Discord is an app that has a lot of features and is used by most gamers. The PC and mobile versions of the Discord app are both available, and there are some rough ways to use them on consoles.
At first, only gamers used the platform, but over time, people from all walks of life have joined. In the past few years, it has gained a lot of users because it has a lot of cool features and is available on a lot of different platforms. But even though all of that sounds good, did you know that Discord uses a lot of data? Find out how much data Discord uses by reading on.
If you use Discord for a long time and have unlimited WiFi or data plans, it shouldn’t be a problem. But for people with limited data plans who use Discord, it can definitely use a lot of data, which can lead to problems like going over the limit and having to pay more for bills.
Also, there is no way to set up Discord to save data. But there are a few ways you can do when using mobile data to reduce Discord use less data.
People use a lot of different features of Discord. This can include sending text messages, gifs, audio calls, video calls, sharing your screen, or even going live on Discord. Depending on what you do and how long you use a certain feature, your data usage will be different.
In reality, chatting on Discord doesn’t use much data—less than half a megabyte for an hour of texting. Voice calls use up to 30MB of data per hour, so this number goes up. And if you want to save data, you should avoid video chats. A high-quality one-hour video chat can use between 250MB and 300MB.
Data Usage by Text Messages in Discord
Sending and receiving plain text messages shouldn’t use up too much data. If all you do on Discord is send and receive text texts without any gifs or attachments, you’ll use less than 3 MB per hour for text texts. If your texts include images and gifs, you can expect the usage of data used per hour to go up by 5 to 10 MB.
Data Usage by Audio Calls in Discord
If voice calls on Discord are taken into account, an hour of voice calls will use at least 6 MB of data. That’s just fine. Well, it usually depends on how good your internet connection is. People shouldn’t be surprised if video calls take up a big chunk of their data. I mean, Discord sends both your audio and video, so expect at least 400 to 700 MB of data to be used for an hour of video calls on Discord.
Data Usage by Video Services in Discord
If you have a lot of servers and are always sending and receiving text messages, you can expect to use at least 10 MB of data per hour. This can be different depending on whether or not you have joined any servers and how busy the servers are. Now, you can expect your data usage to go up sharply if you try to go live on Discord or even just share your screen. Depending on how long the screen share or live broadcast lasts, you can expect anywhere from 300 to 700 MB.
| App | Download | Upload |
|---|---|---|
| Discord | 5MB to 50MB per hour | 1MB to 25MB per hour |
| Netflix | 500MB to 1.5GB per hour | 10MB to 50MB per hour |
| YouTube | 300Mb to 450MB per hour | 5MB to 20MB per hour |
| Browsing | 60MB to 150MB per hour | 20MB to 70MB per hour |
How can I track how much data Discord uses?
In general, how much data you use on Discord depends on how often you use it. The more activity there is, the more data that is used. This also includes any activity that Discord does in the background. There is no official way to figure out how much data Discord is really using, so it can be hard to find out.
But there is a way to keep track of how much data Discord is using on both Desktop and Mobile. This can help you get a better idea of how much data Discord uses in usage.
On PC/Windows
On PC/Windows, go to the device settings to see how much data Discord is using. You can do this by going to the Start Menu and searching for “settings.” You can also open the settings by pressing Windows-Key + I.
Once you’ve opened the settings, click “Network and Internet.” Then, click on “Data usage” in the top right corner. This should tell you how much data your device has used in the last 30 days.
If you’ve been using Discord lately, it should be on the list of data usage. The list of programmes should go from highest data usage to lowest data usage. Scroll until you find the Discord app. This will show you how much data Discord uses.
Keep in mind that the data usage list will be different depending on the Wi-Fi network you are using. The list shows the programmes you’ve used while connected to that network. Make sure the network you choose is the same one you use to connect to Discord. If you want to change the Wi-Fi network you’re connected to, click the arrow pointing down in the top right corner. Then, select the network you want to change to.
On Mac
On a Mac, open the Activity Monitor to see how much data is being used by Discord. Then, click on “Network” to see how much data each app on your device is using. This can help you figure out how much data Discord uses every day. This list gets a new look every time the device restarts.
On Mobile
You can also check how much data Discord is using on your mobile usage. This includes both Apple and Google products.
On iOS
To check how much data is being used on an iOS device, open the device settings. Then, tap Mobile Data and scroll down. There should be a list of apps and how much data they use. Scroll down until you find the Discord app to find out how much data it is using.
Keep in mind that the data usage numbers only go as far back as the last time they were reset. Scroll to the bottom of the page to check out when the list was last updated. If you only have a small amount of data to use, Discord may stop working.
On Android
On Android, go to the settings to see how much data Discord is using. Then, select on the “Apps” button. This should open up a list of all the apps you have on your phone right now. Scroll down until you find the Discord app and click on it. Scroll down until you find the section called “Usage.” It should show you how much data is used by Discord there.
Click on “Mobile Data” if you want to find out more. It will tell you how much data the app is using based on what is happening in the foreground and in the background. If you keep using Discord a lot, you might get the rate limited error. This error is meant to limit how often you can use your servers.
Discord Data Usage on PCs vs. Mobiles
Cellular or mobile data uses radio waves, just like Wi-Fi, to connect to the internet. But Wi-Fi only works in certain places, like your home or office building.
Cell towers are what connect you to the internet no matter where you are when you use mobile data. So, it has a wide range and can connect you to the internet even when you’re far from your home Wi-Fi network.
Prices for data plans depend on how fast they are and how many gigabytes they give you each month. Even though unlimited plans are becoming more popular, many people still choose cheaper plans that charge by the usage of data used.
Most of the number, you can only use so many gigabytes with these plans, and if you go over, you have to charge extra. Your computer also uses data, but unless you’re using your phone as a hotspot, it’s probably not on a limited data plan.
Most websites can tell if you’re using a desktop or a phone to browse.So, they’ll change the packages of data that are sent to match. So, how much data does the PC version of Discord use?
It’s hard to say exactly, but we can say that the desktop or PC version of Discord will use more data than the phone version.When you use a desktop, more data comes through so that images, video, and text look better.
When you use a mobile device, many websites limit the amount of data you get to the minimum because mobile plans have limits on how much data you can use.
How to Reduce data usage in Discord
Even though the Discord app doesn’t have a dedicated “Data Saver” mode, there are a few settings you can change that can help reduce the amount of data used by both the mobile app and the PC app.
Settings for Discord on the mobile app
- Make sure you have the most recent version of the Discord app.
- Now, open the app and click on your picture.
- This will be in the app’s bottom right corner.
- Scroll down until you see “Text and Images.” Choose it.
- Here, you will see a list of options.
- Under Display Images and Lolcats, turn off the switch for both options.
- Switch off the Stick Suggestions toggle on the same screen.
- If you like to use stickers, leave it on.
- Slide the switch for Image Compression on.
- Disable off Link Previews by turning off the toggle switch.
- Now, go back to the page with your user settings and find the Accessibility section.
- Disable off the toggles for Autoplay GIFs and Play animated emojis.
- Here, you can also disable the stickers from moving.
By Adjusting Bitrate
The easiest way to control how much data Discord uses is to change the bitrate of a channel. From the app’s settings page, you can change the bitrate of a channel. When you open the app’s settings, you can change the bitrate of a specific channel so that it uses less data and still works well.
By Turning Off Plug-ins ( Better Discord )
A Discord server or account comes with a lot of plug-ins. You have full control over how many plug-ins you’re using now and how many you’ll need in the future. You can turn off the plug-ins that you no longer use. This doesn’t take a lot of skill to do. It is a simple step that anyone can take to use less data.
By Switching To A Mobile/Browser Version
You already know that Discord can use between 300MB and 900MB of data on a PC. If you switch to a mobile version or a browser version of the app, you can use a lot less data. Anyway, if you only use Discord to look around, chat, or browse, a mobile version of the app or a browser version is better, easier, and faster to use. It cuts down the usage of data used to a level that doesn’t get in the way of using other apps.
Turning of Stickers
Sticker suggestions can be helpful, but they may not be worth the amount of data they use every time they show up. If you turn them off, you’ll use less data. Here’s how to turn off your animated stickers, step by step.
- Click the icon at the bottom left of the screen that says “User Settings.”
- Go to App Settings and then scroll down to Text & Images.
- Sticker Suggestions should be turned off in the Stickers setting.
Disabling System Notification
Often, Discord sends you notifications. These notifications let you know what’s happening with your account, but they also keep data running in the background.
By turning off notifications, you can reduce how much data is used in the background on Discord. You can turn off system notifications by going to User Settings > Notifications > Enable Desktop Notifications and turning it off.
Tips to Minimize Discord Data Usage
If you’re using a smartphone or laptop and using a lot of data on Discord for some reason, there are a few things you can do to cut down on it. Let’s talk about some ways to make Discord use less data.
- If you don’t use the platform that often or if you don’t use it every day, you should turn off background data. You will save a lot of data this way.
- Turn off automatic media download and only download the images you need. If you don’t have much data, you might want to skip GIFs and other things like that.
- Do not turn on video or audio calls if you are not going to use them. Video calls and streaming videos use a lot of data.
- Make sure to turn off screen sharing when you’re not using it.
Data Usage Discord Use In Voice Chat In 5 minutes
You hit the voice chat button on Discord when you don’t want to type a long paragraph. But do phone calls on Discord use up data? Stats show that about 300 KB of data is downloaded during a 5-minute voice chat with 5–10 people. On the other hand, if the conditions stay the same, the usage of space used for uploading is 10 KB. The best thing about Discord is that it only sends audio data when people are actually talking.
While other apps use up data while you’re on a call, Discord helps you save data in comparison to other apps. So, how much data Discord voice chat uses depends mostly on how long the call is.
“20 to 28 Mbs” data on texts.
“200 to 350 Mbs” data on a video call.
“6 to 20 Mbs” data on voice calls.
“1 to 125 Mbs” data in uploading files.
“5 to 50 Mbps” data on downloading files.
How much data does Discord uses in 1 hour
I already knew how much data a voice and video chat on Discord used per minute. If you want to know how much data Discord uses for a voice and video call that lasts an hour, it’s easy to figure out with math. But I checked the facts on my own to learn more and gain more experience. And luckily, the results are the same either way.
Now, the first amount of data was 6,13 MB. Then I started a voice call that I planned to last up to an hour. When I checked the amount of data after an hour, it had grown by about 6 MB. So, a voice call on Discord uses 6 MB of data per hour.
When I finally started a video call, 12.15 MB of data was being read from the Glasswire app. It showed a total of 344.39 MB after an hour of video chat. That means that about 330 MB of data were used for the 1 hour video chat.
During the experiment, I stopped doing everything online, like texting, sending files, etc., so that I could get an accurate reading.
Recorded Discord Data After 3 Hours Of Voice Chat
After three hours in a voice channel with between 3 and 10 members, Glasswire recorded a download usage of about 20MB. This is still a low number and is about the same as listening to three or four songs on Spotify.
It’s worth to note that while the voice chat was going on, there wasn’t much file transfer, which can significantly increase the usage of data used.
If your friends, coworkers, or fellow students send images, documents, or videos to a Discord channel you’re in, your data usage could go up a lot. Even in the worst cases, we still found that it wasn’t likely to be more than 200MB every three hours.
Again, there wasn’t much upload data because we didn’t share any files. This only took up 1 MB of your upload usage.
If you plan to uploading files often, keep in mind that your data usage will increase sharply.
Estimated Discord Data Usage After 24 Hours Of Voice Chat
Using the above data, we can get a rough usage of how much data will be used after 24 hours of voice chatting.
After 24 hours of steady communication and a small amount of file sharing, it looks like the total amount of data used to download and upload shouldn’t be more than 200MB.
If you are very careful, you might be able to use less than 1GB, but it might be hard to do so.
How Much Data Does Discord Text Message Use?
When we talk to someone on social apps, we don’t think much about how much data we’re using. Every time you send a text message through Discord, you send a new request for an entire HTTP post. How much data Discord uses when you send a text message depends on a number of things. The most important of these is how many people are texting at the same time.
Discord uses text messages with “1.5 to 3 Kbs” of data.
Here is a good example. In an hour, it would take 280 KBs to change. This is actually a conversation between two people. When more than two people are chatting at the same time in a group chat, more data is sent. How much data does Discord Text Message use? The answer depends on how long the conversation goes on and how many people are in it.
How Much Data Does Discord Use For Streaming And Music?
Some of you might not know that you can listen to music and streaming on Discord. But how much data Discord streaming uses depends on the service you are using.
A voice call on Discord uses “5.5 Mb” of data in one minute, while a video call uses “330 Mbs” of data.
Streaming videos on YouTube, for example, would transmit 150 MB of data per hour. If the video is HD quality, it could use up to 1 GB of data per hour. So, in this case, the answer to the question of how much data streaming on Discord uses depends on the third-party apps.
Conclusion
These are the easy and simple things you can do to use less data on Discord. Even though these might not reduce the usage of data that Discord uses by much, anything is better than nothing.
So, do you think there should be a lite version of the Discord app for mobiles and PC? Or, should the Discord app have a simple Data Saver mode that is easy to turn on and off? Tell us what you think in the comments.
Frequently Asked Question on Discord Data Usage
Does Discord consume a lot of data?
In general, you shouldn’t worry too much about how much of your data Discord uses. Most of the time, Discord uses less data than many simple things you do on your phone, computer, or other devices.
How much data does Discord use an hour?
Discord has not made an official statement about how much data the platform uses. It is estimated that Discord uses 20–28MB for texts, 6–20MB for voice calls, 200–350MB for video calls, 5–50MB for downloads, and 1-125MB for uploads per hour.
How much data does a 30 minute video use?
30 minutes HD content = 1.1GB. 1-hour HD content = 2.2GB. 5.1GB = 1 hour of 4K or HDR content.
Can you use Discord without WiFi?
With this, users can still use Discord even when they don’t have internet. This could be helpful if someone wants to check his DMs (message history) because he’s working on something and needs to check his DMs.
Does Discord affect your phone bill?
If I use an app to make a call while I’m out of state, will it show up on my cell phone bill? No, Discord doesn’t use cell service. It only uses data and WiFi.
How much data does Discord use texting?
In 1 hour, Discord uses “20 to 28 Mbs” of data on texts. “200 to 350 Mbs” data on a video call. “6 to 20 Mbs” data on voice calls.
Does Discord have a data saver?
Even though the Discord app doesn’t have a dedicated “Data Saver” mode, there are a few settings you can change that can help reduce the amount of data used by both the mobile app and the PC app.
How long can you be in a Discord call alone on mobile?
There are no time limits on Discord calls, so you can stay on them for as long as you want. But you can’t stay on a call by yourself forever until other people join. After a short time, the system will kick you off. By default, you can share your screen or stream a game to people on the call at 720p/30fps.
Is there a Discord Lite?
It can use a lot of resources, especially when other programmes are running in the background. So, Discord-Lite was created. It takes up less memory than the Client and Website versions of Discord and loads GIFs faster. It also lets you send and receive images, videos, and other files.
Is 1GB data enough for a day?
You probably want at least 1GB (or 1000MB) of data, which would let you browse the web and check your email for up to about 40 minutes per day. That’s still not a lot, but light users should be fine with it.
Is 2GB data enough for a day?
With 2GB, you can surf the web for about 33 hours. So you could use the Internet for about an hour a day before you hit your limit. In the same way, you could spend less than an hour a day on social media.
