What is Discord?

Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat may be the most popular social media platforms, but sometimes, a low-key application without any flashy posts is all you need to hit up old friends and online strangers. With most of its features geared toward real-time communication rather than interactive reels or feeds, Discord is quite different from your average messaging platform.

Although gamers comprise a significant fraction of its user base, Discord has seen a tremendous increase in its users over the last couple of years. In this guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know to get started with this must-have application.

What is Discord?

Discord is a free messaging app that allows users to communicate via text, voice, and video chats. Launched in 2015, Discord was aimed at providing a seamless way for users to talk and cooperate while gaming. Thanks to its lightweight nature, low latency, and simplistic interface, it quickly gained popularity among gamers and left Skype, Ventrillo, and other competitors in the dust.

Discord provides two modes of communication: direct messages and servers. The direct messaging functionality is used for one-to-one chats between users. Akin to Messages on Facebook and Chats on Snapchat, Discord allows you to send DMs to chat as well as share videos, images, and other multimedia content with other Discord users whom you’re friends with.

On the other hand, servers are channels where communities can gather and exchange ideas. You can think of these servers as forums similar to subreddits and AOL chat rooms. If you want a virtual hangout place that’s exclusive to your friends, you can even create a private Discord server.

How to install Discord

Being a multi-platform application, you can set up Discord on your PC, web browser, and mobile phone. We’ll be going with the PC version for this tutorial, but the installation procedure is largely the same for other desktop operating systems.

1. Head to the official download link and pick the version of Discord that’s compatible with your OS.
2. Run setup.exe with administrator privileges.
3. Click on the Register option.
   
4. Enter the email, password, and other credentials before clicking the Continue button.
   
5. Discord will send a verification email to your email address. Open it and click on the Verify button to finish the registration procedure.
   
6. Log into your newly created Discord account with your email and password.
   

The installation procedure for mobile phones is pretty much the same as how you’d set up Discord on a PC. Likewise, you can proceed from Step 3 onward if you’re trying to access Discord from a web browser.

How to add friends on Discord

Now that you’ve signed up on Discord, it’s time to grow your friends list. If you know someone’s Discord username, you can directly send them a friend request. To do so,

1. Type your friend’s username in the search bar underneath the Add friend section.
   
2. Click on the Send friend request button.
3. Upon accepting your request, they’ll appear as your friend on Discord.

Alternatively, if you’re on a server with someone, you can directly send them a friend request by right-clicking on their profile and selecting the Add friend option.

How to make voice and video calls on Discord

With your friends added to Discord, you can either chat with them through old-fashioned texts or converse over voice/video calls. Before you make a call, you should check whether your webcam is detected by Discord.

1. Click on the Settings icon in the bottom left corner.
   
2. Navigate to the Voice & Video tab and ensure that your microphone shows up as the Input device under Voice Settings.
   
3. If you're planning to use Discord for video conferencing, see to it that your webcam appears under the Camera section of Video Settings.
   
4. Finally, click on your friend's profile and press either the Voice call or the Video Call button.
   

How to join a server on Discord

If you wish to be a part of a Discord community, you can join their server with the help of an invite link.

1. Click on the Add a Server (+) button.
   
2. Pick the Join a Server option.
   
3. Paste the link inside the box under Invite Link and hit the Join Server button.
   

You may also find invite links on the web, which you can simply click to be prompted to join the respective server.

You can also access public servers without requiring an invite link. Simply click on the Explore Discoverable Servers button and click on any server you wish to join.

How to create a server on Discord?

Discord provides several predefined templates that you can use to create public and private servers. To set up your server,

1. Press the Add a Server button.
2. Choose a Template or click on the Create My Own option.
   
3. Discord will prompt you to give more details about your server.
   
   You can pick either option or click on skip this question.
4. Give your server a name before hitting the Create button.
   

If you wish to add your friends to the newly-created server,

1. Click on the Invite your friends option.
   
2. Press the Invite button next to their usernames.
   

Is Discord worth using in 2024?

In its early days, Discord was dominated by gamers, who mainly used the app for texting and making VoIP calls. Soon, hobbyist groups and technical communities began utilizing Discord. During the coronavirus pandemic, the app blew up in popularity, with entirely new demographics like students and remote workers accessing Discord from their phones and laptops for all their video conferencing needs. These days, Discord houses everything from gaming groups to trading communities and AI image generation servers, making it one of the most flexible communication platforms on the Internet.