Discord Stuck on Starting: Causes and Fixes That Actually Work

If Discord is stuck on “Starting,” there are several reasons why. While the most common issue stems from a background process being stuck, there’s also the possibility that your local cache has been corrupted, or there was a temporary server outage. However, none of these issues can be definitively ruled out — they’re just the most likely explanations for what you’re experiencing.

If all else fails, however, a clean reinstall typically resolves any lingering problems with this issue.

The fastest way to resolve the issue, if you can do it, is to restart your entire system. This will clear out any temporary glitches, which may have caused Discord to get stuck in an infinite loop.

After restarting your system, see if Discord opens properly. If not, then proceed to try clearing out Discord’s cache.

If the problem persists, then you might want to disable hardware acceleration as part of the solution. If all else fails, a quick administrative trick might work. If you’ve tried everything else and still aren’t able to launch Discord, then a clean reinstall is probably the best option.

Why Restarting Works

A simple reboot of your computer clears out any residual processes and allows software like Discord to run anew. This works well with software where the main process isn’t hanging or running but simply failing to launch. You’ll want to make sure no other programs are open either, especially if Discord launches another window (or two) when launching, or if the window remains behind the scenes.

Clearing Cache & Local Data Files

Sometimes, the easiest fix for an application stuck on launching is simply to clear out its data. It can happen after a short time, particularly if you use multiple accounts. It doesn’t happen very often, but sometimes the files become corrupted over time, leading to issues with the application launching properly.

In this case, clearing out Discord’s cache and local data folders should resolve the issue.

Hardware Acceleration

According to some sources, approximately 32% of the reports of applications getting stuck on starting involve the use of hardware acceleration. Unfortunately, there’s not enough information to determine if this is actually the cause of the problem.

When enabled, hardware acceleration uses your GPU instead of your CPU to accelerate graphical output, which can reduce lag and improve performance for some games. However, enabling hardware acceleration can sometimes cause crashes or hangs due to driver incompatibility or bugs.

Disabling hardware acceleration is more of a band-aid than a real solution to the underlying problem. It’s possible that the root cause is that your graphics drivers are outdated, which can lead to a variety of stability and performance issues.

To test if hardware acceleration is at fault, simply turn it off within the settings of your video card and then attempt to launch Discord. If this fixes the problem, you’ll know that the cause is outdated graphics drivers or possibly a bug in the game itself. Updating both your graphics drivers and your operating system should solve the problem completely.

Administrative Mode

Some users have found that launching Discord as an administrator (and then quitting afterward) helps them resolve their problem. If this does, then it seems to indicate that Discord is having trouble accessing something specific in your file system. You can always try launching it normally afterwards without admin mode.

It’s worth noting that launching Discord as an administrator might help with some security issues as well.

Date/Time Settings and Antivirus

You’d be surprised how many people don’t realize that date/time settings affect almost every application on your computer. If your system clock is set incorrectly, it could prevent Discord from connecting to servers. To confirm whether this is the issue, try setting your PC to automatically adjust the date and time.

Another possibility is that antivirus or firewall software is blocking Discord from connecting to servers. While it’s unlikely that this would occur, it’s worth trying by temporarily disabling your antivirus or firewall software.

Clean Reinstall

If all else fails, the next logical step is to perform a complete uninstall and reinstall of Discord. All other steps have failed, so there must be a persistent file somewhere that keeps the app from loading. Uninstalling and re-downloading a fresh copy will ensure that those files aren’t corrupt.