Does Discord use a lot of data? – Accurate estimate

Discord is a famous messaging service, which supports group chats of any size. You can have servers with over 10,000 members, or have more intimate groups with less than 10 members.

Discord makes it possible to create or join groups of any size, and gives you the option to assign roles as a way of managing/organising said groups.

Due to Discord’s various features, people have wondered how much data the platform actually uses.

Since the platform supports large server sizes, some may worry that Discord has a very high data usage. We’ll discuss the details surrounding how much data Discord uses in the following section.

Does Discord use a lot of data?

The truth is that Discord doesn’t use much data for chatting – less than half of a MB for an hour of messaging.

This increases with voice calls, which use as much as 30MB of data per hour. And if you’re trying to save data, you’ll want to avoid video chats – they can use between 250MB and 300MB for a one hour video chat at high quality.

There is no official answer for exactly how much data Discord actually uses. Discord does not provide such information.

How much data Discord uses often varies depending on the settings, preferences, and other details. Each person will use Discord slightly differently to another user. How you use Discord will affect how much data it takes up.

However, some engineers at Discord did confirm that text messages generally don’t use up much data.

In regards to voice chatting, the data usage is similar to text messaging. It doesn’t take up much data at all. The data usage varies depending on the duration of the voice call.

Video calls, however, take up much more data as it requires a higher level of connection. Images (and other similar forms of media) also use up quite a bit more data.

This is because such attachments are quite a bit larger in size than simple text. Sending large files will take up more data than sending smaller files.

How can I track how much data Discord uses?

In general, Discord’s data usage varies depending on how frequently you use the platform. The higher the activity, the more data is used.

This also includes any background activity Discord undergoes. It can be difficult to determine how much data Discord is really using as there’s no official way of calculating such a thing.

However, there is a way to monitor Discord’s data usage on both Desktop and Mobile. This can give you a better idea of Discord’s overall data usage.

On PC/Windows

To check Discord’s data usage on PC/Windows, open the device settings. You can do so by searching for ‘settings’ in the Start Menu. Or, you can simply press Windows-Key + I to open the settings.

Once you’ve opened the settings, click the ‘Network and Internet’ option. Then, click the ‘data usage’ option in the top right. This should show you the data usage on your device for the last 30 days.

If you’ve used Discord lately, it should be on the data usage list. The list of programs should go from largest data usage to lowest data usage. Scroll until you find the Discord app to see how much data Discord uses.

Keep in mind that the data usage list is different depending on the specific Wi-Fi network you’re currently using. The programs in the list are ones you’ve used whilst connected to that network. Make sure that the selected network is the one you’ve for connecting to Discord.

If you wish to change the selected Wi-Fi network, click on the downwards-facing arrow in the top right. Then, select the network you want change to.

On Mac

To check Discord’s data usage on a Mac, open the Activity Monitor. Then, select ‘Network’ to see your device’s data usage per app. You can do this to see the data consumption of Discord, but also your other internet usage too.

It can give you an idea of how much data Discord uses daily, and you can track this before and after voice and video calls to see their impact. This list refreshes itself whenever the device restarts.

On Mobile

You can also check Discord’s data usage on a mobile – it is relatively straightforward for both iOS and Android devices.

On iOS

To check data usage on iOS, open the device settings. Then, press Mobile Data and scroll down.

There should be a list of apps with their data usage beneath them. Scroll until you find the Discord app to see its data usage.

Keep in mind that the data usage amounts are only relevant up to the last reset they had. You can check when the list was last updated by scrolling to the bottom of the page.

If you have limited data to use, then Discord may start cutting out, which is why you should track data usage if you’re on a plan.

On Android

To check Discord’s data usage on Android, open the settings. Then, select the ‘Apps’ option. This should open up a list of your currently installed apps.

Scroll until you find the Discord app and press on it. Scroll down until you find the ‘usage’ section. It should show you Discord’s data usage there.

If you want more details, click on the ‘Mobile Data’ option. It will tell you the app’s data usage according to foreground activity and background activity.

If you keep accessing Discord frequently, you may end up getting the rate limited error, which is designed to limit the amount of times you can access your servers.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there is no official for determining how much data Discord uses. However, there are ways to discover the app’s recent data usage on your device. This is only applicable for the Discord app.

If you use Discord on a browser, you’ll have to look at your browser’s data usage for an idea of Discord’s data usage. You can check your Discord app’s data usage through your device settings. There should be an option for viewing the data usage for all your apps. Find the Discord app to see its data usage.

If you want to minimize Discord data usage, make sure to stick to voice chat and messaging as opposed to making a video call, as this uses significantly more data – as a rough estimate, this can be as much as 200-300MB of data for a one hour call.