Discord is one of the busiest Messaging and Call apps right now. It was reported that they had over 56 million people logging in every day in the month of May 2019 alone. And as this figure is before everyone got forced into lockdown, we can be sure that it is much higher right now.
And so it comes as no surprise that, even this giant app is having troubles that no one has been able to figure out; especially because of the huge number of people that are using it every day.
One of the major problems that everyone is facing with Discord is that it simply just Won’t Open. And so if you are facing this too, keep reading. We have put together a thorough list of some of the causes as well as their fixes, that we have found up till now.
We’ll start off with a quick fix and then dwell deeper into the different problems.
Table of Contents
What can I do if Discord Won’t Open?
Discord might be running in the background because a Pervious Session would not have closed properly. Go to Task Manager by pressing “Control Alt Delete”, find the Discord App, Right Click and then press End Task. Try Relaunching the App after this.
Another way is for you to Reboot your PC. Go to the Start button, click on Power, and then Restart. Both these things will help to close any Previous Running Sessions that the app might have open.
Possible Fixes for Discord Won’t Open
| 1. Previous Running Sessions |
| 2. Rebooting the PC |
| 3. Set Date & Time Automatic |
| 4. Disabling Proxies |
| 5. Clear AppData and LocalAppData |
| 6. Make sure Discord is Updated |
| 7. Installing Anti-Virus |
| 8. DNS Rest |
| 9. Repairing Corrupted files |
| 10. Uninstall and Install |
| 11. Try Logging in from your laptop |
| 12. PC Repair Tools |
How to Fix Discord Won’t Open Issue
1. Previous Running Sessions
With windows especially, this is one problem you will face with not only Discord but a lot of other software as well. The fact that a previous session of software would not have closed. The problem that this causes is that as it is still running in the background, it won’t get launched again. Because to your computer, it is already open.
There are a few ways to kill previous running sessions. For now, we will talk about 2 of the ways as they are the easiest and quickest to follow.
Related: Better Discord – The Complete Step by Step Guide and Tutorial for 2022
Kill Discord from Task Manager
Follow the following steps:
i) Open Task Manager by pressing “Control, Alt, and Delete” at the same time. OR Go to the Search Bar and Type “Task Manager”
ii) Once Task Manager is Open, Find the Discord App in the list
iii) Then, Right Click on the App
iv) Press “End Task”
Using this method, you will be able to visually see if the Program has closed or not. And whether it was running in the background in the first place or not.
The next way is to use the,
Kill Discord using cmd window
The steps are:
i) Press Windows key and R at the same time
ii) Type “cmd” and then Press “OK”
iii) In the cmd window that you see, Type “taskkill /F /IM discord.exe.
Once this has been finished and you have used either of the two ways listed to kill the software, go and relaunch the Software. You can use these two methods to kill any tasks that are either running in the background or have stopped responding.
Related: Discord Audio Cutting Out [12 Methods] – How to Fix in Few Steps (2022)
2. Rebooting the PC
Another way to Kill the App is to Reboot or Restart your PC/Laptop. For this method, if you do not have SSD for your hard drive, you might need to be more patient than with the previous method.
For this you can either
i) Go to Start
ii) Click on Power and then,
iii) Press Restart
OR you can just, Long Press on your physical power button. If you have the button configured for Restarting, your PC will automatically start to do so.
With this method, once the Hardware Restarts, everything in the system will be flushed out. So if any previous session for the App is running, it will automatically get closed once the system Reboots. After it has, Re-open the app.
3. Set Date & Time to Automatic
This is another quick way to fix the problem of Discord Wont Open.
i) Go to the Search Bar
ii) Type “Date and Time” and Click on the Date and Time Settings
iv) Enable the Option of “Set Time Automatically”
You can also go to the Date and Time Settings by Pressing “Windows and I” together OR
Right clicking on the Time & Date on the Bottom Right side of the Taskbar.
Setting the Time and Date to the correct information is important because apps like Discord that are internet-based have certain failsafe in place. This is because if this information is not up to date, these Apps cannot get the required authorization from the internet, and hence the access is denied.
This solution might not help you all the time as it is in rare situations that a system’s Date and Time will end up messed. These situations included either malware, self-change, or getting new Windows installed.
4. Disabling Proxies
Nowadays, a lot of users end up using Proxies to safeguard their information as well as hide their identity online. And there are a lot of different advantages to doing this too. But, Discord like many other Apps does not allow the use of Proxies on their App.
This is because there are certain pieces of information such as location etc that apps need in order to Operate. And a Proxy stops the App from getting them. And so, Discord might just stop letting you use its app because of this.
In order to Disable a Proxy,
i) Go to the Control Panel by Typing it in the Search Bar
ii) Find the “Network and Internet” option and Click on it
iii) You will be directed to another window. Over there, Click on the “Internet Options”
iv) After that on the Internet Properties Window, Click on the Connections Tab
v) Find the LAN Settings under the Local Area Network Settings
vi) Make sure that the Use a Proxy Server for Your LAN is unchecked. If it is not, uncheck it
vii) Click on Okay at the bottom right side of the Window
viii) Lastly, Click on Save
When your internet and the app are able to communicate properly, this should solve the problem of Discord not Opening.
5. Clear AppData and LocalAppData
Previous app data from sessions that you might have already had on Discord might be stopping the app from starting. But just like killing the previous sessions, this is a quick fix.
For this, though remember, you first need to end the previous sessions if they are still running in the background. After that,
i) Press “Windows Key and R” at the same time
ii) Type “%appdata%” and then Hit Enter
iii) In the new window that appears, Find the Discord folder
iv) Right Click on the folder and then Delete it.
The same steps can be followed to deleting the LocalAppData. The difference is, type “%localappdata%” in step 2.
6. Make sure Discord is Updated
This is a common problem nowadays, especially because of the fact that all the developers are always improving their apps and software or just adding new things. And so if your App is not the most recent version, you will have trouble opening it up.
In order to make sure that your App is the updated version,
i) Go to the Website, https://discord.com/ on any one of your internet browsers
ii) Check to see which version of Discord is the most recent
iii) Compare your version of it with the one available on the website
iv) If there is a difference, download the one present on the website
7. Installing Anti-Virus
Another problem that might be affecting your hardware as a whole can be Malware. These are viruses that come into your PC or laptop throughout different channels. These channels can be the internet, emails, files that you download, etc.
If malware is present though, there are a lot of different problems that might start taking place. And so, Discord not Launching might be because of this too.
To fix this, you will either need to reinstall your windows so that everything gets flushed out or by installing an Anti-Virus. An Anti-Virus is a software that is available on the internet and in the form of a CD. It detects malware in your hardware and eliminates them.
We would recommend that you get this as a long-run measure, as Anti-Viruses are really beneficial in fighting off all forms of malware.
8. DNS Reset
Another problem that can occur on its own is that the DNS settings might get corrupted due to which Discord might be having troubles connecting to the internet. And hence, your software might not be working.
Though worry not as this is an easy fix. All you need to do is,
i) Press “Windows and R” at the same time
ii) Type ”cmd” in the run Box and Press Enter
iii) In the window that you see next, Type “ipconfig/flushdns” and Press the Enter Key.
This will solve the corrupted DNS settings if you have any and should help Discord communicate with your Internet. Once this is done, try Re-launching the program.
9. Repairing Corrupted Files
Discord, like many other apps, uses a lot of different files in order to run smoothly. And if during usage, some of these files get corrupted or deleted, Discord won’t open.
Though with Windows, this isn’t much of a headache. As with the System File Checker tool, you can scan your hardware to locate the corrupted or missing files.
Once these different files have been found, you can individually get them from the internet.
These files end up being really important as all of these cover one thing or another. And with any system or app, this is a drawback in the sense that everything needs to be present whether it is being used or not.
In order to use this,
i) Press “Windows and R” OR Type “Windows Command Prompt” In Search Bar
ii) Then Type “cmd”
iii) Finally either Type “sfc /scannow” OR “sfc /verifyonly”
10. Uninstall and Install
If the problem is with the app itself, whether it be some files missing or something corrupted, a great fix is to simply just uninstall and install the program again.
First we will tell you about how to uninstall and then we’ll move on to the installation process.
Uninstall
In order to uninstall,
i) Go to the Search bar
ii) Type “Add or Remove” / “Uninstall” and then Click on the “Add or Remove Programs”
iii) Find the Discord App in the list and then,
iv) Click on the App
v) Press “Uninstall” and then give it a few minutes
Once you have done this, you can then go and Install the app again.
Install
i) Go to the Website, https://discord.com/
ii) You then have two different options. One will be “Download for Windows” and the other one “Open Discord in your Browser”. Click the “Download for Windows”.
iii) Once you do, the Setup will start Downloading
iv) After that, just Click on the Discord Setup
You will have the Discord app on your laptop or PC again, just like that.
11. Try Logging in from another Browser or PC
Another way to see why Discord won’t open is by either using the Web-Based Version or by trying to use the app from another system, whether it be PC or Laptop.
If the app is working on the web-based version as well as another system that means the problem lies with your specific hardware.
For that you can easily just uninstall your version of the app, and then re-download it to make it work.
To log in, go to https://discord.com/login
12. PC Repair Tool
There is another scenario in which Discord might not be working and it could be related to your hardware rather than the App itself.
This could happen in the circumstances that your own PC might have some problems that need resolving. And so in turn, these problems might be affecting Discord.
For this problem too, there is an easy fix present. Which is that you need to download a Windows Repair tool. There are numerous tools present on the market right now and you can go download them for free.
Out of all the presents though, we would recommend you to go for the FixWin Tool present.
This tool is free and would be a great addition to the PC or Laptop as it would help you in the future too.