Wondering why you experience high CPU usage on Discord?
Discord is an online chatting platform made with gaming in mind. The app performs efficiently and uses minimal system resources even under load. This is great for players who don’t want their FPS to drop while communicating with their teammates.
Unfortunately, there have been reports about Discord using excessive CPU resources on Windows.
This can be a problem, especially for gamers, since their system performance could get affected. When this occurs, you’ll have to choose between communicating with your teammate or preserving your system’s performance.
If you are playing FPS titles, we understand your frustration.
Based on what we know, high CPU usage on Discord is often caused by bugs on the platform. The version you’re using might have optimization issues, causing the app to use excessive resources.
On the other hand, it can also be due to improper device settings and corrupted installation files.
To help you out, we’ve decided to make a guide for fixing high CPU usage on Discord.
Let’s get started!
1. Restart Your System.
One of the quickest ways to fix most issues on Discord is by restarting your system. This should reset Discord’s temporary data and eliminate errors that could be causing the app to consume excessive resources.
Here’s how you can restart your computer:
- First, open the Start Menu on your Taskbar.
- After that, click on the Power Options tab.
- Lastly, choose Restart to reboot your system.
Once done, use Discord and observe your CPU usage.
2. Turn Off Voice Processing.
Discord uses various voice processing methods to improve the quality of voice chats. However, this can also put more load on your system. If you experience lags and high CPU usage while using Discord, turn off the voice processing features on the platform.
Here’s what you need to do:
- On Discord, click on the Gear icon to access the Settings.
- After that, go to Voice & Video.
- Now, scroll down to the Voice Processing tab.
- Finally, turn off Noise Cancellation and Noise Reduction.
Restart Discord afterward and check if the problem is solved.
3. Turn Off Hardware Acceleration.
If you are using an entry-level system, it’s not advisable to use hardware acceleration. This is a feature on Discord that utilizes your dedicated graphics card for performance. However, if your system doesn’t have discrete graphics, hardware acceleration will only cause issues.
To avoid this, follow the steps below to disable hardware acceleration:
- First, open the Settings on Discord.
- Next, go to the Advanced tab.
- Lastly, turn off Hardware Acceleration.
Once done, try joining another voice chat and go back to your game to check if the problem is solved.
4. Disable Discord Overlay.
Discord overlay is a feature that allows you to access your channels without minimizing your game. Discord’s interface simply pops up on your screen, allowing you to go back to your game afterward quickly.
However, this puts an unnecessary load on your system, which could cause high CPU usage. To avoid this, follow the steps below to turn off Discord overlay:
- On your computer, access Discord and go to the Settings.
- Next, scroll down to Activity Settings and click on Game Overlay.
- Lastly, ensure that Discord Overlay is turned off.
Restart your computer afterward and check if Discord still uses excessive CPU resources.
5. Reinstall Discord.
If you still experience high CPU usage on Discord, we suggest reinstalling the app on your computer. Some of its files may have gotten corrupted, causing the app not to work properly on your system.
Follow the steps below to delete Discord on your PC:
- Launch the Control Panel on your computer.
- After that, click on Uninstall a Program and locate the Discord app.
- Finally, right-click on the app and choose Uninstall.
After removing Discord from your system, visit Discord’s website and download the latest installer for your system.
That brings us to the end of our guide for fixing high CPU usage on Discord. If you have questions or any other concerns, please let us know in the comment section, and we’ll do our best to answer them.
If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂
