You’re trying to open Discord, and the screen says “updating.” But the app never loads. Sounds familiar?
Well, you’re not the only one. And today, we’ll go through why that happens and what to do to fix it in the quickest, easiest steps!
Discord has auto-update.
In other words, Discord updates on its own. You might have noticed that an “updating” or “installing” pop-up appears when you are trying to open the app. That is because the app is downloading all the latest features and installing them for you.
There are a lot of perks to this Discord feature, the number one being, that you don’t have to do any work. However, this perk also comes with several disadvantages. It might use up your data if you are working on low-speed internet, and cause lags in other applications as well.
Whether you love this feature or hate it, there is not much you can do about it. When Discord launches some new bug fixes or additional tools, it updates on your device, whenever and wherever.
What you do have control over is what you can do if the update is not working for you. So let’s see all the options we have and get this problem out of the way ASAP.
Are you sure you’ve not run out of patience?
Not all Discord updates are made the same. While some of them only take a few seconds, there are some upgrades that weigh on the chunkier side. Especially if you are on a slow connection, this might take quite some time.
So before you take any action, try waiting it out. Go for a walk, play some games, grab a bite- let Discord do its thing. Sometimes, all it takes is patience to work a miracle.
However, if you have waited for more than 30 minutes and there seems to be no progress, it might be time to don your repair glasses on. Don’t worry though- they’re super easy. And to make things easy-breezy, we’ve simplified them further for you!
Run the app as an administrator
Before we move on to the more lengthy fixes, let’s try the simpler one first. There’s no need to go over pages-long of instructions for this tip.
Discord updates might require permission from your windows to access and modify some files, etc. For this clearance, administrator privileges are required. So opening the app as an administrator will do the job for you. Here’s how to do it:
- Exit the Discord app.
- Press CTRL + ALT + DEL to open the task manager. Remove the running processes of Discord.
- Go to the Discord icon on your desktop and right-click on it
- Select Run as Administrator
- Wait for the application to launch and see if it has worked.
Disable Windows Defender
The Windows Defender Browser Protection protects your device from a wide range of security threats. However, strong firewall protection might be blocking out Discord updates.
What can you do? Just disable it. And don’t worry, the defender will be auto-enabled after a while so you don’t have to worry about compromising with online security threats. Here’s how you can disable it:
- From the windows search box, find and open Settings.
- Go to Update and Security > Windows Security > Virus and Security
- Click on Manage Settings.
- Turn off the toggle switch for Real-time protection.
- Click on save and exit.
- Launch the app.
Delete the app *completely* and install again
As the last resort, you have the universal fix to application bugs. Flush out the software completely from your device, and install it again. Here’s how to do it:
- Exit the Discord app.
- Press CTRL + SHIFT + DEL to open the task manager. Remove the running processes of Discord.
- From the search option of your Windows Explorer, go to Control Panel.
- Under Programs, you will see Uninstall a program. Click on it.
- Right-click on Discord, and click uninstall.
- You also need to ensure that all the cache and remaining data from the app are deleted. For that, type %AppData%\on your windows search box.
- Find Discord and delete it.
- Download the app and reinstall it.
Which one of these fixes worked for you? Let us know below. Do not forget to tell us what you think of the updates as well!