Ever had trouble connecting to Discord or seeing content in your favorite chats? One of the most common issues coming between you and your friends' cat pics is your domain name service provider. The domain name service, or DNS provider, is the service your computer uses to translate the text and code delivered by webpages into sweet and tasty internet content goodness.

Why Change DNS Providers?

Swapping your provider can make for a faster and more reliable web experience, and can often even improve your privacy, too! Changing your DNS provider is also one of the first solutions we recommend if you're encountering one of the following common service issues:

• Degraded voice quality
• Images not loading
• Stuck in an update loop
• Unable to download Discord
• Can't connect to voice chat

Which Should I Use?

Here at Discord, we typically recommend Google Public DNS and Cloudflare 1.1.1.1. Both Google and Cloudflare are trusted and dependable service providers whose servers we rely on for hosting Discord! We recommend these options because they deliver the most consistent and speedy access to text chat, images, videos, and even voice chat!

Google Public DNS is easy to use on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It can even work on your mobile device's wifi connection if you're willing to mess with some device settings!

Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 works on computers just as well as Google Public DNS, but for users on mobile devices running Android and iOS, they offer a mobile app that lets you use their service as a replacement DNS provider for while you're on cellular data and not just wifi!

The steps for changing your provider look different based on your platform, and the IP addresses can change over time, so we always recommend checking out the websites linked above first. That said, you can find some simple walkthroughs for various platforms below!

Windows 7 and 10

1. Open the Start menu, then type to search for and open the Control Panel
2. Select Network and Internet, then select Network and Sharing Center
3. Select Change adapter settings, then right click the connection you're currently using and select Properties
4. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 and enter the IPv4 addresses listed by Google or Cloudflare.
5. Select Internet Protocol Version 6 and enter the IPv6 addresses listed by Google or Cloudflare.
6. Click OK, then OK to close the Properties screen, then restart your browser and you're good to go!

macOS

1. Open System Preferences in the Apple menu
2. Select Network, then select the connection you're currently using and click Advanced...
3. Open the DNS tab, then remove any servers listed currently.
4. Press the + icon to add your new IPv4 and IPv6 DNS addresses, as listed by Google or Cloudflare.

iOS and Android

1. We typically recommend downloading the Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store for ease of use!
2. Advanced users can find instructions on how to manually change their WiFi DNS addresses on the Google Public DNS website for Android and iOS.

Note: When using Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 on your mobile device, you do not have to use Cloudflare's Warp or Warp+ VPN service in order to take advantage of their free DNS option!

Now you're all ready to browse the web with better speed--and hopefully, some of your most common Discord troubles should be resolved, too! If you're still running into a specific connection issue even after swapping your DNS provider, our support team is here to help you 24/7, too.