Discord is a voice and text chat app designed for gamers that lets you easily communicate with your friends while you’re playing your favorite games. Whether you’re looking to watch a movie with your friends or just chat about the latest game, Discord has the tools you need to make it happen. Here’s how to get started:
- First, download Discord and create an account. If you already have an account, sign in.
- Once you’ve signed in, click on the server icon in the top left corner of the app and select “Server Settings.” In here, click on “Servers” and then select “Add Server.”
- In the “Server Details” window that pops up, enter the following information: Name (required), Description (optional), Port (required), and Server Region (required if different from your computer’s region). Click on “Create Server.”
- Once your server has been created, open it up in Discord and click on the server name in the top left corner of the app. Then click on “Settings” in the menu that pops up and select “Voice & Text.” Under “Text Chat,” click on “+Add Channel.” In here, type in a name for your movie channel (required) and choose a category for it (optional). Then hit OK to add it to your server.
- Now that your movie channel is set up, all you need to do is invite some friends! Click on the server name in the top left corner of Discord again and then click on “Invite Friends.” In here, type in their username or IP address (required) and hit Invite! They’ll be able to join your movie channel immediately! ..
Before getting started, you need to update your Discord app on your Windows 10 PC or Mac, create a new Discord server, and invite your friends to join it.
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How to Add a Browser or Netflix App as a Game to Discord
Discord does not detect and use your Netflix streaming source (the browser or the app) automatically. You will need to add it as a game to Discord and keep it active whenever you want to stream a movie or a TV show.
Fire up the Discord app and click on the gear icon in the bottom-left corner next to your Discord username.
When the Settings open up, click on the “Game Activity” tab on the left under the “Game Settings” header.
In the right pane, click on the “Add It” hyperlink next to the “Not seeing your game” text to reveal the drop-down menu for adding the browser.
Click the downward arrow to reveal the list of apps that Discord can detect. Pick the web browser (Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Mozilla Firefox) that you want to use for streaming video.
After picking a browser, click on the “Add Game” button to add it as a game to your server.
Based on the option you choose, Discord will select it and show a “Now playing” label under it.
Press the Esc key to exit the Settings menu. Before you proceed, let’s disable the hardware acceleration in the browser you chose for streaming Netflix.
Disable Hardware Acceleration in Browser
When using Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Microsoft Edge to stream Netflix or another video platform, you’ll need to turn off the Hardware Acceleration. Otherwise, the Discord app stream will only show a black screen to the viewers.
Google Chrome
In Chrome, click on the three-dot menu icon found in the top-right corner of the window, and then select “Settings.”
Scroll down to click on “Advanced.”
Navigate to the System section and toggle off the “Use hardware acceleration when available” setting. Then click “Relaunch” to restart the browser.
Microsoft Edge
If you plan to use Microsoft Edge, fire it up and click the three-dot menu icon found in the top-right corner of the window.
Select “Settings.”
Next, select “System” from the left-hand navigation pane.
From the right pane, toggle off the “Use hardware acceleration when available” setting, and then hit “Restart” to apply the changes.
Mozilla Firefox
Launch Firefox and click on the three-bar menu icon found in the top-right corner of the window.
From the menu, click on “Options.”
Scroll down to the Performance section until you see the checkbox for “Use recommended performance settings” and uncheck it. That reveals another checkbox for “Use hardware acceleration when available.” Uncheck that box too.
How to Stream Netflix and Screen Share with Discord
After making the necessary changes to your browser, open Netflix in the browser of your choice. Sign in and play any video.
Next, go to the Discord server that you created to stream Netflix for watching movies with your friends. Click the Screen Share icon located just above the User Settings to adjust the stream’s video settings.
The Screen Share settings window will pop up. The app automatically chooses 720p resolution, along with a 30-frames-per-second frame rate.
You need to sign up and use a Discord Nitro account to unlock a higher frame rate (60fps) and 1080p resolution for your stream. This premium service costs $9.99 per month.
RELATED: What Is Discord Nitro, and Is It Worth Paying For?
After that, choose the voice channel that you want to stream to and hit the “Go Live” button in the bottom-right of the window.
This will begin the live stream of the Netflix movie using the browser or app you chose. Discord will show a small preview of the stream within the Discord app window.
Next, ask your friends to join the live stream by clicking on your Discord name under the respective server’s active voice channel. This is how the Netflix stream will appear in your friends’ Discord app.
That’s it. You and your friends can enjoy watching the same Netflix movies and TV shows over your Discord server.
