How to Fix Discord Freezing When Tabbed Out: Troubleshooting

Quick fixes for this irritating Discord tabbing issue

Co-authored by Darlene Antonelli, MA Reviewed by Luigi Oppido

Last Updated: December 13, 2024 Fact Checked

Is Discord freezing when you tab out of the window? Unfortunately, some technical bugs persist through updates, including this common issue. Fortunately, there are ways you can fix Discord freezing when tabbed out while you wait for the official fix in a future update. Read on to learn how to fix this frustrating problem.

Quickly Fix Discord Freezing When You Tab Out

Close Discord completely, and then relaunch it. You can also refresh Discord by pressing Ctrl + R and running updates. If Discord still freezes when you tab away, uninstall the app completely, then reinstall it. Also, try disabling hardware acceleration and checking Discord's server status at discordstatus.com.

1

Restart Discord.

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Close Discord fully and relaunch it. Find it in the system tray, right-click it, and then click Quit Discord. Then click the icon on your desktop or taskbar to open it again.
- If Discord won't close or reopen, Task Manager and end all the processes related to Discord. You should then be able to restart it.

2

Use CTRL + R to refresh Discord.

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Make sure Discord is selected as the main window, then press the keyboard shortcut. Depending on the issue, this should restart Discord, even if it froze when you tabbed out.

3

Disable hardware acceleration.

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Turning this feature off can prevent Discord from freezing. Hardware acceleration allows Discord to use your dedicated GPU to improve performance. While this is supposed to improve performance, it can sometimes lead to Discord crashing and freezing, especially when you're gaming and tabbing out of the window. This can also help lag. To turn off hardware acceleration:
- Click the gear icon in Discord.
- Click the Advanced menu on the left.
- Click the "Hardware Acceleration" switch to turn it off.
- Click OK to confirm.

4

Update Discord.

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The recent update has solved the freezing issue for most users. Discord updates automatically, so make sure you're connected to a stable Wi-Fi network when you open up Discord.

5

Reinstall Discord.

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If Discord is still freezing when you tab out, uninstall and reinstall.
- To uninstall Discord:
  - Windows: On Windows, press Windows key + i open Settings, click Apps, and uninstall Discord from there.
  - Mac: Open Finder, then drag Discord to the trash.
- To reinstall Discord, download the installer from https://discord.com/download. Double-click the installer, and follow the on-screen instructions to reinstall.
- If you have trouble uninstalling or reinstalling Discord, try uninstalling again and deleting leftover files before reinstalling. For a complete guide on how to delete Discord cached files and libraries on Windows and Mac, see How to Reinstall-Discord.

6

Use Discord on the web instead.

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If Discord keeps freezing but you really need to use it, logging in on the web should solve the problem for you. While only a temporary fix, this can be helpful if you need to use Discord immediately.

7

Check Discord's status.

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You can find out if Discord's servers are having problems by visiting https://discordstatus.com in any browser. In some cases, Discord may have a system outage that can affect its performance on your device.^{[1]
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