How to Fix Discord Freezing & Stuttering Issue in Windows?
Discord, if you don’t already know, is a VOIP app that lets users chat with their friends. Discord was specifically made for gamers to set up gaming sessions and communicate during games but the service is being used by almost everyone nowadays.
Lately, a lot of the users are complaining about the Discord app getting stuck. In this issue, your Discord app will freeze randomly. This isn’t related to a specific task so you can experience it at any time. The usual solution of Discord freezing issue is to end the app via the Task Manager but some users are experiencing this issue on a computer level. This means that the Discord app freezes their whole system. In this situation, users aren’t able to move their mouse or do anything and the only option they have is to reboot. Since the issue happens only during the usage of the Discord app, it is confirmed that the issue is related to the Discord app.
What causes the Discord app to freeze?
Here is a list of things that can cause the Discord app to freeze
- Hardware Acceleration: Majority of the cases involve hardware acceleration. Hardware acceleration is the use of computer hardware to perform some functions more efficiently than is possible in software running on a more general-purpose CPU. This feature can be turned on or off via the Discord app and the issue seems to come if the hardware acceleration is turned on in the Discord app.
- Compatibility Issues: This problem can be caused by compatibility issues of the Discord app. Running the app in compatibility mode usually resolves the issue in this case.
- Key binds: Keybindings are a very useful way of allocation a pattern of keys to perform a specific task. Most of the apps allow this feature including the Discord app. Unfortunately, key bindings can cause the Discord app freezing issue. The latest Discord updates have changed the default key bindings so that might be causing the app to freeze. Deleting the key bindings usually fix the issue in this case.
Note
You won’t be able to follow the steps given in methods listed below if the Discord app is frozen. So, open the task manager by holding down the CTRL, SHIFT, and Esc keys simultaneously (CTRL + SHIFT + ESC). Locate the Discord app from the list, right click it and select End Task.
Method 1: Turn off Hardware Acceleration
Since hardware acceleration can be the culprit behind this issue, disabling this option usually fixes the issue. So, follow the steps given below to turn off the hardware acceleration for Discord app.
- Open Discord
- Click on the User Settings (gear icon). This should be on the right side of your avatar.
- Select Appearance from the left pane
- Scroll down in the right pane and you should be able to see the Hardware Acceleration It should be under the Advanced section
- Toggle off Hardware Acceleration
- You will most likely see a confirmation box. Click Okay. This will reboot the Discord app
That’s it. The issue should be fixed once the Discord app restarts.
Method 2: Run Discord in Compatibility Mode
Another reason for the Discord app to freeze is the compatibility issue. There’s always an option of running the app in compatibility mode and this option is accessible via the app properties. So, we will go through the steps of accessing the properties and running the Discord app in compatibility mode. The problem seems to resolve if the app is run in compatibility mode of Windows 7 so we will select this option.
- Make sure the Discord app is closed and get to your Desktop
- Locate and right click the Discord app icon
- Select properties
- Click the Compatibility tab
- Check the option Run this program in compatibility mode for:
- Select Windows 7 from the drop-down list
- Click Apply then select Ok
Now run Discord and see if the problem persists or not. If the problem still isn’t solved then follow the steps given above and select Windows 8 in step 6. See if that works.
Method 3: Delete Key Bindings
Key bindings are also known to cause this type of issue in the Discord app. If you were using key bindings in the previous version of Discord app then the issue is most likely caused by the key bindings. Luckily, this issue can easily be fixed by simply deleting the previous key bindings. The steps for deleting the key bindings are given below.
- Open Discord
- Click on the User Settings (gear icon). This should be on the right side of your avatar.
- Select Keybinds from the left pane
- You should be able to see a list of keybinds in the right pane. Hover your mouse over to that list and you should be able to see a red cross on the top right corner of each keybind. Click the Red Cross to delete that keybind. Repeat this process for every keybind until all the keybinds are deleted. Note: You won’t be able to delete all the keybindings. One of the keybind is the default keybind that won’t be deletable. Simply hover your house over to every keybind and click the red cross. If you don’t see a red cross then leave that keybind since you can’t do anything about it.
The problem should go away after deleting all the keybinds.
