There are known cases where some PC gamers who use Discord, while trying to share screen they are faced with a black screen. This post aims to assist users affected by the issue of a black screen appearing during Screen Share in Discord on Windows 11 or Windows 10 computers.
Why is my screen black when I share it on Discord?
If while you’re streaming on Discord and your screen is black when you share it on Discord, it’s most likely due to an outdated or corrupted graphics or video adapter driver. This can be easily resolved by ensuring you have the correct driver installed on your computer, which will eliminate the chances of encountering a black screen. See more detailed solutions below.
The most likely culprits to this issue include-
- Running Discord in Full-Screen Mode.
- Outdated graphics card drivers.
- Incorrect permissions.
- Using the latest technologies option in Discord.
- Outdated Discord app version.
Black Screen appears during Screen Share in Discord
If you’re faced with this Black Screen appears during Screen Share in Discord issue on your Windows gaming rig, you can try our recommended solutions below in no particular order and see if that helps to resolve the issue.
- Run Discord with admin privilege
- Update Discord
- Update graphics driver
- Clear Discord cache folder
- Disable Discord latest Capture technology
- Disable Hardware Acceleration in Discord
- Enable Reduced Motion feature in Discord
- Uninstall and re-install Discord
Let’s examine the descriptions of the processes involved for each of the listed solutions.
Before you proceed restart your PC and see if that helps. Also, check for updates and install any available bits on your Windows device and see if the issue is resolved.
And, know that Discord doesn’t allow the full-screen sharing (a potential cause to the black screen issue) feature. So, whatever application you are running, make sure you’re running the app in windowed mode on your computer.
1] Run Discord with admin privilege
This solution requires you to run Discord app with admin privilege and see if the Black Screen appears during Screen Share in Discord issue is resolved. If not, try the next solution.
2] Update Discord
To update Discord on your Windows PC, do the following:
- Press Windows key + R to invoke the Run dialog.
- In the Run dialog box, type the environment variable below and hit Enter.
%localappdata%
- At the location, locate the Discord folder, and double-click the folder to explore it.
- In the Discord folder, double-click the Update executable file to update the Discord app.
After the update completes successfully, relaunch Discord app and try the screen-share again. If the issue is unresolved, try the next solution.
3] Update the graphics driver
This solution requires you to either update your graphics card drivers manually via the Device Manager, or you can get the driver updates on the Optional Updates section under Windows Update. You may also download the latest version of the driver from the graphics adapter hardware manufacturer’s website.
4] Clear Discord cache folder
To clear Discord cache folder on your Windows PC, do the following:
- Press Windows key + R to invoke the Run dialog.
- In the Run dialog box, type the environment variable below and hit Enter.
%appdata%
- At the location, locate (you may need to show hidden files/folders) the Discord folder.
- Select the Discord folder, and tap DELETE on your keyboard.
- Next, run %localappdata% and delete the Discord folder at that location as well.
- Close and relaunch the Discord app.
See if the issue at hand is resolved; otherwise, try the next solution.
5] Disable Discord latest Capture technology
To disable Discord latest Capture technology, do the following:
- Open Discord app on your Windows computer.
- Click the gear (cogwheel) icon to open Settings.
- In Settings window, click on the Voice & Video settings on the left pane.
- Toggle the button for the option Use our latest technology to capture your screen to Off.
- Exit Discord settings.
Now see if you can screen-share without the black screen; else you can proceed with the next solution.
6] Disable Hardware Acceleration in Discord
To disable Hardware Acceleration in Discord, do the following:
- Open Discord app on your Windows computer.
- Click the gear (cogwheel) icon to open Settings.
- In Settings window, click Advanced settings on the left pane.
- Toggle the button for the option Hardware Acceleration to Off.
- Click Okay on the prompt that appears.
Discord app will close and re-launch on your computer. Check if the issue is resolved. If not, move down to the next solution.
7] Enable Reduced Motion feature in Discord
To enable Reduced Motion feature in Discord, do the following:
- Open Discord app on your Windows computer.
- Click the gear (cogwheel) icon to open Settings.
- In the Settings window, click Accessibility on the left pane.
- Now, clear the Sync with computer settings checkbox.
- Next, toggle the button for the option Enable Reduced Motion to ON.
- Finally, press the Ctrl + R key combo to restart the Discord app on your computer.
If the issue at hand persists, try the next solution.
8] Uninstall and re-install Discord
This solution requires you to uninstall the Discord app (preferably, use a third-party software uninstaller), clear Discord AppData folder contents, reboot PC, and then download and reinstall the latest version of the Discord app on your Windows 11/10 PC.
Hope this helps!
How do I fix a black screen when screen sharing on Zoom?
In this scenario, whereby you are presented with a black screen when screen-sharing on Zoom, it is most likely caused by your Windows 11/10 computer’s Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) automatically switching graphics cards. To fix the issue, if you are using a Windows computer with a dedicated NVIDIA GPU, use the NVIDIA Control Panel within the Windows Control Panel.
