You can share screen on Discord privately or on a server to show a website, watch a movie on Netflix and many other things.

Discord is a group chat app designed to bring communities of like-minded people together. It was released in 2015 aimed at gamers, and while it’s still hugely popular in the gaming world, it has also expanded to cover all sorts of common interests and topics. You might want to get together to discuss a classic movie series, study a project together, or just engage with your favorite YouTuber’s fanbase.

You don’t just have to text chat: Discord makes voice chat and video calls easy, and you can even share your screen—ideal if you just want to stream to a smaller audience than something like Twitch.

We’ll try to explain step by step how to share screen on Discord.

 

Part 1: Discord Screen Sharing Settings

Before you start sharing your screen with Discord, make sure you’ve set everything up correctly.

Open User Settings by clicking the gear at the bottom left next to your username.

Here you will find a handy option called ‘Voice and Video’. Use it to make sure your audio settings are working properly, both the microphone to communicate with the person you’re sharing your screen with, and the output so you can hear them clearly too.

You can also update your video settings here, if you also want to be on camera while sharing your screen. Adjust your webcam options and see if you want to see how it looks.

There are also plenty of smart options available if you want to play around with things like noise suppression, echo cancellation, etc., if you scroll down this menu option. Give it a try if you like, but for most people the default options will suffice.

Now, when you go to share your screen (which I’ll cover next), you’ll first be presented with one last option: resolution and frame rate.

Here you can set the quality of the image you will share. 480p and 720p (HD) are available by default along with 15fps and 30fps. If you want 1080p or use the Source or 60fps option, you’ll need to pay for a Discord Nitro account, which is an upgraded subscription level feature.

 

Part 2: How to share screen on a Discord server?

Once your setup is done, you’re good to go. You can currently share your screen using the Discord browser online or the Discord app. You cannot share your screen on mobile devices. Screen sharing works on Windows, Mac, and Linux, but you can only share audio on Windows 10.

That said, here’s how to share your screen on Discord on the desktop app.

First, you will need to be on a voice channel server. This means that you will need to be on a server that you have set up or have contacted friends and are active in voice chat. It will start in a text channel by default, so make sure you join a voice channel. Once you’re here, you can start chatting with anyone else on the voice channel.

Once you’ve signed in, you’ll see a new option at the bottom left of the screen to share your screen. Click on this button and you will be presented with the option to start sharing your screen; you can choose which app you want to share specifically or the entire screen.

After choosing the screen to share, you can configure the settings as mentioned above.

It’s important to note that if you share your screen through Discord online in your web browser, you won’t get these same customization options. When you click on the screen to share, you will only have the option to choose which window you want to share and it will look slightly different. Once this is done, it will share: you cannot change the resolution or frame rate in the online browser. If that’s a problem, you might want to download the app; it’s free and often faster.

 

Part 3: How to share screen privately on Discord?

If you want to share your screen on Discord in a private direct message, the steps are slightly different. First, there’s no automatic voice channel to join, so you’ll need to start a video call. To do this, click the video call button at the top right of the screen when you’re in the DM folder with the person you want to share your screen with.

Then you simply need to click the Share Screen button that will appear on the main call controls in the middle of the screen. Once done, you can share your screen the same way you would on a voice channel.

 

Part 4: How to change settings while screen sharing on Discord?

Once you’ve started screen sharing on Discord, you don’t need to stop and start again if you want to change the settings. Instead, you can edit them as you work. It is also quite simple.

First, when you share your screen, you’ll see a small popup of your screen on Discord. Hover over this and you’ll see a gear with the stream settings highlighted. Click on this gear.

From here, you’ll get the streaming settings menu where you can change the frame rate and resolution or switch to a different window or app if you want to share something else.

This is really useful if you want to work on multiple apps or projects at the same time, while lowering the resolution or frame rate can really help if your stream lags. If the people you’re sharing your screen with find the stream choppy or the audio and video continue to drop, try lowering the resolution and frame rate to make it more manageable.

 

Discord Screen Sharing FAQ

How many people can I share my screen with on Discord?
Traditionally, there was a limit of 10 people for any Go Live stream on Discord, to make sure all users had a good experience without any performance issues. However, Discord itself raised that limit from 10 users to 50 in March 2020, to help people get through the Coronavirus pandemic. A final end date for the increased limit has not been provided, but it is expected to be lowered again.

Why can’t I share my screen on Discord?
If you’re having difficulty sharing your screen on Discord, there are several potential issues. First, make sure you’re on the desktop program and not the mobile app. Second, make sure you’re running Discord as an administrator. If it still doesn’t work, try uninstalling and reinstalling Discord. If the new version doesn’t work, you may need to email [email protected].

Why does screen sharing appear black on Discord?
If you share your screen but it’s completely black, you may have a problem with your graphics hardware. Update your graphics card drivers and also update Discord to the latest version. Be sure to close all unnecessary programs at the same time as they can consume valuable memory which can lead to no screen sharing.

How to improve Discord stream quality?
If you want to improve Discord’s screen sharing quality because it’s lagging, you’ll need to check if your internet connection has sufficient upload speed. Many broadband providers offer fast downloads but slow upload speeds, so if you’re uploading a video, you may find yourself stumbling and struggling.

If you want to improve your screen sharing video and frame rate because you want it to look better, you’ll need to upgrade to Discord Nitro, which starts at $9.99/month and $99.99/year (49.99€ per year or 4.99€ per month).