Laggy Discord Stream? Try These Troubleshooting Tips

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Learn all the ways to fix a Discord stream that stutters or lags

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IN THIS ARTICLE

1 Turn Hardware Acceleration Off (or On)

2 Disable Quality of Service High Packet Priority

3 Turn OpenH264 Video Codec Off (or On)

4 Restart Your Computer

5 Restart Your Modem or Router

6 Run Discord as an Administrator

7 Switch to a Wired Internet Connection

8 Check Dxdiag

9 Check Your Internet Connection

10 Change to a Lower Stream Quality

11 Close Open Applications

12 Update Your Graphics Drivers

13 Try Discord in Your Browser

14 Clear the Discord Cache

15 Reinstall Discord

16 Contact Discord Support

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Co-authored by Hannah Dillon Reviewed by Luigi Oppido

Last Updated: February 22, 2025 Fact Checked

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Is your Discord stream laggy and you need help figuring out how to fix it? There are many reasons your Discord stream might be lagging: application settings conflicts, network issues, a bad cache, and many more. In this article, we'll go over simple ways to fix a laggy Discord stream. Keep reading to learn more!

Ways to Fix a Laggy Discord Stream

• Toggle certain Voice & Video settings.
• Restart your computer or router/modem.
• Check your internet connection or switch to Ethernet if possible.
• Lower your stream quality.
• Update your GPU drivers.
• Close any open applications that are using network bandwidth.
• Clear the Discord cache or reinstall Discord entirely.

Steps

1

Turn Hardware Acceleration Off (or On)

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1. 
   Toggling Hardware Acceleration fixes laggy streams for most users. For some users, turning Hardware Acceleration off will fix a laggy stream. For others, they need to turn Hardware Acceleration on. Try enabling or disabling Hardware Acceleration. If your stream lag doesn't get any better—or gets worse—switch Hardware Acceleration back to the setting it was before.

   • The Hardware Acceleration setting can be found in Settings > Voice & Video.
   • There is also a Hardware Acceleration setting in Settings > Advanced. Disabling one Hardware Acceleration setting will not disable the other.
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2

Disable Quality of Service High Packet Priority

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1. 
   Try disabling high-priority packets to fix lag. The Quality of Service High Packet Priority setting lets your router know that Discord's packets are high priority, so they should get transmitted first. However, this setting can cause problems for some users, and disabling it may fix a laggy stream.

   • The Quality of Service High Packet Priority setting can be found in Settings > Voice & Video.

3

Turn OpenH264 Video Codec Off (or On)

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1. 
   Discord's OpenH264 video codec can cause a laggy stream. To check, try enabling or disabling the Open H264 video codec. If your Discord stream lag doesn't improve, switch the video codec back to the setting it was before.

   • The OpenH264 Video Codec setting can be found in Settings > Voice & Video.
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4

Restart Your Computer

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1. 
   Sometimes, system glitches can cause Discord to stop working properly. If you haven't had any luck adjusting your Discord settings, restarting your computer can fix these random bugs and glitches. Once your computer is back on, check Discord to see if the stream is still laggy.

5

Restart Your Modem or Router

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1. 
   A laggy stream could be caused by a sub-optimal internet connection. Issues with your modem or router often cause these problems. Restart your router if all network processes are laggy. If your modem or router has a power button, use that to turn it off and back on. Otherwise, unplug the modem or router for a few seconds, then plug it back in.

   • If you live with other people, make sure that it's okay to restart the modem or router first, as this will cause the internet in your house to go down momentarily.
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6

Run Discord as an Administrator

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1. 
   Sometimes, a laggy stream is caused by a Windows permissions problem. You can resolve this by running Discord in administrator mode. To do this, search for Discord in the taskbar search bar, right-click it, and select Run as administrator.

   • If running Discord as an administrator fixed the problem, you might want to always run Discord as an administrator. To do this, right-click the Discord icon on your desktop, select Properties, then click the Compatibility tab. Check the box that says "Run as an administrator" and click OK to save.

7

Switch to a Wired Internet Connection

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1. 
   Ethernet connections are faster than Wi-Fi connections. If you are currently connecting to the internet with Wi-Fi, switching to a wired connection can get rid of stream lag. Using an Ethernet cable is more reliable and gets you faster internet speeds, which can help improve your stream performance on Discord.

   • For the best performance, use a Cat 5e, Cat 6, or Cat 6a ethernet cable.
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8

Check Dxdiag

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1. 
   DirectX might be causing the issues. Dxdiag (or the DirectX Diagnostic Tool) is a tool that reports information about your DirectX components and drivers. Some users have reported that they've fixed a laggy Discord stream by checking dxdiag for problems.

   • To do this, type dxdiag in the taskbar search bar, then click "dxdiag" to run it. The dxdiag icon is blue with a yellow "x" on it.
   • Allow dxdiag to finish loading, then click on each tab and check the "Notes" section for any issues. If dxdiag finds a problem, resolve it before checking Discord again.
     • If dxdiag says a program or file is causing problems, but you're not sure what that program or file does, research it before you remove it. Accidentally removing files or programs that your computer needs can cause it to stop working entirely.

9

Check Your Internet Connection

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1. 
   Make sure your internet connection is stable. If you're having trouble with your internet connection, it can cause issues with your Discord stream. Below are some of the reasons your connection might be unstable and how you can fix it:

   • Poor Wi-Fi signal: Move your computer closer to the router/modem, ensuring there are no brick or metal walls between them
   • Wi-Fi card driver issues: Update your Wi-Fi card drivers, or roll them back to a stable version if the update caused the problems
   • Worn or old Ethernet cable: Replace with a new Cat 5e, Cat 6, or Cat 6a Ethernet cable
   • Modem or router issue: Replace the modem or router (if you own it) or ask your internet service provider for a new one (if you rent it from your ISP)
   • Outage: Wait for your ISP to fix the issue
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10

Change to a Lower Stream Quality

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1. 
   Lowering your stream's quality frees up resources on your PC. Discord offers a few stream qualities to choose from: 720p, 1080p, 1440p, and source. To change your stream quality mid-stream, click on the streaming button in Discord, then select a different quality in the Stream Quality menu.

   • 1080p is only available for Nitro and Nitro Classic subscribers, and 1440p is only available for Discord Nitro subscribers. If you don't have Discord Nitro, try switching from 720p to source.

11

Close Open Applications

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1. 
   Other open programs might be using up excess bandwidth. If you have any open applications that are using up your internet bandwidth, close them (excluding the game you're streaming, if it connects to the internet).

   • If someone you live with is gaming, streaming video, or doing other bandwidth-intensive activities, this could also affect your stream quality.
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12

Update Your Graphics Drivers

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1. 
   Old graphics card drivers can cause issues, including laggy Discord streams. Make sure your graphics card drivers are up to date to ensure the best stream quality in Discord. To update your GPU drivers, open your GPU software (such as AMD Radeon Software or NVIDIA GeForce) and install any pending driver updates.

13

Try Discord in Your Browser

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1. 
   Some have found less lag when streaming via their browser. Sometimes, switching to the browser version of Discord can fix laggy stream problems. If you switch to the browser version of Discord and your stream no longer lags, the issue is likely with the Discord app itself.

   • To do this, go to https://discord.com/app and sign in with your Discord account. Then, go to the server or DM you were streaming in and try again to see if the lag is gone.
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14

Clear the Discord Cache

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1. 
   Delete your Discord cache to clear out old, stale data. A cache is used to store temporary data. However, sometimes this data becomes corrupt or just gets old and can't be used anymore, and the cache will then start causing the application not to work properly anymore.

   • To clear your Discord cache, go to \AppData\Roaming\discord on Windows or ~/Library/Application Support/discord on Mac. Within this folder, delete the Cache, CodeCache, and GPUCache folders.
   • You can then open Discord and try streaming again to see if the issue is fixed.

15

Reinstall Discord

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1. 
   Completely reinstall Discord if nothing else works. Simply uninstall your Discord application. Then, download the latest Discord installer from https://discord.com and install it.
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16

Contact Discord Support

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1. 
   If problems persist, Discord Support can help. Go to Discord's request submission form and select Help & Support from the dropdown. Then, fill out the form with your information and any applicable details. Discord will respond via email for further assistance.

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