Discord won’t open

Discord is one of the most used streaming and chatting applications. Despite being lauded as an excellent tool by 250 million users worldwide, some issues keep surfacing with the application now and then.

A rather bizarre problem haunts Discord. Upon launching, the app fails to open on users’ computers (Windows). In some cases, Discord may freeze, not show up, or only run in the background.

Although there aren’t any permanent solutions to fix these problems, the Discord community offers tried and tested methods to resolve these issues in most cases.

Possible Causes for Discord not opening

When another program blocks the Discord app, it prevents the app from launching correctly. Many Antivirus applications are pre-configured to block streaming apps like Discord.

1. Discord offers various features that sync with games running on your PC, such as an in-game overlay that may prevent opening the Discord app.
2. Damaged or missing files is one of the most common problems with Discord, not opening. There’s a possibility that your Discord files were damaged or deleted. You will need to restore the damaged files before you can open the app.
3. Some general issues with Windows OS may interfere with Discord from time to time, including not enough space on your hardware, an overloaded CPU, and a poorly configured internet connection.

How to solve if Discord won’t open

Here is the list of tried and tested methods to resolve issues with Discord.

1. Close All Discord Services & Relaunch

Most of the time, rebooting the software will resolve the problem. A previous Discord session may not have shut down correctly, leaving it stuck in the background that may prevent the app’s relaunch.

You can quickly fix this by closing the app from the “Task Manager.”

• Type Ctrl + Alt + Del on your computer keyboard.
• Select ”Task Manager” from the list of options to open the Task Manager window.
• Scroll through the Apps and Background Services and find the Discord app.
• Once you find it, tap on it and then click on the ”End Task” button located in the bottom right corner of the Task Manager window.
• Wait for the service to terminate entirely before trying to relaunch the app.
• Now, reopen the Discord application from the Windows Start menu or Shortcut Menu.

Note: You can restart the PC to reboot the system before launching the app ultimately.

2. Set Windows Date/Time to Automatic

Did you know, changing the Windows Date/Time from manual to automatic can fix most problems with computer applications?

For reasons that are wholly unknown to us, Windows can sometimes prevent some applications from functioning properly because you have set up your Windows Date/Time to manual.

You can give this option a try if rebooting the app doesn’t work.

• Take your mouse cursor to the bottom-right corner of your screen and then tap on the Date/Time.
• Click “Date and Time Settings” to edit the Date/Time.
• It will prompt you to the “Time & Language” preset to adjust the date and time.
• Toggle the bar on for “Set Time Automatically.”
• Close the preset and then proceed with rebooting the system before launching the app.
• Restart the PC and launch Discord.

3. Disable Proxies

Discord doesn’t work well with VPN (Virtual Private Network). You may encounter issues such as “No Route error” when using VPN without UDP (User Datagram Protocol).

So if Discord won’t open, disabling any proxies in your connection to an ISP is a reliable way to resolve the Discord app’s problems.

• Start with accessing the “Control Panel” on your computer. You can either search it using a search bar or click WINDOWS+X to bring up a list of services. Choose Control Panel from the list.
• Inside the Control panel, choose the ”Network and Internet” option and then click on ”Internet Options.”
• In the ”Internet Properties” window, click on the ”Connections” tab among the options running vertically along the screen’s top.
• Under the ”Local Area Network (LAN) Settings,”  click on ”LAN Settings” and then find the ”Proxy server” section from the list of servers.
• Untick the ”Use a proxy server for your LAN” option.
• Click ”Ok” and then exit.
• Try launching the Discord app.

4. Remove Malware

Sometimes, malware in your computer can prevent applications from running smoothly so Discord won’t open. The malicious software that has found access onto the PC could be linked to Discord not opening.

To remove malware from your computer, you should form a scheduled PC maintenance routine and run an anti-malware program.

• In Windows 10, open the Windows Security app and click on Virus & threat protection.
• Run Quick scan, Full scan, or custom scan unsuspected Trojan viruses or other malware threats.
• Remove or delete them as instructed.
• Proceed with rebooting the system before launching the Discord app.

5. Update Discord App

You may encounter many technical issues with your Discord app if you’re running an older version.

Visit the Discord website to download the latest version of Discord. The app is continuously improved and updated. The newest iteration may include a coding rejig that could fix your particular issue.

6. DNS Reset

Discord can sometimes encounter issues with connection. In such a case, you can try flushing out the DNS settings on the PC.

• Right-click on the Windows Start menu and select ”Run,” or type WINDOWS+R.
• Type “cmd” to open a Command Prompt application
• Type ”ipconfig/flushdns” into the application and then click “Enter.”
• Windows will automatically clear out the DNS.
• Now, try launching the Discord app.

7. Delete LocalAppData

You can delete local app data to help launch the Discord app.

• Right-click on the Windows Start menu and select ”Run,” or click WINDOWS+R to open the “Run” command.
• Type ”%localappdata%” into the search field and click on ”Ok.”
• Find ”Discord” among the list of files and right-click. From the contextual drop-down menu, click on delete.
• Next, try launching the Discord app.

8. Uninstall & Reinstall Discord

If no other solutions work, you can try uninstalling and reinstalling the app on your computer.

• Proceed with uninstalling the app by removing it from the “Apps & Features.”
• Right-click on the Windows Start menu and click on ”Settings.”
• Click on ”Apps.” Find the entry for Discord and Click on it under ”Apps & Features.”
• In the expanded contextual menu, click on ”Uninstall.”
• Follow the steps to uninstall the app through the uninstall wizard.
• Once done, you should reboot the system before installing the app.
• For a fresh install, proceed with removing all temporary Discord data by cleansing the AppData folder.

Most of these general fixes will resolve the issue with the Discord app. It would help if you ran the fixes mentioned above to understand why your discord app isn’t opening. Once you know the problem, you can apply the same fix the next time it encounters the same problem.