How to Share Your Screen on a Discord Call

While Discord originally launched as a simple voice-chat application for gamers, it has evolved into a comprehensive communication platform. One of its most powerful features is screen sharing (officially called “Go Live”). Whether you want to stream your gameplay to friends, collaborate on a coding project, or simply watch a YouTube video together, you can broadcast your screen directly into a voice channel.

Discord offers two distinct ways to share your screen: broadcasting a specific application window, or broadcasting your entire physical monitor. Choosing the correct method is crucial for both privacy and audio routing.

How to Start Sharing Your Screen (Desktop App)

You must be actively connected to a Voice Channel to share your screen. You cannot share your screen in a text-only channel.

1. Open the Discord desktop application.
2. Click on a Voice Channel (indicated by a speaker icon) to join it.
3. Once connected, look at the bottom-left corner of the Discord window, just above your profile name and microphone controls.
4. Click the Share Your Screen button (it looks like a monitor with an arrow swooping out of it).

A massive “Screen Share” menu will pop up, presenting you with two tabs at the top: Applications and Screens.

Applications vs. Screens: Which Should You Choose?

This is the most important decision in the process. Understanding the difference dictates what your friends can see and hear.

1. The “Applications” Tab (Recommended for Games and Audio)

This tab displays a list of every specific program currently running on your computer (e.g., Google Chrome, Spotify, a video game). If you select an application, Discord isolates that program.

• Privacy: Your friends will only see that specific window. If you minimize Chrome to check your email on the desktop, the stream pauses; your friends will not see your email.
• Audio: Crucially, this is the only way to share computer audio. If you share an Application, Discord captures the sound coming from that specific program and pipes it into the voice channel so your friends can hear it.

2. The “Screens” Tab (Recommended for Troubleshooting)

This tab displays your physical monitors (Screen 1, Screen 2). If you select a screen, Discord broadcasts absolutely everything that happens on that monitor.

• Privacy Warning: If a sensitive notification pops up, or you open a private document, everyone in the channel will see it.
• No Audio: Due to operating system security restrictions, Discord cannot capture audio when you share a full screen. Your friends will see the video, but they will not hear the game or the YouTube video.

Configuring Stream Quality and Going Live

Once you select what to share (e.g., clicking on the Google Chrome application window), Discord asks you to configure the stream quality.

1. Resolution and Framerate: Free Discord users can stream at 720p resolution and 30 frames per second (FPS). If you pay for Discord Nitro, you can unlock 1080p or 4K resolution at 60 FPS (ideal for streaming fast-paced video games).
2. Click the blue Go Live button at the bottom of the window.

You will hear a confirmation chime, and a small picture-in-picture window will appear in the corner of your Discord client showing your active stream. A red “LIVE” badge will also appear next to your name in the voice channel, allowing anyone to click your name and join the stream.

How to Stop Sharing

When you are finished streaming, you must manually turn the broadcast off.

1. Look at the picture-in-picture window of your stream in Discord.
2. Hover your mouse over the window.
3. Click the Stop Streaming button (it looks like a monitor with an ‘X’ inside it).

Alternatively, simply disconnecting from the Voice Channel will immediately terminate the screen share.