How to Use Discord on a Windows Personal Computer - Melia2323/discord-guide GitHub Wiki

Table of Contents

  1. What is Discord?
  2. Communicating with Others
  3. Sharing Media
  4. General Use
  5. When You Need Help

What is Discord?

Discord is an app where you can create or join a community and talk with the other members via text, voice, and videos.

Servers

Discord communities are called servers. Inside each server, there are multiple text and audio channels. Think of the server as a building, and the channels as public rooms inside the building.

Channels

Channels are the places where conversations happen.

The name of the channel indicates the topic of the conversation. If you enter a channel with the name # pets, the content should be about pets. There are several types of channels, but the two you are most likely to use are text and audio.

Text channels have a hashtag in front of the channel name.

This is a text channel.

The conversation in a text channel is text-based, but may include:

  • links to external websites or videos
  • photos
  • screenshots

Audio channels have a speaker in front of the channel name.

This is an audio channel.

The conversation in an audio channel is voice and/or video based and may include:

  • voice chat
  • live screen share
  • video conference

When an audio channel is in use, you will see the profile pictures of other members currently in the channel.

When an audio channel in use.

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Communicating with Others

How do I Chat in a Text Channel?

  1. Click on the name of the channel.
  2. Click on the message text box, then type your message.
  3. Press enter.

Your message will appear above the message text box. You have joined the conversation.

How do I Chat in an Audio Channel?

Voice Chat

  1. Click on the name of the channel where you want to join the conversation.

Your profile picture and username will appear under the audio channel.

Note: The grey mute and deafen symbols next to your profile picture in the audio channel are not interactive buttons and only show whether you are muted or deafened. To mute/unmute or deafen/undeafen, you must click on the buttons located at the bottom of your screen.

How Do I Exit Voice Chat?

  1. Click on the Disconnect button.

Video Chat

  1. Click on the name of the channel where you want to join the conversation.
  2. Click on the Video button.

Button to join video chat.

How Do I Exit a Video Chat?

  1. Click on the Disconnect button.

Disconnect button to leave video chat.

Direct Messages

Direct messages are direct, private conversations with other members. If you think of the server as a building and channels like public rooms inside the building, a direct message creates a closed, invitation-only space. Think of it like an office.

When you send a direct message to another member:

  • Discord will create a room for the conversation in the Home server.

Home server with the Discord logo.

  • Each conversation will appear under the Direct Messages list, along with the profile picture and username of the member with whom you are having the conversation.

Send a Direct Message to an Individual Member

  1. Right-click on a member's profile picture.

  2. Select Message from the context menu.

Send a Direct Message to a Group

To send a direct message to multiple members:

  1. Click on the Home server.
  2. Click on the plus sign to the right of Direct Messages at the top of the Direct Messages list.

Plus sign to create a direct message to a group.

  1. Select the members you want to include in the conversation. You can select up to 9 members.
  2. Click on the Create Group DM button.

Instead of a single profile picture and username, a Group Direct Message conversation displays:

  • a generic profile picture indicating multiple members
  • a room/conversation name instead of a username
  • the number of participants in the room/conversation

How Do I Reply to a Message?

  1. Move your cursor over the other member's message. A small context menu will appear on the right side of the screen.

  2. Click on the Reply button. It looks like an arrow.

  1. Type your message in the message text box, then press enter.

Your reply will appear with a link to the original message.

Note: If you click on the link, it will take you to the original message.

How Do I Delete a Message?

  1. Move your cursor over the message you wish to delete. A small context menu will appear on the right side of the screen.

  2. To open the message context menu, click on the More button. It looks like three dots.

Three dots to open context menu.

  1. Select Delete Message at the bottom of the context menu.

  2. A deletion confirmation window will appear. Click on the red Delete button.

Your message will be removed from the chat.

Note: Depending on permission settings, you may only be able to delete your own messages. However, other members (such as moderators and administrators) may have permissions that allow them to delete messages posted by other members.

How Do I Add an Emoji to Another Member's Message?

To add an emoji to another member's message:

  1. Move your cursor over the other member's message. A small context menu will appear on the right side of the screen.

  2. Click on the Add Reaction button. It looks like a smiley face with a plus sign in the upper right corner.

This is a reaction button.

  1. A pop-up menu will appear. Click on the desired emoji.

What is a Ping?

A ping is a message to another member meant to draw their attention to a specific conversation or item.

How Do I Ping Someone?

  1. Type the @ symbol in the message text box. A list of available members will appear over the message text box.

  2. Begin typing the username of the member you want to ping. Continue to type the username until the desired name and profile picture appear over the message text box.

  1. Click on the desired name.

  2. Type the rest of your message (if any), then press enter.

Note: Depending on permission settings, you may be able to send a ping to an entire group, such as @Moderators or @Administrators. If the option to ping an entire group is available, the group name will appear in the list of member usernames.

Discord will:

  • notify the pinged member that they have new mentions
  • place a red number next to the channel containing the ping
  • highlight the ping in yellow

This is what a ping looks like.

Note: Depending on the member's notification settings, they may receive an audio notification on their phone.

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Sharing Media

How Do I Upload a Picture?

Prerequisite: You must have a picture or file you want to upload. The file should be saved in an easy to find location on your computer.

  1. Click on the plus sign icon to the left of the message text box.
  2. Select Upload a File.

Context Menu for Upload

  1. Navigate to the file you want to upload. Select the file, then click on the Open button.

How Do I Share a Link to a Website?

  1. Navigate to the website.
  2. Copy the URL from the location bar.
    Example: https://www.youtube.com/
  3. Paste the URL into the text message box, then press enter.

Your link will be posted in the channel.

Discord link.

Note: If you want to add a description or a comment to your link, create a separate message above or below the link. You must post the link and the comment quickly to keep the two items next to one another.

What is a Pin and How Do I Pin Things?

A pin "pins" messages to the top of a channel, making the information easy to find. Think of it like a sticky note.

To Look at Pinned Messages

If you want to look at the pinned messages in a channel:

  1. Click on the Pinned Messages button. It looks like a thumb tack or pin.
  1. If there are multiple pinned messages, use the scrollbar to navigate through them.

Pin a Message

Prerequisite: Create and post the message to the channel.

  1. Move your cursor over the message you want to pin. A small context menu will appear on the right side of the screen.
  2. Click on the More button. It looks like three dots.
  3. Select Pin Message from the context menu.
  4. A pop-up window will appear. Confirm that you have selected the correct message, then click the Oh yeah. Pin it button.

Note: If you need to pin an item but the pin option is unavailable, ask for help. Some members (such as moderators and administrators) may have permissions that allow them to pin messages in channels where the pin option is unavailable to others. See: Direct Message a Moderator.

Example: If you are part of a book club that meets in a Discord channel, it may be helpful to pin information like the date and time the book club meets, or a link to the current book the book club is reading.

To Unpin a Message

To unpin a message:

  1. Navigate to the pinned message in Pinned Messages. See: To Look at Pinned Messages.
  2. Move your cursor over the pinned message. Click on Jump to move to the location of the original message posted in the conversation.
  1. Move your cursor over the original message. A small context menu will appear on the right side of the screen.
  2. Click on the More button. It looks like three dots.
  3. From the context menu, select Unpin Message.

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General Use

How Do I Turn Off Notifications?

When you choose to join a Discord community, there can be a significant amount of conversation and notifications, including messages that push to your phone and audio pings. If the conversation is too "loud" you can always adjust your notification settings.

  1. Right-click on the server.
  2. Select Notification Settings from the context menu.
  3. The pop-up window will allow you to adjust your notification settings, including options for:
  • mute the server entirely
  • select if you want to be notified for
    • all messages
    • only pings specific to you (@YourMemberName)
    • nothing
  • suppress server or channel-wide messages directed to @everyone and @here
  • disable mobile push notifications

How do I Add a Friend?

  1. Right-click on a member's profile picture.
  2. Select Add Friend from the context menu.

Discord will send a message to the member notifying the member of your request. The other member must accept your friend request before their username and profile picture will appear under Friends.

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When You Need Help

Need Help with Using Discord Features?

If you are not finding the information you need on this wiki, other Discord help resources are:

Resource How to Access
Discord Help Log into Discord. Click on the question mark in the upper right corner.
Melia2323 Contact Melia2323 and request an item be added to this wiki.

Need a Moderator?

Whenever you have a large group of people in one place, you will also have misunderstandings and conflict. Moderators can settle disputes, delete messages, and discipline or ban members displaying bad behavior. If you need assistance, there are several ways to contact a Moderator.

Ping a Moderator

See: How Do I Ping Someone?.

If you ping a moderator, there is no need to describe the context or location. Discord will notify the moderator what channel the ping is in.

Note: The ping is text and will be visible to other members. This is not a way to privately contact a Moderator.

Example: If you notice someone selling knock-off sunglasses in a channel named #pets, you can add a new post and include a ping. If the message is older and further back in the conversation, you can reply to the original message and include a ping in your reply.

Sample ping.

Direct Message a Moderator

If you want to contact a Moderator in a way that is not visible to other members, send a direct message.

See: Send a Direct Message to an Individual Member.

If you notice someone selling knock-off sunglasses in a channel named #pets, you can send a direct message to a Moderator with information about the channel, the other member, and the context. Example: "Can you please come to #pets and look at the messages from SellingSunglassesCheap?"

Note: Take a screenshot of the message if you can and include it in your direct message to the Moderator. See: How Do I Upload a Picture?. It can be difficult for a moderator to take appropriate action if the member deletes their message and there is no record of bad behavior or breaking the rules.

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