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Can’t hear anyone on Discord [Fix]

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In this post, we are going to discuss various methods that you can try if you are unable to hear anyone on Discord. Discord is a VoIP application specially designed for gaming enthusiasts. It is a great app to communicate with other gamers as well as general users. However, there have been instances when users can’t hear specific or all people on Discord. This issue can occur due to incorrect audio settings on your PC or within the Discord app. Another reason for the same is a bug in the Discord app or some Discord update.

Can’t hear anyone on Discord

Now, if you are facing the same issue on Discord and are clueless about how to fix it up, this post is for you. Here, we are going to discuss different fixes to resolve this issue on Discord. Let us get straight to the solutions.

Why can’t I hear others on Discord?

The main reason you can’t hear anyone on Discord is that the wrong audio device is selected on your PC. Also, you might not have chosen the correct input and output audio devices within the Discord app. Besides that, a bug in the app can also cause this issue. In any case, you can follow the listed fix to resolve this problem.

Can’t hear anyone on Discord

Here are the methods to try when you are unable to hear anyone on Discord on Windows PC. The post will also help if you randomly can’t hear anyone, or friends can’t hear you.

  1. Use Legacy Audio Subsystem.
  2. Set your device as Default Communication Device.
  3. Make sure the correct Input and Output Devices are selected.
  4. Change Discord’s Volume.
  5. Refresh Discord.
  6. Switch to Discord’s web version.
  7. Uninstall and reinstall Discord.

Let us discuss the above fixes in detail now.

1] Use Legacy Audio Subsystem on Discord

Sometimes your hardware might be incompatible with the latest audio subsystem of Discord and that is why you are unable to hear others, this fix will for you. If this scenario applies to you, try turning on the legacy audio subsystem in Discord and that might resolve the problem for you. This solution has reportedly worked for many users and might just for you as well.

Here are the steps to turn on the Use Legacy Audio Subsystem in Discord:

  1. Firstly, open the Discord app on your PC.
  2. Now, tap on the User Settings (gear icon) button present at the bottom-left panel.
  3. Next, from many options, select the Voice & Video option.
  4. After that, from the right panel, scroll down to the AUDIO SUBSYSTEM section.
  5. Then, click the drop-down option and from the available options, select the Legacy audio subsystem.
  6. It will ask you to confirm your choice to change the audio subsystem; simply do that by clicking on the Okay button.
  7. Finally, exit the settings window, relaunch Discord, and check if you are now able to hear others.

If this doesn’t work for you, try some other solutions to fix this issue.

2] Set your device as Default Communication Device

Setting your audio device as the default device as well as the default communication device in Windows PC might enable you to fix this issue. This has worked for a lot of users and hence is recommended for you too.

To set your audio device as the default communication device, you can follow the below steps:

  1. Firstly, right-click on the sound icon from the taskbar.
  2. Now, select the Open Sound settings option.
  3. Next, in the Sound settings, click on the Sound Control Panel button under the Related Setting section.
  4. Then, locate your audio device in the Playback tab and right-click on it.
  5. After that, select the Set as Default Device option.
  6. Again, right-click on your audio device and choose the Set as Default Communications Device option.
  7. Finally, click on Apply > OK button to save changes.

Restart your Discord app now and then check if can hear people now.

Read: Fix You are being rate limited Discord error on Windows PC

3] Make sure the correct Input and Output Devices are selected

This issue can occur simply because of incorrect audio device configurations. So, make sure you have selected the right input and output audio devices in Windows and in Discord. If not, change the devices and then check if the issue persists. To check input and output audio devices, open the Sound settings and choose the correct input and output audio devices.

Here are the steps to set the correct input and output audio devices in Discord:

  1. Firstly, launch the Discord app.
  2. Now, select the User Settings option (gear-shaped button).
  3. Next, click on the Voice & Video option.
  4. Then, under the Input Device and Output Device, make sure the correct audio devices are chosen. If not, select the right ones.
  5. After that, exit the settings window and relaunch the Discord app and check if the problem is fixed.

4] Change Discord’s Volume

You can try changing Discord’s volume using the Volume Mixer in Windows 10 and see if the issue is fixed. This volume mixer allows you to increase or decrease the volume level of particular applications. If the Discord’s volume level is set quite low, you can increase it using the below steps:

  1. Firstly, go to the taskbar search box and type volume mixer in the box.
  2. Now, click on Sound mixer settings to open up the respective settings.
  3. Next, it will show you a list of active applications on your PC. Simply set the app volume for Discord to the maximum.

Check if this fixes up the issue for you. If not, move to the next solution to fix the problem.

5] Refresh Discord

If you are using an older version of Discord, try updating the Discord app. There might be a bug, or it might need a software update. So, refresh the Discord app by opening it and pressing the Ctrl + R hotkey. See if this resolved your problem.

See: Fix Discord Installation has failed error on Windows PC

6] Switch to Discord’s web version

If the above solutions didn’t work for you, you can switch to the web version of Discord. There might be a bug in your Discord app, due to which you are unable to hear anyone on Discord. Or, this issue might be caused by incorrect app installation. In this case, you can use Discord’s web app and you are good to go.

7] Uninstall and reinstall Discord

If the problem is triggered due to incorrect or faulty installation of the Discord app, reinstalling the app might help you. So, first, try uninstalling Discord using the Settings app or Control Panel. You can also try a third-party uninstaller to uninstall it.  After that, you can download the latest version of Discord from its official website and then install it by following the onscreen instructions.

Hope this helps!

Read: How to Screen Share and Voice Chat on Discord at the same time

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Can hear Discord sounds but not voices?

There can be multiple reasons for voice chat not working on Discord. In other words, you can hear Discord sounds but cannot do voice chat. It can occur due to wrong voice configurations in the Discord app. Or, your mic might not be working properly on Discord. Even using an outdated version of Discord can result in this issue. To fix it up, you can try changing the input mode to Voice Activity. Other than that, try enabling ‘Force Calls to Use OpenSL ES’ or updating the Discord app.

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KomalSrivastava@TWC

Komal has done M.Tech in Computer Science & Engineering. She is a keen follower of the Windows ecosystem & a technical writer since the last six years. She loves finding solutions for day-to-day tech problems.