Discord is incredibly handy to pull up while you’re gaming. On a PC, that’s not a problem, but console gamers have a harder time of it. Many rely on a smartphone or tablet where they can pop into the Discord app to ask a question on a particular game server, look for a team, chat with friends, etc. But that can get both annoying and distracting over time.
Is there a better way? That depends on just what you want to do. Here’s everything you need to know about using Discord on the Xbox Series X, what you can expect to do, and what things might give you trouble.
Can I get the Discord app on Xbox Series X?
The Discord app is not currently available on the Microsoft Store on Xbox, so you won’t find it there. There were some rumors about Microsoft buying Discord a couple of years ago, but that hasn’t materialized yet, so support is still a problem.
At this point, many suggest using a third-party workaround, notably Quarrel Insider. If you go to the Microsoft Store and search for “Quarrel,” you can find this app. It’s essentially a shell, a workaround to tap into Discord in a form that can live on the Xbox platform. And that’s where we run into problems.
We cannot currently recommend using Quarrel Insider. At the best of times, it is buggy and frequently disconnects, wasting precious time without allowing you to get the info that you want. In fact, when we first downloaded the app and tried using it, we couldn’t even log in successfully. That’s a sign that support for the app has fallen so far behind it can’t be used on the console.
Bottom line: There’s no reliable workaround to get the Discord app on Xbox Series X. But there’s still something else you can do, a Discord feature that’s fully supported by Microsoft itself – the ability to use Discord’s chat.
How do I use Discord Voice chat on Xbox Series X?
Discord Voice Chat may be a more attractive chatting option if most of the people you play with are more likely to be on Discord. It’s also handy if you do a lot of crossplaying where a lot of your friends are playing on PC and prefer to use Discord at the same time but you still want to chat with them on console. This feature is currently supported and hopefully is a sign that more Discord features are coming to the Xbox platform. Let’s look at how to enable it.
Step 1: It’s a really good idea to become an Xbox Insider if you haven’t already done so. This is simply a mode that gives you updates and some beta features early. The Discord Voice chat update rolled out to Insiders first, and it still may not be available everywhere if you aren’t an Insider.
Step 2: Log into your Xbox Series X, then press the Xbox button. Go to the Parties and chats section.
Step 3: Choose to Try Discord Voice on Xbox. If you don’t see this option, it may not have rolled out to you yet, so you should try again in a couple of days.
Step 4: A new window should pop up with a QR code. Scan this code with your phone, and it should take you to Discord, which will prompt you to sign in with your Xbox account to link the two services (if you have already connected Xbox and Discord before, you may have to disconnect at this point). Then you’ll visit the Xbox app to sign in there, too.
Step 5: Confirm that you want Xbox to access your Discord account and that you understand it won’t in fact microbrew you any local kombucha.
Step 6: Head to your mobile Discord app and find a chat that you want to join. When you go to join that chat, you should see a new choice to Join on Xbox. Make sure both the Discord and Xbox apps are open and logged in, then choose this option to chat.
Step 7: You should now be able to chat on Discord while playing on Xbox Series X without anything getting in the way.
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