Screen sharing is a fantastic feature to have, especially on an app like Discord. You can use it to stream games, watch movies, and do a variety of other things. If you are seeing a black screen while sharing a screen on Discord or the screen share functionality is loading forever, the solutions listed below will help. The following solutions are applicable to both mobile (Android, iPhone) and PC, unless otherwise mentioned.
1. Restart
If you haven’t restarted your computer or phone in a while, start by restarting it. Many times, restarting the device fixes any temporary issue that could be causing the screen share not working issue on Discord.
2. Check Necessary Conditions
- The screen share functionality is available on Android 5 and above. However, audio sharing can be used on Android 10+ only. Moreover, Xiaomi devices running MIUI do not support screen share.On PC, audio sharing is available on Windows 10+ and macOS version 10.13. Linux doesn’t support audio sharing. Discord only allows 10 people (current limit is 50) to share screens simultaneously. If that number of people are already sharing screening, you won’t be able to do so.Some apps like Netflix, Disney+., offer protected content, hence preventing users from taking a screenshot or sharing screen in other apps. This could be the reason why you are seeing a black screen when sharing screen.
Tip: for protected content from apps like Netflix, play them through a browser instead of the app while screen sharing.
3. Follow Right Steps to Share Screen
You can share the screen in a Discord voice channel and DMs.
Share Screen on PC
On PC, join a voice channel and click on the “Screen” button at the bottom.
The Screen share window will open. Select the app or screen to share from the list and hit the “Go live” button.
Similarly, click on the “Share your screen” button if you are on a video call in DM or a channel.
Share Screen on Mobile
Join a voice channel or create a voice/video call in a Discord DM. Tap on the “Share screen” icon in the bottom panel. A confirmation pop-up will appear. Tap on Start Now.
4. Share Screen With Sound
When sharing a screen on a PC, the audio sharing feature is only available when sharing an application window. That is when prompted to select a window on the Screen share pop-up, select a screen from the Applications tab rather than Screens.
On Android, Discord will automatically share the sound that is playing on your phone. And if your microphone is enabled, you can also talk while sharing the screen.
On iPhone, you would need to enable a setting to turn on the Microphone while sharing the screen. For that, start sharing the screen in Discord. Then, open Control Center on your iPhone. Touch and hold the “Screen Recording” button in Control Center. The Screen Recording customization screen will show up. Tap on the “Microphone” button at the bottom to turn it on.
Tip: Increase the phone or computer’s volume so that others can clearly hear the sound playing on your phone.
5. Update App
The screen sharing functionality could stop working if there’s a bug in the Discord app. Before we move on to the further troubleshooting steps, you should update the Discord app.
To update Discord on PC, close the Discord app and reopen it. If an update is available, it will show up after you restart the app. On mobile, open Play Store (Android) or App Store (iPhone) and search for Discord. Tap on Update.
6. Close Other Apps
Screen sharing functionality requires lots of resources. If your PC or mobile is already running several apps simultaneously, it could lead to performance issues while sharing the screen. The best way to resolve this is to close any unnecessary apps on your computer or phone.
7. Clear Cache (Android)
On Android, you can try clearing the Discord app’s cache as well. A temporary file could be messing up with the screen share feature. Clearing cache should fix it.
To do so, go to “Android Settings → Apps → Discord → Storage”. Tap on “Clear cache”. Restart phone.
8. Exit Full Screen (PC)
Discord often fails to share screen when the app or screen being shared is in full-screen mode. Remove the screen from full-screen mode and try to share the screen in a normal window.
If you want a large screen without making it full-screen, simply resize the window so that it covers the entire screen but does not go into full-screen mode. Furthermore, try using the Discord app in windowed mode rather than full-screen mode. That could also be beneficial.
9. Give Admin Privileges (PC)
For proper functioning of screen share functionality, you should try running the Discord app in admin mode.
To do so on Windows, search for Discord in the Start Menu. Right-click on the Discord icon and select “Run as administrator”. Similarly, run the game in admin mode whose screen you are trying to share in Discord.
On macOS, go to “System Preferences → Security & Privacy → Privacy → Screen Recording”. Make sure Discord is selected under the list of apps that can share the screen.
10. Manually Add Game to Discord Activity (PC)
Generally, Discord will automatically detect and show the game or app in the activity status. If that’s not happening, you can manually add the game to Discord status, which will in turn help in its screen sharing.
Open Discord Settings and go to “Activity status” Click on “Add it”. Look for the app or game from the drop-down box and select it. If the app or game doesn’t show up in the list, you cannot share its screen. Try restarting the game.
11. Turn off Latest Technology Settings (PC)
The Discord app has a setting called “Use our latest technology to capture your screen” that often causes screen share functionality to fail, especially on old computers. You should turn it off to fix the issue.
To do so, follow these steps:
Open the Discord app Settings by clicking on the “Settings” icon at the bottom.
Go to “Voice & video” from the left sidebar.Scroll down in the right panel and turn off the toggle next to “Use our latest technology to capture your screen”.
12. Turn off Experimental Method (PC)
If you are facing an issue where audio doesn’t work while sharing the screen, you should disable the Experimental method setting in Discord.
Go to “Discord Settings → Voice & video”. Turn off the toggle next to “Use an experimental method to capture audio from applications”.
13. Turn off Hardware Acceleration (PC)
Hardware acceleration setting is present in most browsers and apps to manage system resources efficiently by the app itself. However, the same setting often causes issues due to its conflicting nature with the resources assigned by the PC, particularly on older computers.
To fix that, you should disable hardware acceleration both in the Discord app and browser or game that you want to share.
To turn it off in the Discord app, go to “Discord Settings → Voice & video”. Turn off the toggle for “H.264 Hardware Acceleration”. Also, try turning off the OpenH264 Video Codec setting present above Hardware acceleration.
Similarly, turn off hardware acceleration on the browser if you are trying to share a browser tab. For Chrome, go to its “Settings → Advanced → System”. Disable “Use hardware acceleration when available”.
In Firefox, open its Settings and uncheck “Use recommended performance settings” under the General section. Then, turn off “Hardware Acceleration”.
14. Turn off Hardware Scaling (Mobile)
If Discord screen share is loading forever on mobile, you should try disabling the Hardware scaling setting. To do so, follow these steps:
In the Discord mobile app, tap on the “Account” tab at the bottom to go to User settings.
Scroll down and tap on “Voice & video”. Turn off the toggle next to “Enable Hardware Scaling”.
15. Choose Right Setting for Hardware Acceleration (Mobile)
The Discord mobile app lets you choose whether you want to use the OpenSL ES, which is an audio API in Discord calls. This setting could affect your screen sharing functionality.
Go to “Discord Settings → Voice and video”. Start by selecting “Let my operating system decide” under Low-Latency Hardware Acceleration. Restart Discord and try sharing the screen. If that doesn’t fix it, choose the other two options one by one.
16. Turn off Auto Sensitivity
Another setting that has worked wonderfully in resolving screen sharing issues, especially those related to audio is auto-sensitivity. Open Discord Settings on mobile or PC and go to “Voice & video”. Turn off “Auto Sensitivity”.
Pro Tip: select voice activity instead of Push to Talk in Input mode.
17. Clear Discord Cache (PC)
Sometimes, old cache files on PC also disrupt the normal functioning of screen sharing functionality. To fix that, you should clear Discord cache files as shown below:
Type %appdata% in Windows Search. Click on the folder that shows up.
Click on the “Discord” folder followed by “Cache”.
Select all the files inside the Cache folder and delete them.
Restart the Discord app.
18. Update Graphics Card (PC)
Old display adapters can also cause issues while sharing screens. You should update the display adapter to fix the issue. For that, follow these steps:
- Right-click on Start Menu and select “Device Manager”.In Device Manager, expand “Display adapters”. Right-click on your graphics card and select “Update driver”.
19. Reset Voice Settings (PC)
Another easy fix is to reset voice settings on Discord. This solution helps if you are particularly experiencing issues with sound during screen sharing.
Go to “Discord Settings → Voice & video”. Scroll down to the bottom and click on “Reset voice settings”.
20. Reinstall Discord
If nothing helps in fixing Discord screen sharing functionality, you should re-install the Discord app. For that, first, uninstall the Discord app, and then download it from Discord’s website (PC) or respective app stores on Android and iPhone.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is Discord screen-sharing free?
Yes, all Discord users can share the screen for free at 720p/30fps streaming quality. On the other hand, Nitro Classic and Nitro subscribers and go all the way up to 1080p/60fps and 4k/60fps respectively.
2. Can you turn on video while sharing to screen?
Yes. Tap the video icon while sharing the screen to turn on your video.
Explore Discord
I hope the above solutions helped you in fixing screen sharing not working on Discord. Once it is fixed, check the best Discord servers to join. Also, take a look at the best Discord bots for your server.
Mehvish is a tech lover from Kashmir. With a degree in computer engineering, she’s always been happy to help anyone who finds technology challenging. She’s been writing about technology for over six years, and her favorite topics include how-to guides, explainers, tips and tricks for Android, iOS/iPadOS, Windows, social media, and web apps.
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