart Discord and try starting your stream again.

6. Download Discord PTB

If the standard Discord build continues showing the error, try installing the Public Test Beta (PTB) version. This version runs on a separate update channel and often includes newer patches that fix streaming and camera issues before they’re released in the stable build.

1. Visit the Discord PTB download page.
2. Download and install the PTB version of Discord.