Is Discord not working for you?
Are you unable to send messages or log in to your Discord account?
Is your microphone not working or you’re unable to connect to a server?
Since its launch in 2015, Discord went through a ton of updates.
The updates include new features and bug fixes.
However, there are still bugs, glitches, and error messages on the app.
In this guide, you’ll learn why is Discord not working on PC, Windows, or Mac, and how to fix common error messages.
Why is Discord not working
Discord is not working because it’s either down or you’re rate limited.
It can also be caused by a bug or a glitch on the app.
If Discord is down, you need to wait until it’s back up.
There are a few common error messages that you might face.
This includes “RTC Connecting”, “Rate Limited”, the JavaScript error, and more.
The “RTC Connecting” and “Rate Limited” errors appear on the Discord app.
On the other hand, the JavaScript error means that Discord is having an installation issue.
How to fix Discord not working
To fix Discord not working, you first need to check if Discord is down.
If Discord is down, you need to wait until Discord fixes the issue on their end.
If Discord is not down, you can try resetting your voice settings (if you’re facing a connectivity error).
You can also try to uninstall and reinstall Discord (if you’re experiencing an installation issue).
Uninstalling and reinstalling Discord the right way can fix a lot of issues on the app.
For example, if you’re facing a JavaScript error, uninstalling and reinstalling Discord will fix it.
Keep in mind that Discord may temporarily block your IP address if you carry out an action too many times.
If all else fails, you can submit a request here: https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/requests/new.
Here are 4 methods to fix Discord not working.
1. Check if Discord is down
The first step is to check if Discord is down.
If you’re unable to send messages or connect to servers, Discord is most likely down.
There are a couple of ways to check if Discord is down.
You can either go to Twitter or the Discord status website.
To check if Discord is down on Twitter, you can search for “Discord down”.
After you’ve searched for “Discord down”, check if there are a lot of recent tweets saying it.
If there are, it’s likely that Discord is down.
You can also visit Discord’s Twitter profile and check their recent tweets.
If Discord is down worldwide, they will usually post a tweet about it.
The final and best way to check if Discord is down is to visit the Discord status website.
The website displays Discord’s uptime over the past 90 days.
2. Wait it out
If you’re getting a “Rate Limited” error, it means that your IP address is temporarily blocked.
If that’s the case, you need to wait for 15 minutes to an hour for the block to be lifted.
A rate limit happens when you carry out an action too many times.
For example, if you failed your login attempts repeatedly, you’ll be rate limited.
A rate limit can also happen if you send too many messages at one go.
Discord implemented this feature to mitigate DDOS attacks.
If you’re rate-limited, you need to wait for it to be over.
Alternatively, you can try using Discord in an incognito browser or using a VPN.
By doing so, your IP address will be masked and the block will be lifted.
3. Reset your voice settings
At times, you might fail to connect to a voice chat or a Discord server.
A common error that you might get is the “RTC Connecting” error.
The error will be stuck on “Connecting” and you will not be able to connect.
Even if you’ve uninstalled and reinstalled Discord, the error message might still persist.
A simple fix is to reset your voice settings.
Here’s how to reset your voice settings on the desktop version of Discord:
- Open the desktop version of Discord and log in to your account.
- Click on the gear icon next to your profile picture.
- Under “App Settings”, click on “Voice & Video”.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “Reset Voice Settings”.
- Click on “Okay” to confirm that you want to reset your voice settings.
After you’ve reset your voice settings, try connecting to the voice chat again.
This time, you shouldn’t get the “RTC Connecting” error.
4. Uninstall and reinstall Discord
Discord installation errors are very common.
There are two common installation errors.
This includes the JavaScript error and the “Installation has failed” error.
To fix these errors, you can uninstall and reinstall Discord.
However, you need to do it correctly.
Otherwise, Discord will not be uninstalled completely.
Here’s how to uninstall and reinstall Discord:
- End Discord in the Task Manager.
- Delete Discord from %localappdata%.
- Delete Discord from %appdata%.
- Reinstall Discord from Discord.com.
Uninstalling and reinstalling Discord can also fix bugs and glitches.
This is because Discord will be updated to the latest version and its cache will be cleared.
Conclusion
There are multiple ways to get help on Discord.
The first way is to visit the Discord Help Center.
The Discord Help Center contains multiple categories that you can choose from.
Simply navigate to the category that you need help with and see if there’s an article that answers your question.
You can also seek help in the Discord forum by creating a new post and categorizing it as “Other”.
If all else fails, you can contact Discord by submitting a request here: https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/requests/new.
You can submit a request if you encountered a bug, translation error, or other issues.
Further reading
The 20 Biggest Discord Servers
