How To Fix Discord Screen Share Lag In Easy Steps!

Wondering how to fix Discord screen share lag? Well, stick by the end of this post to get a handful of proven-to-work methods and helpful tips.

We will make sure to cover everything you should know about how discord screen share works and provide you with ways to decrease or entirely remove any lag.

To fix the screen share lag on Discord make sure to terminate any running unnecessary programs. Turn off/on the hardware acceleration in the app’s options and update video card (GPU) drivers. Also, clear Discord cache files and reset the discord voice settings. 

Before going into details about how to fix the issue, let’s first take a look at the most common causes for the screen share lag and provide you with some first-hand experience.

Why Does Discord Screen Share Lag?

Before we tell you the most common causes for the issue, you must know that screen share lag could be caused by a weak video card.

Your computer might not be strong enough to broadcast and this is why you would experience lag during your screen share.

Having that aside, here is what users reported that might cause screen share lag in the Discord app.

1. Bad Internet Connection

If the internet connection isn’t strong and reliable to support screen share, you might experience constant lagging and bad quality.

2. Hardware Acceleration

Hardware acceleration is supposed to increase the performance of your PC and the Discord app. Enabling or disabling it might help with the screen share problems.

3. Overfilled Discord Memory

If the discord’s cache is full of unnecessary files, you might experience interruptions while screen sharing. Moreover, you might experience general lag when trying to interact with the software.

4. Power Settings

Changing the power settings of your Discord might help with screen share lag and many other possible issues within the app

5. Outdated Discord Firmware

If you haven’t updated Discord in a while and it is falling back with the version, it is possible that you experience constant lag during screen sharing.

6. Discord Voice Settings

Sometimes discord voice settings are well-known to be interfering with your app’s screen shareability. Resetting should be able to resolve the issue.

7. Running Unnecessary Programs

If your computer is weaker, any other running program than Discord might cause your screen share to lag.

8. Too High Resolution

If you’re broadcasting via screen share, but on a higher resolution than you’re supposed to, the stream may lag.

Don’t get discouraged by a large number of possible causes. We got you covered because we’ve found a solution for each of the causes we’ve found so keep reading to reveal them!

How To Fix Discord Screen Share Lag?

Before you start, it is recommended to restart the device you’re using Discord from.

Your screen sharing could be lagging because of a lack of resources. By performing a restart you will relieve the system of many resource-demanding services, at least for a while.

Note: For the steps below, we have taken a Personal Computer (PC), with Windows operating system.

Having all that in mind let’s start applying the steps one by one.

Step #1 End Running Programs

Try turning off any unnecessary programs running on the background of your PC.

They can sometimes get your system busy which may result in constant screen share lag while you broadcast in the Discord app.

You can end these programs from the Task Manager, which you access by pressing CTRL + SHIFT + ESCAPE.

Click on Processes and then on CPU Usage to sort them in usage priority. Check whatever is unnecessary, highlight it and click on End Process.

We understand that you cannot know which processes you can end and which you can’t but Windows won’t let you end an essential process anyways.

Just make sure to end any actively running software that was downloaded and installed by you.

Step #2 Update Video Drivers

The next step is to update your video drivers. Enter into the app that your video card supports and go to the Drivers tab.

From there, you should find a button labeled Check for new drivers.

Another way to update your video card (GPU) drivers would be by visiting the manufacturer’s website and using their automated tool to discover drivers.

We can guarantee that Nvidia and AMD have such a driver installing tool.

Any foreign developers might not provide such a tool and you might have to do a little research to find out which is the latest driver and how to install it.

Step #3 Turn Hardware Acceleration On/Off

While searching how to fix Discord screen share lag many people discovered the method of toggling on and off the hardware acceleration.

You can achieve this by accessing the options of the Discord app and heading to the Appearance tab.

One of the few sliders within the app should be labeled as Hardware acceleration.

If it is on, disable it, if it is turned off, enable it. The point is to toggle it on and off, so in case the problem is related to this functionality it would reset.

Step #4 Erase Discord Cache Files

Whenever Discord performs an action, regardless of it’s a call, a change to your account, or a message, it all gets recorded in the so-called Cache.

Once the cache is overwhelming, because it builds up over time, it could result in a severe lag.

Luckily there is a way to clear it and here is how:

1. Firstly, exit the Discord app.
2. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R button at the same time!
3. This key bind should open up the Run Dialog.
4. In the run dialog, type %APPDATA%/Discord/Cache
5. Then press the enter button on your keyboard.
6. On your keyboard once again, hold CTRL and A, to select all files within the folder.
7. After all, files are selected, press the Del key on your keyboard.

Re-open Discord and go straight to a call so you can test the video sharing. If the issue was because of a build-up cache it should now be gone!

Step #5 Reset Discord Voice Settings

The step is about resetting the voice settings within your Discord app.

They can sometimes cause interference with your live screen share broadcast, so now you are going to learn how to reset them whenever you are experiencing issues.

Here is how to reset the voice settings easily:

1. Open Discord and click on the Settings icon.
2. From there, select the Voice and Video tab.
3. At the bottom of your screen, there should be a red button, Reset Voice Settings.
4. Select the option and click OK on the pop-up window to confirm the action.

This process will take your voice settings to default and kill any possible lag not only with your screen share but with the microphone as well!

Step #6 Alter Power Settings

If you’re still wondering how to fix Discord screen share lag, you can try changing the power settings.

For this step, you would have to access the power plan on your computer and make some configurations to boost the performance of Discord.

The steps below are describing how:

1. Press the Windows logo key and type the control panel.
2. Open the control panel and under View By click on the Large Icons options.
3. Select the power options.
4. Click on the high-performance configuration
5. Restart your PC and re-open discord to see if the lag has been fixed.

Step #7 Update/Reinstall Discord

If nothing has helped so far, you can try either updating or reinstalling the Discord app.

If you don’t want to bother with reinstalling the whole app, you can check for updates online at the Discord page.

There should be stated the current version of Discord and your current version so you could check the difference.

If you want to reinstall the app, first delete its files from the file directory.

Then, open the Control Panel and delete the Discord app if it is still there. You can download it again from the official Discord online page.

There are many things that could impact the screen sharing feature and even more things that could improve it. Relieving your machine’s workflow can free up resources and improve Discord functionality.

On the other hand, altering some settings might be all you need but re-installing Discord, remains the most effective method of all.

Check out our helpful guides on Discord:

1. How To Know If A Discord Account Is Deleted?
2. How To Stream Movies On Discord?
3. Can You Undelete A Discord Server?

Bottom Line:

Now that you know how to fix Discord lag, you should be fully capable of getting your broadcast to run smoothly again.

Even if you are troubled at some point, you can always consult with Discord’s support team for another round of troubleshooting!