Voice Chat on Discord: A Quick Start Guide - melodyplan/wiki_page_example GitHub Wiki

Disclaimer: This is example software documentation and help content on GitHub Wiki for Melody Plan's technical writing portfolio. Melody Plan is not affiliated with Discord in any way. This is for example purposes only. Content in this guide may be incorrect or outdated as of January 21, 2023.

Read Time: 5-8 minutes

Table of Contents

  1. What is Discord?

  2. What is Discord Voice Chat?

  3. How to Set Up Your Mic and Speakers

  4. Test Your Mic

  5. Choose How Your Mic Picks Up Your Voice (Voice Activity or Push to Talk)

  6. Join a Voice Channel

  7. Additional Quick Toggles

What is Discord?

Discord is a popular topic-based chat platform where you can share, collaborate, and talk with other Discord users on Discord servers.

Figure 1. Discord chat in the #beginners topic of a server.

Figure 1. Screenshot of a Discord chat in the Beginners topic of a Discord server.

What is Discord Voice Chat?

Voice chat allows users to talk and hear each others' voices. Instead of communicating via typing, voice chat helps free your hands while you game, work, or just hang out with friends online. Voice chat is available in voice channels and in voice calls.

After reading this document you will know how to: set up your mic and speakers, test your mic to ensure it's working at the right volume, enable whether your mic activates automatically while you speak or through a press of a button, and most importantly, join a voice channel to speak with your friends.

How to Set Up Your Mic and Speakers

  1. Navigate to User Settings.
Figure 2. User Settings

Figure 2. Screenshot of how to navigate to user settings from the bottom left-hand corner of the app.

  1. Click Voice & Video under App Settings.
Figure 3. Voice & Video Settings

Figure 3. Screenshot of how to get to Voice & Video settings under App Settings.

  1. Select your Input Device (Mic) from the Input Device dropdown menu (Figure 4).
  2. Select your Output Device (Speakers) from the Output Device dropdown menu (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Input/Output Device Settings

Figure 4. Screenshot of Input and Output Device Settings

Test Your Mic

While not required to join voice chat, if you intend to talk in voice mic testing is recommended.

  1. Navigate to User Settings (Figure 2).
  2. Click Voice & Video under App Settings (Figure 3).
  3. Click Let's Check and start speaking. Press Stop Testing to end your mic test.
Figure 5. Mic test in progress.

Figure 5. Gif of the mic test feature. As a user speaks, the bars move up and down depending of on the user's speaking volume.

After you speak, your voice will be played back to you through your selected output device.

  1. Adjust your Input Volume (mic volume) and Output Volume (speaker volume) as necessary.
Figure 6. Input/Output volume bars.

Figure 6. Screenshot of the input and output volume bars, which can be adjusted for volume.

Choose How Your Mic Picks Up Your Voice (Voice Activity or Push to Talk)

Choose between your mic activating automatically while you speak or activating through a press of a button.

Pick Up/Activation Method Description
Voice Activity Activates mic automatically when user speaks.
Push to Talk (PPT) Activates mic on press of a key or shortcut, similar to a walkie-talkie.

Enable Voice Activity

  1. Navigate to User Settings (Figure 2).
  2. Click Voice & Video under App Settings (Figure 3).
  3. Select Voice Activity under Input Mode.
Figure 7. Voice Activity

Figure 7. Screenshot of Voice Activity section under Input Mode.

  1. Ensure your mic is turned on.
  2. Speak into your mic to test input sensitivity (mic sensitivity).
Figure 8. Mic testing input sensitivity.

Figure 8. Gif of a mic being tested in input sensitivity. As the user speaks, the green bar rises with their volume.

Enable Push to Talk

  1. Navigate to User Settings (Figure 2).
  2. Click Voice & Video under App Settings (Figure 3).
  3. Select Push to Talk under Input Mode.
Figure 9. Push to Talk

Figure 9. Screenshot of Push to Talk section under Input Mode.

  1. Hover over the keyboard icon under Shortcut. Click Edit Keybind. Press a key on your keyboard to bind it as your push to talk button, also known as a keybinding, or shortcut. This is the button you hold down to activate your mic while speaking.
Figure 10. Setting the ALT key as a keybinding or shortcut for Push to Talk.

Figure 10. Gif of a user setting a keybind.

  1. Adjust the Push to Talk Release Delay bar as necessary. This bar indicates how long your mic remains activated after you stop pressing your keybind.
Figure 11. Push to Talk Release Delay

Figure 11. Screenshot of the Push to Talk Release Delay bar.

Join a Voice Channel

To join a voice channel you must be part of a Discord server with a voice channel you have access to. Learn how to join servers here. Voice channels are indicated by a speaker icon. If there is a lock on a speaker, you do not have permission to join that channel without administrator consent.

Figure 12. Voice channels, as indicated by a speaker icon. Notice the lock on the #Streaming Room speaker icon. This means you do not have permission to enter that channel.

Figure 12. Screenshot of various voice channels, indicated by speaker icons.

  1. Click a channel with a speaker icon.
  2. Chat!
  3. Click Disconnect to leave the channel.
Figure 13. Location of disconnect button.

Figure 13. Screenshot of location to disconnect from a voice channel.

Additional Quick Toggles

Figure 14. Locations of quick toggles to mute/unmute and deafen/undeafen.

Figure 14. Screenshot of location for two quick toggles: Mutes/unmutes your mic. Deafens/undeafen your mic and speakers. (To deafen means you can't hear others, and they can't hear you)

Disclaimer: This is example software documentation and help content on GitHub Wiki for Melody Plan's technical writing portfolio. Melody Plan is not affiliated with Discord in any way. This is for example purposes only. Content in this guide may be incorrect or outdated as of January 21, 2023.