How to Stop Discord from Opening on Startup

The Annoyance of Aggressive Software

Discord is arguably the best communication platform for gamers, remote workers, and online communities. However, it shares a highly aggressive (and frustrating) trait with many other modern applications: the moment you install it, it grants itself permission to launch automatically every single time you turn on your computer.

While this auto-start feature is slightly convenient if you use Discord all day, every day, it is incredibly annoying for casual users. Having Discord launch on startup forces your computer to use valuable processing power and RAM to load a heavy application you might not even want to use. Even worse, it instantly signs you in and shows you as “Online,” meaning you might receive unexpected notification sounds or messages the moment you boot up your PC to do actual work.

Fortunately, you do not have to uninstall Discord to solve this problem. You can easily revoke its permission to open on startup using two different methods.

Method 1: Stop Discord from Inside the App (The Easy Way)

The easiest way to stop Discord from aggressively launching itself is to simply ask it nicely by changing its own internal settings. This method works identically on both Windows and Mac.

1. Open the Discord application on your computer.
2. Look at the very bottom left corner of the Discord window, right next to your username and profile picture.
3. Click the User Settings icon (it looks like a small grey gear).
4. A new menu will appear. Scroll down the left-hand sidebar until you find the “App Settings” section.
5. Click on Windows Settings (or Mac Settings if you are using an Apple computer).
6. Look at the very top of this page for the setting labeled Open Discord under the “System Startup Behavior” header.
7. Click the toggle switch to turn it Off (the switch will turn from green to grey).

Discord will now respect this setting. The next time you restart your computer, it will remain quietly closed until you manually double-click its icon.

Method 2: Force Discord to Stop Using Windows Task Manager

Sometimes, Discord ignores its own settings. If you turned off the toggle in Method 1 but Discord still defiantly opens every time you start your computer, you need to use the Windows operating system to forcefully revoke its permissions.

1. Right-click anywhere on the empty space of your Windows taskbar at the bottom of your screen, then select Task Manager. (Alternatively, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your keyboard).
2. If the Task Manager opens as a tiny window, click More details at the bottom to expand it.
3. Click on the Startup tab at the top of the window. (In Windows 11, click the icon on the left sidebar that looks like a speedometer).
4. You will now see a list of every single application that is legally allowed to start with your computer.
5. Scroll down the list until you find Discord (it may be listed as “Update” with the Discord logo next to it).
6. Click on Discord once to highlight it.
7. Look at the bottom right corner of the Task Manager window and click the Disable button.

The “Status” column next to Discord will instantly change from Enabled to Disabled. Windows will now act as a bouncer, physically preventing Discord from launching during the boot process, regardless of what the app’s internal settings say.

How to Stop Discord on a Mac

If Method 1 failed on a Mac, you can use macOS System Settings to forcefully block Discord, similar to the Windows Task Manager.

1. Click the Apple Logo in the top left corner of your screen and select System Settings.
2. Click on General in the left sidebar, then click Login Items on the right.
3. Under the “Open at Login” section, you will see a list of apps allowed to start automatically.
4. Click on Discord to highlight it.
5. Click the small minus (-) button below the list to remove it entirely.

Discord will no longer launch when you turn on your Mac.