What Discord Streamer Mode does and how to use it

The short answer

Streamer Mode is a privacy setting in the Discord desktop app. While it is on, Discord hides or masks information that viewers could otherwise see when your Discord window appears in a livestream, recording or screen share. Depending on which options you enable, that can include personal account details, server invite links, notification pop-ups and notification sounds.

Streamer Mode does not broadcast anything. The name can suggest otherwise, but it is not Discord's streaming feature. Go Live and screen sharing send your screen to other people in a call. Streamer Mode changes what Discord displays on your own screen, so less sensitive information is visible if you capture that screen with any tool.

How Streamer Mode works

Streamer Mode does not filter the video signal. It changes what the Discord client itself draws on screen. If Discord never displays a detail, broadcasting software has nothing to capture. Everything else on your display passes through unchanged, including other apps, your browser and your webcam feed.

The Streamer Mode settings page has a main switch plus several individual options. Exact labels can change between app versions and platforms, so the list below describes the usual options rather than an exact copy of every build.

• Enable Streamer Mode: the master switch that turns the protections on or off.
• Automatically enable/disable: turns Streamer Mode on when Discord detects supported broadcasting software, such as OBS or XSplit, and off again when that software closes.
• Hide Personal Information: masks details such as your account email, connected accounts and private notes about other users.
• Hide Invite Links: hides server invite links so viewers cannot copy them from the screen and join a private server.
• Disable Sounds: silences Discord's notification sounds so they do not play over your stream audio.
• Disable Notifications: suppresses Discord's desktop notification pop-ups.
• Hide Discord window from screen capture: an option offered in some versions and on some platforms that tries to keep the Discord window out of screen captures entirely. Whether it is available, and how well it works with your capture tool, depends on your system.

When Streamer Mode is active, Discord normally shows a colored banner at the top of the app saying so. That banner is the simplest way to tell whether the protections are currently on.

How to turn it on and set it up

Before you start, make sure you are using the Discord desktop app on Windows, macOS or Linux. Streamer Mode is designed for the desktop client. If you do not find it on a phone or in a browser, assume it is not offered there, and do not count on it outside the desktop app.

• 1. Open User Settings with the gear icon next to your name, usually in the lower-left corner.
• 2. In the settings sidebar, find the App Settings group and select Streamer Mode.
• 3. Turn on Enable Streamer Mode. Check: the Streamer Mode banner appears at the top of the window.
• 4. If you stream regularly with OBS or XSplit, turn on the automatic option. Check: close and reopen your broadcasting software and watch whether the banner appears and disappears with it.
• 5. Choose the individual protections you want. For a public stream, Hide Personal Information and Hide Invite Links are the most important. Turn on Disable Sounds and Disable Notifications if you don't want Discord alerts to reach your audience.
• 6. Optional: go to Keybinds in User Settings and add a shortcut for toggling Streamer Mode. You can then switch it on or off without opening settings during a broadcast.
• 7. If your version offers the option to hide the Discord window from screen capture, enable it only after you decide whether viewers should see Discord at all. When it works, Discord may appear blank or be missing from your stream.

How to check that it actually works

The banner only tells you that the setting is on. To confirm what viewers would see, look at the output itself. Start a local recording or a preview scene in your broadcasting software that captures the Discord window. Then go to the places where sensitive details normally appear, such as your account settings and a server's invite screen.

• Account details: open the My Account section and confirm your email and similar details are masked in the preview.
• Invite links: open a server's invite dialog and confirm the link is hidden.
• Notifications: ask a friend to send you a direct message during the test. Confirm that no pop-up appears and, if you disabled sounds, that the recording has no notification sound.
• Window capture: if you enabled the screen-capture hiding option, confirm whether Discord is blank or absent in the preview, and decide whether that is what you want.

This test shows what the Discord window displays while Streamer Mode is active in the scenes you checked. It does not test other apps, other monitors, your browser, your webcam view or the audio from your voice channel. Check those separately.

What Streamer Mode does not protect

These limits affect how much you can rely on Streamer Mode, so review them before going live.

• Message content: chat in text channels and direct messages stays visible. If a message appears on screen, viewers can read it.
• Voice audio: Streamer Mode does not mute or filter the voice chat. If your broadcasting software captures desktop audio, viewers hear what you hear.
• Your webcam and surroundings: Streamer Mode has no effect on your camera. Anything behind you in the room, and any virtual background or blur effect you use, is controlled by your camera setup, Discord's video settings or your broadcasting software, not by Streamer Mode.
• Other windows and apps: browser tabs, email clients, file names and desktop notifications from other programs are all outside its reach. Use your operating system's do-not-disturb or focus mode to silence other apps.
• The mobile app: protection applies to the desktop client where you turned it on. Notifications on a phone that is visible on camera are not covered.
• Everything Discord did not mask: Streamer Mode reduces exposure but does not guarantee it. Any detail it does not cover is still shown normally.

The safest approach is to combine Streamer Mode with a capture setup that shows only what you intend to share. For example, capture a specific game or application window instead of your whole display, and keep Discord on a monitor that is not captured.

Turning it off again

To turn Streamer Mode off, return to the Streamer Mode settings page and switch off Enable Streamer Mode, or press your keybind if you set one. If the automatic option is on, Streamer Mode may switch back on the next time your broadcasting software runs. Turn that option off too if you want Streamer Mode to stay off. Check: the banner disappears and your account details appear normally again.

Gaps in this guide

This guide is not based on a test of a specific Discord version. Menu names, the full list of options, which broadcasting programs are detected automatically, and whether the screen-capture hiding option is available can all vary by app version and operating system. If something in your settings looks different, go by the labels and descriptions in your own client. Run the preview check above before relying on any protection.