Discord is a popular app for messaging and voice calling people. The app undergoes updates fairly frequently due to its regular maintenance checks. This is done to ensure that no bugs or issues occur on the platform.

It is generally pretty easy to activate automatic updates with Discord, or even stop Discord updates if you want to.

Why would you want to do this? Well, there are time that Discord can get stuck when checking for updates – here’s what to do if that happens.

Discord stuck on checking for updates

Discord can sometimes have issues with checking for updates. The app can get stuck on this step, and therefore fail to update itself.

Usually, restarting the app is enough to fix Discord stuck on checking for updates.

However, this doesn’t always work. Fortunately, there are a few other ways to stop Discord from buffering.

We’ll go through some of these solutions in this article.

Restart Discord

The first solution for fixing Discord is to restart the application. Restarting Discord will refresh the app and possibly solve any buffering issues.

Firstly, close the application by clicking on the ‘x’.

Or, if the application is frozen and you’re unable to access the ‘x’ button, you can force close Discord using the Task Manager.

Open the Task Manager by pressing Windows-key + X > Task Manager.

Or, if your device is frozen and you can’t access the Start Menu, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete > Task Manager.

Once you’re on the Task Manager, find the Discord app and select it. Then, click ‘end task’ to close the program.

Alternatively, you can use the System Tray to close Discord. Open the System Tray by clicking the upwards-facing arrow beside the taskbar.

Locate the Discord icon and right-click on it. Then, select the ‘Quit Discord’ option to close Discord.

Once you’ve successfully closed the Discord app, reopen it by double-clicking Discord’s desktop shortcut.

You could also reopen Discord by searching ‘discord’ in the Start Menu, and selecting the ‘open’ option.

Once you launch Discord again, try checking for updates again to see if the problem has been fixed.

Restart Device

If restarting Discord didn’t work in fixing the update problem, try restarting your device.

This will reboot your whole operating system, and could help fix any buffer issues.

To restart your device, simply click Start menu > Power Button > Restart.

Alternatively, if your device is frozen and you can’t open the Start Menu, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete > Power Button > Restart.

Once you’ve restarted your device, relaunch Discord and try checking for updates again to see if the issue’s been fixed.

Disable Windows Firewall

Another method for fixing Discord’s update problem is by disabling Windows Firewall.

The Firewall program can sometimes block programs from completing certain actions.

Windows Firewall could be interfering with Discord’s performance and causing it to buffer. Try disabling the Firewall program to see if it fixes the update issue.

First, open Windows Firewall. You can do this by searching ‘firewall’ in the Start Menu.

Then, click ‘turn Windows Firewall Defender on or off’. Select the ‘turn off Windows Defender Firewall’ option for both network settings.

Alternatively, you can click on Settings > Privacy and Security > Windows Security > Open Windows Security > Firewall & Network Protection.

Then, click on each network option and toggle the switch off for Microsoft Defender Firewall.

If you don’t wish to fully disable Windows Firewall, you can make the Firewall allow Discord to pass through program’s security measures.

Open Windows Firewall and click ‘allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall’.

Next, locate the Discord app and check both boxes next to it. Now, try checking for updates on Discord again to see if the issue’s been resolved.

You may also want to check whether an antivirus software is causing the Discord update loop issue.

Run Discord as Admin

Another method for fixing the update problem is by running Discord as administrator.

Doing so will ensure that Discord has the necessary admin privileges – you may need to transfer ownership of the Discord server to do this.

The app won’t be able to complete certain actions if it doesn’t have permission to do so.

To run Discord as administrator, find the Discord shortcut and right-click on it. Then, select the ‘properties’ option.

Next, click on the ‘compatibility’ tab and check the option for ‘run this program as administrator’.

Alternatively, you can run Discord as administrator using the Start Menu. Simply search ‘discord’ in the Start Menu, and click ‘run as administrator’.

Afterwards, try updating Discord once more to see if the issue has been fixed.

Clear Discord Cache

Discord may be failing to update because of your Discord cache. Cache builds up as you use the app.

There may be an issue with the cache files, which can affect Discord’s performance. Try clearing your Discord cache to see if it solves the update problem.

To clear Discord’s cache, press Windows-key + R and type %appdate% in the Run Dialog box. Press the Enter-key to run the command. This should open up File Explorer.

Alternatively, you can search %appdata% in the Start Menu. Select the ‘open’ option to open File Explorer.

Find the folder for Discord and open it. Then, locate the cache folder and open it. Delete all the files within the cache folder.

Afterwards, try updating Discord once more to see if the problem has been fixed.

You should no longer find Discord stuck on checking updates forever – if you do, you can also un-install then re-install Discord to ensure that you’ve got an updated version of the app too.

Check Discord Servers

If your Discord client won’t install updates, it may be something to do with the Discord servers.

When the Discord server is down, you may end up getting the message that your Discord update failed.

You can use something like the Down Detector the check the Discord Server Status and see whether it is down.

Contact Discord

If none of the methods above solve the update issue, try contacting Discord Support for help.

Go to https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/requests/new to find their help form. Fill in the form and click ‘submit’ when you’re finished.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Discord can sometimes get stuck whilst checking for updates.

The app may be acting up due to a bug of some sort, or the app may not have the necessary admin privileges to update. Usually, Discord checking for updates is a sign that the current version may be outdated.

Try restarting the app, or running the app as administrator. If nothing seems to work in fixing the problem, try contacting Discord for help.