How to Restart Discord on Mobile and Desktop

Discord is one of the most popular platforms, especially for gamers to connect and chat, but it isn’t without problems. There are several glitches on Discord that hinder the overall experience of the platform. Well, most of the issues can be resolved by simply restarting Discord. But what if you’re unable to restart Discord for some reason? Well, this article shows you how to restart the app on mobile and desktop.

How to restart discord

It is important for you to understand that restarting Discord and restarting the Discord server are two different things. In this article, we will take you through restarting Discord on Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS. But before we begin with the steps, let’s understand the circumstances under which you may have to restart Discord.

When Should You Restart Discord

If you are a Discord user, you would know how glitchy Discord can be sometimes. Here’re some of the prominent issues when you may have to restart Discord;

1. Frozen channels: This is one of the most common issues. When the Discord channel freezes, it also stops the connected microphone.

2. Status bug: This is another form of bug you will see on Discord. The status of your friends and fellow gamers doesn’t update, meaning they might be online but appear offline, or vice versa.

How to restart discord

Well, things don’t stop there. There are times when Discord crashes for no apparent reason and other times when Discord doesn’t open. These are specific scenarios where you can restart Discord and sort the issue. Now, let’s move on to see how you can restart Discord.

3 Ways to Reboot the Discord App on Windows

In Windows, when you close Discord, it doesn’t actually close. It runs in the background and can be easily accessed from the system tray. You need to take a couple more steps to quit the app altogether. Follow the below-mentioned methods to close and restart the Discord app on Windows.

1. Close the Discord App From Taskbar

You should be inside Discord on your Windows PC and follow the steps below.

Step 1: Click the ‘X’ button to close the Discord app.

Click the ‘X’ button

Step 2: In the system’s tray, click on the up-arrow icon.

click on the up-arrow icon

Step 3: Navigate to the Discord icon, right-click, and choose Quit Discord.

And this is how the Discord app is completely closed on your Windows machine. 

ight-click and choose Quit Discord

Step 4: Now, press the Windows key, type Discord, and press Enter.

type Discord

This way, you can restart Discord on Windows. However, you can reduce some steps to restart Discord by following the next method. 

2. Restart the Discord App Using Task Manager

This method helps you force close Discord and restart it. Follow the steps below.

Step 1: Press the Window key, type Task Manager, and press Enter.

type Task Manager

Step 2: Under the Processes tab, locate and right-click on Discord and select End task.

locate the Discord process

This will force close Discord on your Windows PC.

Step 3: Now, press the Windows key, type Discord, and press Enter.

type Discord

This way, you can relaunch Discord on Windows.

3. Clear the App Data and Restart Discord

If Discord keeps crashing, freezing up, or doesn’t recognize the microphone, this is the best way to fix it. Follow the steps. 

Step 1: Press ‘Windows key + R’ on your keyboard to open the Run window.

open the Run window

Step 2: Type the command in the field and hit Ok.

%appdata%

Type the command in the field

Step 3: From the Windows roaming folder, locate the Discord folder and press ‘Shift + Delete’ on your keyboard.

locate the Discord folder

Step 4: In the Delete prompt, select OK to confirm.

Shift+Del Prompt

Step 5: Now, press the ‘Windows key + R’ on your keyboard, type Run, and press Enter.

open the Run window

Step 6: In the Run command, enter the below command and click on OK.

%localappdata%

enter the below command

Step 7: Select the Discord folder and press ‘Shift + Delete’ on your keyboard.

Select the Discord folder

Step 8: Click on Yes to confirm.

Shift+Del Prompt

There you have it. The Discord data on your PC is entirely erased. Now, you can restart Discord on Windows for it to run smoothly. 

How to Restart the Discord App on Mac

You can easily restart Discord on Mac; in fact, restarting Discord on Mac is much easier than on Windows. Follow the below steps.

Step 1: Locate the Discord icon pinned on the dock.

Locate the Discord icon

Step 2: Right-click on the Discord icon and select Quit from the options.

Right-click the Discord icon

There you have it. The Discord application is completely closed on Mac.

Step 3: To relaunch, press ‘Command + Space Bar,’ type Discord, and press Return.

type Discord

This way, you can restart Discord on Mac and get along with friends and fellow gamers.

How to Reboot the Discord App on Android

Much like Windows, simply closing the Discord app on Android may keep the app running in the background. To ensure the app is fully closed, you must force-stop it. 

Step 1: Firstly, close the Discord app from the phone.

Step 2: Go to your phone’s settings and scroll to ‘Apps & notifications.’

Step 3: Tap on ‘See all apps,’ and select Discord from the list to get into App info.

Step 4: Under App info, tap on Force stop and then select OK in the prompt.

And there you have it. Discord is now fully closed on your Android device. 

Step 5: You can restart the Discord app from your phone’s app drawer.

If you are an iOS user, move to the next method. 

How to Restart the Discord App on iPhone

Closing and restarting Discord on iPhone and iPad is straightforward. Unlike Android, there is no option to force close apps on the iPhone and iPad. 

Step 1: Swipe up from the bottom of the phone’s screen.

Step 2: Find Discord from the app list and swipe up on the app’s card.

There you go. Discord is fully closed on your iPhone. To relaunch it, go to your home screen and tap the Discord icon.

That’s how you can restart Discord on any device.  However, if the issue persists, you can delete the app and reinstall it to fix the issue. Alternatively, also check Discord servers to see if they are down or causing the issue.

FAQs on Restarting Discord

1. What happens if you clear the Discord cache?

When you clear the Discord cache, it will wipe out the temporary data like search history, preferences, etc. It won’t delete your login credentials. This helps free up space for more relevant things.

2. What happens if I delete and reinstall Discord?

Nothing really. Yes, the app gets deleted from your phone, but if you re-install it or use the web version, your account will be just as you left it.

3. How to restart the Discord Server?

The only way to restart a Discord server is to delete it and create a new one. Keep in mind that deleting a server also clears all channels, messages, and server users. Therefore, you should only delete the server if you want to close the server.

Easy Troubleshooting Discord

Sometimes, the easiest solution for any hardware or software-related problem is to simply restart, and Discord is no exception. You can, however, follow the methods mentioned in this article to restart Discord easily and efficiently.

Last updated on 09 November, 2022

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