Discord is arguably one of the best streaming service on the market today. Its unparalleled compression quality and many streaming features provide you the most versatile stream sharing experience.
One of the most used features of Discord is the screen sharing option, where you can share your desktop or mobile screen. The Discord screen share option is an easy way to share visual information with your friends, co-workers, fellow gamers, and followers.
If you’re a gaming enthusiast who loves sharing live game plays with friends, you are going to love Discord’s Go Live sharing service that allows you to share the screen with other Discord members.
You can also share screens while watching a movie or sharing presentations during meetings on discord.
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How to Screen Share on Discord?
To start with the screen sharing option, you’d need to know the difference between screen sharing and streaming. Streaming shares a specific application with its audio, while screen sharing only lets you share your screen.
When you decide to share a screen, you’d have to access a Discord server equipped with at least one voice channel.
Discord server is where community members meet. A single server can have up to 500,000 members and 500 voice channels. And, it’s completely free to create and join any server.
Before the COVID-19 lockdown, you were allowed to share a screen of up to 10 people. Following the Covid-19 lockdown, Discord temporarily raised this limit to 50.
Here is the step-by-step guide to sharing the screen on Discord.
1. Join or create a server
This is the first to start streaming and screen sharing on the app.
- Create or join a new server by clicking on the “+” button in the upper left corner. A popup will appear, prompting your to create or join a server.
- Before creating a server, consider giving it a name. Once done, click “Create.”
2. Connect to a voice channel
To share the screen with Discord members, you’d need to connect to a voice channel. Find and join a voice channel that you’re allowed to stream in.
- Click on “+” to create a new voice channel.
- Click on “General” to access this feature. You’ll see that you’re now connected and ready to start a video or share your screen.
When you decide to share the streaming, you’d see two options, “Video” or “Screen,” at the bottom of the window.
- Click on the Video icon to share a stream (It looks like a video camera for mobile app users.) Choosing “Video” will allow you to share a video stream from your webcam,
- Click on the Screen icon to share your screen with other users. If you want to switch to showing a webcam video screen while sharing your screen, click on the video button.
- Discord app will prompt you to choose which application or screen you want to “Go Live.”
- If you have any application open, you can share your screen displaying only that application, such as your web browser, photo-editing software, or a PowerPoint presentation.
- Choose from sharing a single window or the entire screen (If you have multiple monitors, you’ll be able to select which screen you want to share).
- Share your presentation, document, video chat with other participants through the screen share option.
If you want to share your voice with the streaming, make sure your voice settings are set to the microphone. You can continue to communicate via text channels during a Discord screen share.
However, unlike the streaming feature, the audio other than the microphone won’t be audible to the members.
Advanced In-Call Sharing Option
Advanced In-Call sharing allows you to modify the settings such as
- What camera you’re using
- Change your input and output device directly in the call
- Quickly swap between Voice Activity and Push to Talk
In-Call Screen Share Option
- With the In-Call screen share option, you can modify the video stream quality, including changing your stream’s frame rate and resolution directly within the call!
- You can also switch from one app window to another by clicking the “Change Window” option!
- You can then quickly end the stream by selecting “Stop Streaming” when you’re done!
- If you only want one person to see your screen share, you can privately share your screen by inviting them outside the group.
In-Call Voice and Audio Settings
The in-call voice and audio setting come in handy when you’ve forgotten to change up your microphone or headset before the call.
- You’ll be able to change your input and output device directly in the call.
Screen Share Modes
Discord offers two different options of viewing screen shares.
- Grid View– Grid view allows seeing everybody’s screen share at once.
- Focus View– Focus view allows focusing on a specific person’s screen share.
How to watch others’ screen shares?
Like sharing your monitor screen, you can watch others’ screen share by joining their live stream, but first, you need to be a member of the same server.
- Log into the voice channel the person is in and clap on their name.
- If they are currently screen sharing, you will notice the “Go Live” icon next to their name. While in the live stream, you can voice chat with the participant in the voice channel.
You can join others’ live streams while also sharing your screen, but you cannot watch both your live stream and somebody else’s simultaneously; however, you can quickly switch back and forth between the two.
Discord Screen Share From Mobile
Thanks to the latest update, you can now share the mobile screens with other mobile users. It’s great news for mobile gamers who want to stream gameplay from their mobile device.
Likewise, you can do mobile screen share for sharing presentations, documents, or movies from your iOS or Android device.
Before following these steps, make sure you’ve the latest version of the Discord app
- Open the Discord app and join a voice channel or video calling features.
- Tap the “Screen Share” button from the call controls bar.
- A dialog box will pop out explaining how the screen sharing feature works.
- Tap “Try it Out!” to start sharing. When you’re ready to share, tap the “Start Now” button.
Like using the desktop app, you can switch to other apps and use your phone as usual while Discord streams to your viewers in the background.
- When you want to stop, select “Stop Sharing.”
The critical thing to remember is that the screen sharing feature shares your screen along with activities. If you’re using social media and a notification pops up, your viewers will be able to see that as well.
Make sure you close all other apps and turn on Do Not Disturb mode to pause notifications.
Screen Share Problems and solutions
Many users complain of lagging issues with Discord screen share. It’s more likely to happen when you’re using multiple apps simultaneously, haven’t wiped off the cache, or you’re using Discord streaming at the wrong setting.
End unnecessary programs
Software conflict is the primary cause of the Discord lagging issue. It’s recommended that you turn off unnecessary software while running Discord.
Turn off/on hardware acceleration.
Hardware acceleration is a standard feature in every PC to accelerate specific hardware’s performance. When using screen share, the Discord app will use hardware components to work more smoothly. Enable hardware acceleration to get better performance of your application.
Update your drivers
If you’re using a faulty graphic driver or voice and audio output, it’s time to upgrade it. Discord screen share relies on the performance of your graphic driver.
Clear Discord cache files
Your PC becomes slow when too many cache files and cookies are accumulated in it. It’s essential to clear Discord cache files at a regular interval of time.
To do that, run the “%APPDATA%/Discord/Cache” command to find the cache folder. Select all the cache files and click delete.
Reset Discord Voice Settings
Open the Discord app and click the Settings icon. Go to Voice & Video and then click Reset Voice Settings. Click “Okay” to reset voice settings automatically.
Update Discord
if you’re using an outdated version of Discord, it’s time to update your app.