Discord has truly changed how people interact over the internet. Launched in 2015, Discord has been estimated to be worth more than $14 billion, growing the moment we speak.
Though Discord is mostly used for non-gaming interactions like communicating with others in discord channels, streaming movies and tv shows on apps like disney+ and netflix, still, Fortnite server makes accounts for the biggest ones on the platform.
With all being said, one of the many things that most people often ask is: how much data does Discord use? Well, that’s what we’re here to see.
With more than 150 million using the platform every month, it’s important to know how you can stand out with your Discord chat. Plus, we’ll be looking into ways you can optimize your internet experience for it. So, let’s get started:
How Much Data Does Discord Use?
Measuring internet usage for Discord is the same for any other chatting application. Based on the chat options, video quality, duration, etc. Discord can use the internet varyingly. For instance:
- An hour of Discord video calling can consume up to 350 MB of data. However, this can go further, as high as 900 MB, if you continue increasing the quality of the video.
- Previously a 2-minute video call consumed less than 1 MB of data. However, it has gone up to 11.4 MBs, which, although high, is the same as WhatsApp.
- Discord text (hour-long) uses .28 MB of data, which is the same as Facebook.
- As for the voice call, the Discord voice call uses approximately 28 MB of data (an hour long). It’s less because, unlike other calling platforms such as Skype, Discord only transmits data to the person speaking at the moment.
Again, the consumption is based on the quality of the video you’re streaming/ calling with.
How To Optimize Data Consumption For Discord?
Earlier, we illustrated the speed and data consumption by Discord. Looking at the figures, it’s evident that Discord does need stable internet and good optimization to make the experience smooth.
That is why you need to work on optimizing data consumption and speed. For that, check out the following tips that you can keep close for future Discord experiences:
1. Get An Unlimited Internet In The First Place
If you’re worried that your data will run out in the middle of a Discord session, then you should get an unlimited internet plan in the right place. It’s a good option since having an unlimited internet plan or even a plan with a very high (1 TB) data cap will save you from such a hassle.
We recommend checking out Xfinity internet plans since they offer unlimited internet with superb connection performance. Simply visit the website or contact customer support for Xfinity internet prices and get an unlimited internet plan for yourself today.
2. Optimizing Images
One of the best things about Discord is that you can control data consumption via the settings of the platform itself. For starters, you can optimize images and texts to save data. For this:
- Head to ‘User Settings‘ and then to ‘Text & Images‘
- There, under ‘Display Images, Videos and Lolcats, ‘ find the option of ‘Posted as links to chats‘ and disable it
- Next, find ‘when uploaded directly Discord‘ and disable the option too
- Come back to ‘Text & Images’ and find ‘Image Compression’
- Here, enable ‘Auto-Compress Images’
- Next, find ‘Link Preview’ and disable ‘Show website preview’
Doing this will help minimize data consumption used when you’re uploading images or sharing links directly on the platform.
3. Optimizing Notifications
If you’re someone that is constantly annoyed by notifications and wants to save data, too, then this is the option for you. What you need to do is minimize notification popups so that you can save as much data on it. For this purpose:
- Head to ‘User Settings‘ and then to ‘Notifications‘
- Under ‘Notifications’ find ‘Disable System Notifications’
This will disable notifications for the platform as well as the application. Although it may not seem as much, if you’re using Discord on mobile, it’s a good way of minimizing data consumption.
4. Closing Background Apps
Although Discord itself doesn’t consume that much data, having background apps running with it will significantly impact the expense. Using Discord alongside several background apps will surely exhaust the data if you’re on a data limit.
For this, make sure to optimize the applications you’re running. Only run applications that are of utmost importance for your Discord session. In case you’re data-limited, then only run the Discord session. However, it’s not possible since you would need to run several processes/ apps alongside it probably.
That is why you would need to have a good internet connection with an unlimited or a high data cap limit. Next, just make sure that the apps running in the background aren’t consuming the internet on priority.
5. Optimizing Data Expense
We just talked about running applications that won’t use too much data alongside your Discord session. In such a case, you can switch to Ethernet (recommended) and dedicate a set amount of data and internet speed.
This way, only your profile/ user will be able to get the set amount, leaving the remaining for other users on the network. Even with too many applications/ programs, you won’t have to hassle with data exhaustion or speed issues.
Closing Thoughts
Well, now you know how much data does Discord use. Plus, we’ve shared some amazing insights on how you can save data while using Discord. So, get a good internet connection and keep these methods handy to get a good Discord session and save your internet data.
