Discord is one of the most preferred VoIP, instant messaging and digital distribution platforms. The application is widely used by gamers from all around the world for in-game voice chat. It allows users to communicate and share media and files with fellow gamers and others via private chats or as community member. Despite all its popularity and innumerable distinctive features, users keep on complaining about Discord Blank Screen issue. If you are also experiencing this problem whilst opening the Discord application, this blog post is a must read for you.
The article highlights the probable causes behind Discord Blank screen and covers feasible ways by which you would be able to fix the issue. So let’s get going and know more about particular problem and its solutions.
What Causes the Blank Screen on Discord?
Not very often but at times Discord shows up a black screen when you launch the application or try to stream from it.
The most common causes that triggers the Discord blank screen issue are listed as under:
- Problems with improper Discord settings,
- Issues with recent Discord updates,
- Incompatibility with operating system,
- Corrupted cache,
- Background applications,
- Graphics driver update issues,
- Hardware acceleration,
- Misconfigured the Date/Time settings
- Use of Proxies/VPNs
- Adblocking applications
Having recognized the most frequent, common and regular reasons resulting into Discord Blank Screen issue, let’s move towards some effective troubleshooting methods which can help you to fix the problem.
Fixing the Discord Blank Screen issue:
Solution#1: Run Discord with Admin Privileges
Since the first cause listed above is the problem with improper Discord settings. We recommend you run the app with Admin rights to overcome the problem and fix Discord Blank screen. Follow the steps below to run Discord as admin:
- Open “Task Manager” by pressing “Ctrl + Shift + Esc” on your keyboard
- From the list of applications running on your PC, just find and select all the tasks related to “discord.exe” and then click on “End Task”.
- Thereafter make a right-click on the Discord app and then select “Properties”.
- Now go to the “Compatibility” tab. Check the box provided next to “Run this program as an administrator” and then click on “OK”.
Now restart the Discord app and see whether the black screen issue is resolved or not.
Solution#2: Update Discord App
An outdated app could be one of the most common causes of getting Discord Black screen. Thus to fix this problem you must look for the latest updates and get it installed on your system. This can be done by performing following steps:
- Open Run box using “Windows key + I” and search for “%localappdata%”.
- Find the folder named as “Discord” and then double-click it.
- Next to that, double-click on the “Update” executable file to start the update process.
Once Discord app is ready with update check for the issue, if still persists then you must try to uninstall the app and re-install it back again.
Solution#3: Un-install & Re-install Discord App
- Open run box by pressing “Windows key + I” and then search for “appwiz.cpl”.
- Make a right-click on the “Discord” app and then select “Uninstall”.
- Open run box once again and now search for “%appdata%”.
- Find the folder named as “Discord”, right-click on it to select “Delete”. This will completely uninstall the app and its data from your system.
- Now open your preferred browser and navigate to the official site to download Discord afresh.
- Once you get it downloaded, double-click the setup file and to install it. You need to follow the provided on-screen instructions and wait for the installation to complete.
After you re-install the app, login to your Discord account and then check you still get the blank screen.
Solution#4: Run Discord in Compatibility Mode
As incompatibility with operating system is yet another reason behind getting the blank screen on Discord, you can easily fix the issue by running the Discord in Compatibility mode. This can be done with the help of instructions mentioned below:
- Hover on the Discord app, right click on it and select “Properties”.
- Next, go to the “Compatibility” tab. Check the box provided next to “Run this program in compatibility mode for” and then select a lower version of Windows.
- Apply the settings by clicking OK.
Now restart your computer and see if the Discord Blank Screen issue is fixed or still persists.
Solution#5: Clear Discord Cache
If corrupted Cache is attributing to this issue then you must get rid of the app cache data to fix it. Under-mentioned are the steps that may help you to clear Discord Cache:
- Open Run box using shortcut key combination “Windows key + I” and search for “%appdata%”.
- Find the folder called “Discord” and “Delete” it.
Thereafter restart the application and look for the issue, whether it is still in place or got fixed.
Solution #6: Disable Discord Cache
In addition to clearing the Cache you can also disable the same and try if the problem is resolved. For doing so:
- Go to the “Discord Home Screen” and here open developers’ options by pressing “Ctrl + Shift + I”.
- Now head to the “Network” tab and then un-check the box provided next to “Cache”.
Restart Discord app and proceed to see if the black screen issue is fixed.
Solution#7: Terminate Background Applications
If the problem of Blank Screen is due to some of background application which are interfering with the Discord app, you need to terminate all such unwanted applications. For that you must perform following tasks:
- Open “Task Manager” using “Ctrl + Shift + Esc”.
- Select the unwanted application(s) which is running in the background and then click on “End Task”.
This might help you to fix the Discord Blank Screen issue. If it doesn’t, try your luck with other solutions.
Solution#8: Update your Graphics Driver
One of the ways to fix the problem is by updating the graphics driver. To update it use the procedure given below:
- Press “Windows key + X” onyourkeyboard and then select “Device Manager”.
- Click on “Display Adapters”, this will expand the window to display the list of graphics drivers installed on your PC.
- Now open the “Properties” by double-clicking on graphics driver.
- Go to the “Driver” tab and select “Update driver”.
Wait till the driver gets updated. Then restart the computer and see if the black screen issue is sorted out.
Solution#9: Enable/Disable Hardware Acceleration
In case the hardware acceleration is responsible for the Blank Screen you can try enabling/disabling them to check if it would be able to fix the issue for you. Here’s how to do it:
- Go to the “Setting” by clicking the gear icon provided at the bottom left of the screen.
- Now head to the “Appearance” tab, and disable “Hardware Acceleration” by toggling the button provided next to it.
- If the option is toggled as disabled, then switch it to “Enable”.
Solution#10: Reset your Date/Time
You can even try to reset the Date/Time settings in-order to get rid of Blank Screen on Discord. To get it reset you should perform steps as under:
- Press the “Windows + I” to open “Settings” and then select “Time and Languages”.
- Head to the “Date & Time” tab from the left pane. Here find “Set Time Automatically” provided at the right side of the window and enable it using the toggle button.
Once to reset the Date/Time, restart the app and check whether the problem is still there?
Solution#11: Disable Proxies or VPN
Another solution which may get you over this problem is to stop making use of or avoiding proxies or VPN services. You can fix the Blank Screen by disabling proxies/VPN by steps provided below:
- Open “Task Manager” using “Ctrl + Shift + Esc”
- Find all the tasks related with the Proxy applications or VPN on your computer, select them and then click on “End Task”.
This might work for you to get the problem fixed.
Solution#12: Disable Ad-blocker
You can also try disabling the Ad-blocker from the browser to resolve this problem. This can be done using the instructions as follows:
- Click on the “Three-dot” icon provided at the top-right corner of your browser’s window and then select the “More Tools” option.
- Go to “Extensions”, look for the “AdBlock” in the list of enabled extensions.
- Finally, go on to disable it using the “Toggle” button.
That’s all..!! Hopefully you may get Discord Blank Screen problem fixed by applying the solutions mention above.
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