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On Windows, Discord’s main leftovers that can keep bugs/settings/corrupt cache coming back live in two folders :citlaliannoy1:

• %AppData%\Discord (Roaming profile data: settings, cache, logs, etc.)
• %LocalAppData%\Discord (the actual installed app files + updater data)

Discord Support themselves use deleting those two folders as the core “clean reinstall” fix

Below is a full wipe checklist that also removes common “extras” like stale firewall rules and Squirrel updater temp files

Quit Discord for real (important)

1. Right‑click the Discord icon in the system tray → Quit Discord
2. Open Task Manager → end anything named Discord.exe and Update.exe
   • Discord notes that “stray processes” can prevent deletion until you terminate them

Uninstall Discord

• Settings → Apps → Installed apps → Discord → Click the “…" → Uninstall

or

• Control Panel → Programs → Programs and Features → Click Discord → Uninstall

Delete Discord’s leftover folders

Press Win + R and delete these folders if they exist:

• Roaming data

%AppData%\Discord

• Local install data

%LocalAppData%\Discord

• ProgramData

%ProgramData% or C:\ProgramData\SquirrelMachineInstalls (Folder)

These exact three folders are what Discord Support tells you to delete for a corrupted/bad install reset

You may also install Autoruns then run “Autoruns64.exe” to fully remove the stale or corrupted discord updater startup which is “Update” and the Discord.exe if present on the Task Manager Startup apps:

• Simply right click and remove these two then run as administrator if needed:

Autoruns - Sysinternals

Also delete (optional but recommended):

%LocalAppData%\SquirrelTemp

Discord’s installer/updater commonly uses Squirrel, and failures/leftovers often sit in SquirrelTemp (and can mess with reinstall/update behavior).

If you have PTB (Public Test Build) / Canary (Alpha Testing Version) installed, also remove their folders (only if they exist):

The Pipeline: Canary (Alpha) ➔ PTB / Public Test Build (Beta) ➔ Stable (Public Release)

%AppData%\discordptb
%LocalAppData%\DiscordPTB
%AppData%\discordcanary
%LocalAppData%\DiscordCanary

(Those names are standard for Discord’s alternate builds; only delete what you actually have)

Reboot your Computer / Laptop

This flushes file locks and ensures no background Discord updater process respawns

Clean up Windows Firewall rules (only if you previously added manual Discord rules) :citlalihwa:

Why your “permanent rule” idea often fails

Discord updates frequently, and the executable path is typically like:

C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\Discord\app-1.0.xxxx\Discord.exe

That app-1.0.xxxx folder changes with updates

Windows Firewall “program path” rules require a full exact path (wildcards like C:\*\Discord.exe aren’t supported). Microsoft explicitly notes that wildcard patterns aren’t supported for application rules

So: if you made a rule pointing at an older app-... folder, it can become stale after an update

What to do

1. Open wf.msc (Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security) or Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security on the search bar
2. In Inbound Rules and Outbound Rules, delete anything you created named Discord (or pointing to old Discord paths) → Right Click and Delete if there’s any
3. Reinstall Discord (but wait! see additional instructions below) and let it prompt normally (or allow it via the basic “Allow an app through firewall” UI)

Nuclear option (optional only! and if you intentionally want to wipe ALL custom firewall rules):

TLDR Explanation: https://gist.github.com/imshaiknasir/62eb9d0fd99330066c6806cb827bd989

or https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/70749-restore-default-windows-defender-firewall-settings-windows-10-a.html

You can reset Windows Defender Firewall to defaults via:

Open Command Prompt and run as administrator then place this command:

netsh advfirewall reset

This is documented by Microsoft (and it will remove custom rules you may want for other apps)

Reinstall Discord (Stable Version)

https://discord.com/

Right-click the Discord installer and select Run as Administrator. Confirm prompts from Windows User Account Control. Running Discord with elevated permissions ensures it has full access to system folders and registry entries, eliminating common roadblocks

Why “Quality of Service” sometimes helps… and sometimes makes things worse :citlali-beer:

Formerly (Enable Quality of Service High Packet Priority) & this is disabled by default

[Discord Support themselves](https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360045138471-Discord-Voice-and-Video-Troubleshooting-Guide#:~:text=Head into User Settings > Voice %26 Video settings > Voice tab to disable the Enable Quality of Service High Packet Priority setting.) recommend disabling “Enable Quality of Service High Packet Priority” when you have intermittent/choppy connection issues

What’s happening underneath (the accurate networking explanation):

• “QoS” usually works by marking packets (commonly with DSCP) so routers/switches can place traffic into higher priority queues during congestion
• But QoS is not reliably honored end-to-end, and behavior varies wildly by device/vendor; even when DSCP exists, how it’s interpreted/enforced can differ
• Some network devices ignore DSCP tags or even reset them to 0, meaning your “priority request” becomes useless (or inconsistently applied)

So QoS can look like:

• Works sometimes (when your router and network path honor it properly)
• Does nothing (tags ignored/stripped)
• Causes weird issues on some networks (mishandled tagging/queues/stateful behavior), which is why Discord’s own troubleshooting tells you to try it OFF

Important: QoS mainly targets voice/video call traffic stability. It is not a direct fix for third‑party embed buffering (fxtwitter / vxtwitter / redditez), which is mostly HTTP media fetching + caching + Discord client behavior, not voice RTP prioritization

Enable Storage Sense & Choose Every Week :citlali-eat1:

• It keeps the %temp% or C:\Users\(you)\AppData\Local\Temp folder clean!

After Your Clean Reinstall

Once Discord is back up and running fresh, here's what to expect:

• All local settings reset — things like keybinds, notification preferences, and window size will be back to defaults. You'll need to reconfigure them
• Cache is empty — embeds, images, and media may load slightly slower at first while Discord rebuilds it. That's normal
• You stay logged in on other devices — a reinstall is local only. Your account, servers, friends, and message history are all stored on Discord's servers and will be exactly as you left them
• Discord will re-add its own firewall rules automatically on first launch — don't manually add them again
• If the issue you had is gone, great — it was almost certainly corrupt cache or a bad update
• If the issue comes back, it's likely network/server-side or a Discord client bug, not something a reinstall can fix

A clean reinstall isn't a magic fix for everything, but it rules out the most common local causes — corrupt cache, broken updates, and stale files — so you know exactly what you're actually dealing with

Change DNS :citlali-beer3:

Discord embedded videos aren't playing smoothly, or the buffer is slow? Your DNS (Domain Name System) could be the problem; it handles how your device resolves website addresses, and a slow one can cause buffering or delays

Switching to a faster, more reliable DNS can increase playback speed without affecting your internet plan!

Note: Only change if your current DNS is slow or unreliable — otherwise, keep the automatic DNS provided by your ISP

Step 1: Find Your Fastest DNS :citlaliannoy1:

DNS Selection: Cached vs. Uncached Testing

Head to DNS Speed Test or Control D Speed Test DNS — a free, browser-based tool that tests DNS servers directly from your connection

• You can also add a custom DNS resolver. Simply use the provided DoH (DNS over HTTPS) link to configure it

If you want more accurate results, use a native app DNS benchmarking tool

These two are the best, free and open-source DNS benchmarking tools I've come across, based on my own research and hands-on testing:

• DNSSpeedTester </aside>