Discord is a popular platform for text-messaging and voice-chatting with other people. Discord is especially well-known amongst gamers, and can be used as a method of communicating with others in-game.
For games that don’t include in-game mics, this feature is very useful in allowing players to better collaborate with each other.
You can easily use Poll Bot in Discord to create polls, and the app generally offers a good deal of customisation. However, there are occasions where you may find that Discord cuts out – here’s what you should do if you ever face this issue.
Discord cutting out while playing games – What to do
There can be times where Discord’s audio cuts out whilst you’re in-game. Fortunately, having your Discord audio cutting out is fairly common, and it can usually be resolved by adjusting your region settings, app settings or server settings.
There are a few possible causes for this, some of which we’ll go through. We’ll also discuss ways in which to stop Discord from cutting out whilst you’re playing games.
Check sound settings
Firstly, check the sound settings on your device. Discord may be experiencing audio issues because your sound settings aren’t configured correctly.
Open the sound settings by searching ‘sound’ in the Start Menu. Click the ‘open’ option to open the sound settings, or simply press the ‘Enter-key‘.
Once you’ve opened the sound settings, scroll down until you see the ‘more sound settings’ option. Click on it.
Another window should appear. Select the ‘communications’ tab. Underneath the section for ‘when windows detects communications activity’, select the ‘do nothing’ option. Afterwards, click ‘apply’ to confirm the changes.
Next, select the ‘recording’ tab. Check to see if the default device is set to the correct device. If not, select the desired device and right-click it.
Then, select ‘set as default device’. Click ‘apply’ to confirm the changes.
Once you’ve set the correct default device, right-click on it and select ‘properties’.
Select the ‘advanced’ tab. Underneath the section for ‘Default Format’, click on the drop-down menu to see the different audio qualities. Choose one, and test out the audio quality. Find the option that works best for you. Once you’re done, click ‘apply’. Then, click ‘ok’ to close the window.
Turn off audio devices
Discord’s audio may be cutting out because of your other connected audio devices. You may be connected to more than one audio device, which can sometimes affect your audio output.
Your device could be struggling to decide which audio device to use. To solve this issue, disable all audio devices except the primary device you’re using.
To disable an audio device, first open the sound settings. Search ‘sound’ in the Start Menu, and click ‘open’. Then, click ‘more sound settings’.
Select the ‘Playback’ tab. There should be a list of all the audio devices you’ve used before. Next to each device, it should state whether you’re currently connected to it.
If it’s connected, it should say ‘ready’. If it’s the primary device you’re using, it should say ‘default device’. If it’s not connected, it should say ‘disconnected’.
Find a device you wish to disable, and right-click on it. Then, select ‘disable’. Repeat this step for other devices you wish to disable. Once you’re done, click ‘apply’ to finalise the changes. Click ‘ok’ to exit the window.
Finally, relaunch the Discord app to see if the audio still cuts out. You could also just try restarting Discord to see if it fixes the audio issues.
To restart Discord, you must first exit the application. Open the Task Manager (Windows-key + X, then click ‘Task Manager’). Select Discord, and click ‘end task’.
Next, relaunch Discord by double-clicking Discord’s desktop shortcut. Or, search ‘Discord’ in the Start Menu and click ‘open’.
Restart device
Discord’s audio may be cutting out because of an issue with your device. Your OS may be using too much power, which can cause programs to lag.
Restarting your device can give your OS a break, and the chance to cool down. It can also refresh the Discord app, in case the problem lies with the app itself.
To restart your device, go to Start menu > Power Button > Restart.
Check Discord audio settings
Discord’s audio may be experiencing issues due to your Discord audio settings, or sometimes you can have issues using Spotify and Discord together.
You can check for any problems by opening the Discord app. Once you’ve launched Discord, click the gear icon in the bottom left. This should open the user settings.
Navigate to the ‘Voice and Video’ tab, and disable ‘Automatically Determine Input Sensitivity’. This option is only available if you have ‘Voice Activity’ enabled.
Once you’ve disabled the input sensitivity, you should be able to manually set a sensitivity using the slider. The lower the position, the lower the sensitivity. Try choosing a relatively low sensitivity.
You should also make sure that the input and output volumes are set high enough. You can test your mic by clicking ‘Let’s Check’.
Disable echo cancellation
Within Discord’s audio settings, you can also try disabling Echo Cancellation. Scroll down in the ‘Voice and Video’ settings, and find the option for ‘Echo Cancellation’.
Toggle the switch off for ‘Echo Cancellation’ to disable it.
Reset Discord voice settings
You could also try to reset the voice settings in Discord. You can do this from Discord’s ‘Voice and Video’ settings.
Scroll all the way to the bottom, and click ‘Reset Voice Settings’. After doing all of this, you should have resolved your Discord audio cutting out whilst you’re gaming online.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Discord’s audio may be cutting out in-game because of an issue with your audio devices. If you’re connected to more than one audio device, your device can struggle to choose between the devices.
Try disabling all but one audio device. Or, the issue may lie with Discord itself. Try checking your Discord audio settings, or restart the Discord app.
