How To Restart Discord on PC, Android, and iOS

Discord, being one of the most used platforms for communication, especially by the gaming community, has left its mark in the social media industry. It surpassed major apps like Skype and TeamSpeak in no time, which were in the game, even before Discord made its debut in the market. Its founder Jason Citron had the idea of making an app. That was to make it easier for users (mainly targeted to the gaming section) to be able to communicate while doing other things like gaming and communicating while playing a multiplayer game and at the same time.

However, no app comes without any faults or compromises. The same goes for Discord. Even though it promises the users to provide a gaming experience (with its voice chat feature) like never before, it does have its own issues that users have to face sometimes. One of such is “how to restart Discord on PC”. If you are facing the same problem, here is an easy guide to answer all your questions.

Why Do You Need to Restart Discord?

If your Discord is not working properly, and you’re getting glitches, then the best possible thing to do is to restart your Discord. There are several ways to do so. But, ever wondered why do you need to restart Discord? Every app or platform tries its best to make sure that the users don’t have to face any issues while using it. However, no app promises to have a bug-free or new-as-ever platform at all times! There are some possible reasons why you might have to restart your Discord, and doing so might resolve those issues. Those issues are as follows:

Not Receiving New Direct Messages: Even though a simple refresh might sound like the solution when you can’t get new direct messages from your friends, sometimes this isn’t the case. After refreshing multiple times, sometimes Discord still doesn’t show the new messages. Hence, a restart might do the trick and resolve the issue right away.
Frozen Channels: This is one of the most common bugs in Discord. In this issue, your mic suddenly stops, leading to voice chat or voice call problems.
Changed or False Status: Discord does not refresh on its own. Hence, these glitches make online members appear offline and vice versa. In another case, you might find members in yellow when they are actually green and not idle. Therefore, this is why it is always recommended for users to manually refresh the program after starting it and at regular intervals as well.

How to Restart Discord on Mac?

One of the main reasons why Discord has a huge user base is its compatibility with a range of devices. Irrespective of the type of software used by users, one can easily connect with their friends and fellow gamers. The users can also successfully accomplish the restarting process on Mac in a few steps. Follow the guide below to know how to restart Discord on Mac:

Solution synopsis: Command + R< Search Discord< Double Click< Option Menu< Force Quit

To refresh Discord on Mac, hit COMMAND + R. Restarting Discord on Mac is also simple. Follow the steps below:

Search the Discord icon pinned on the dock.

Double tap on the Discord icon and the options’ menu will appear.
From the list, click on ‘Force Quit’.

The application has now been completely closed on Mac, and you can relaunch it whenever you like.

How to Restart Discord on PC?

Use Top-Right Close Button

The most reliable method is to click on the cross (X) located at the top-right of Discord. The button can also be found in any application window in Microsoft Windows. However, by default, the close button minimizes the Discord app to the tray instead of closing it completely.

Solution Synopsis: User Settings<Windows Settings< Minimize to Tray <Disable<Restart The App

In order to prevent that from happening, open User Settings of Discord and then go into Windows settings.

Then, search for the Minimize to Tray option and confirm that it is disabled. When the user presses the X button with the option turned off, Discord will close completely instead of minimizing.

After all that is done, start the app again and the issue should be resolved.

Close from System Tray

If the previous method doesn’t appear to work, the user can also try to close Discord completely from the system tray. The system tray refers specifically to the icons located in the bottom-right, next to the time and date.

By clicking the small upward arrow, the user should be able to see Discord’s logo if the application is running. Right-click it and press Quit Discord.
Once the user has closed Discord, they can start the program again and check whether the app is now working properly.

Close With Task Manager

In some situations, the users won’t be able to open the system tray to force Discord to close. To use the Task Manager, here are the steps:

Solution synopsis: Ctrl + Shift + Escape/Ctrl + Alt + Delete< More Details <Processes Tab< Discord< End Task

The fastest way to open Task Manager is by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Escape on your keyboard, or press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and then select Task Manager.
If the user doesn’t have access to a keyboard or keys aren’t functioning properly, they don’t have to worry since Microsoft has provided another option. Select Task Manager by Right-clicking the taskbar.
After Task Manager is opened, expand it by clicking More Details, which is located at the bottom-left of the window.
In the Processes tab, search by name and find Discord. Select it, then press End Task. This should completely close the app, but to be sure, the user can scroll through the list to try and find any other process named Discord.
On the other hand, the users can keep pressing D on the keyboard to cycle through each process starting with the letter D.
After every process related to the desktop app has closed, they relaunch the application and the problem shall probably be gone.

Restarting The Computer

If none of these methods fix the issue, or the users can’t even access the Task Manager or system tray, the simplest solution is to restart the system entirely.

Go to the Start Menu and shut down or restart. If that can’t be done, use the power button to manually turn it off.

How To Restart Discord On Mobile?

If you use the Discord application on a mobile phone, then here are steps that you have to follow for how to restart discord on Mobile. This section has been categorized into two sections: How To Restart Discord on Android and on iOS.

How To Restart Discord On Android?

There are many ways for restarting Discord on Android. The easiest way is as follows:

Press the Menu Button.
Then swipe away the Discord application.

However, in many cases, users have complained that the Discord application resumes from where it ended. Hence, in that case, you have to force stop the Discord application on your Android device.

To force stop,

Go to Settings, then to Apps.

Search for Discord and click on it.
A new screen will appear. You will find the ‘Force Stop‘. Press on it.

Now launch the Discord application again.

How To Restart Discord On iOS?

Restarting the Discord application on iPhone is similar to the process of restarting the application on Android.

You can swipe away the apps by pressing the home button twice or swiping up from the bottom to the center of the screen.

If this doesn’t work, then you can also try to force stop the Discord application on your iPhone by the following steps:

Go to the Settings and press General.

Click on iPhone Storage and locate Discord.

Select Offload App.

Then revisit the Home screen and press on the Discord icon.

This should re-download the app, but all the documents and data will be saved in the same manner as it was before the removal. Now, Discord will restart and will be good to go.

Why Won’t Discord Start?

Discord is a globally used app by gamers and other users for hours on end and promises a smooth VoIP calling experience while gaming. And, hence making Discord among the most popular gaming chat applications in the market. But, it does have some minor issues when it won’t open, as it goes with every other application, the occasional glitch does occur. Here are some possible reasons for Discord, getting stuck on connecting or being unable to restart:

Virus/ Malware: It is notable that serious issues such as viruses or malware in the system are also capable of causing this error.
DNS/ Firewall: The network, DNS, or Firewall settings may also cause problems with a smooth connection. Sometimes, it may be a temporary glitch that can be fixed by simply restarting the app.
Internet/ Router issue: Internet issues or concerns with routers are common issues that could be temporarily blocking the connection.
Date & Time settings: Another issue due to which Discord can get stuck on connecting is a change in the date and time settings on the computer.
Other apps: Clashing apps, for instance, Twitch might also be a cause of the disturbance, preventing the smooth functioning of Discord.

FAQ

How to restart Discord on an Android?

If you are not on Android, the process on iOS is pretty similar. Here’s a quick guide to help you.

To close an app forcibly, you need to go to the App Switcher. This can be done by dragging from the bottom towards the middle of the screen and then releasing.

Once you see cards of your various open apps, swipe up on the Discord app, and it will be forced to close.

Whether you are an Android, iOS, or Windows user, you now know what to do if Discord needs restarting.

How to force restart Discord?

You can restart it by following the given steps:

Close the Discord tab or by closing your browser.
Once you have exited your browser, reopen it, press Ctrl + Shift + T and it will open your recently closed tabs, including Discord.
Test the browser application again and check whether your issues have been fixed.
If the Discord tab has frozen your browser, you might have to use the approach described in the method given above and close the program via Task Manager.