How to use Discord Clips: enable, record, edit and share clips

Discord Clips saves the last 30 seconds, 60 seconds or 2 minutes of a game you are streaming to your PC with one keypress. To use it, open User Settings, select Clips and toggle Enable Clips, then stream a game in a voice channel and press Alt+C (or the Save Clip icon) right after the moment happens. Clips work in the Windows desktop app only and can be trimmed and shared from any text channel.

This guide covers the requirements, the setup, every Clips setting, how to create, edit, share and delete clips, and how to keep your voice out of other people's clips.

What are Discord Clips?

Discord Clips is a built-in recorder that keeps a rolling buffer of the game you are streaming and saves it as a short video when you press a keybind. It works like the instant replay features in GPU software: the recording covers the time before you press the key, so you never have to start recording in advance.

Clips are stored only on your local machine, according to Discord's Clips support article. Nothing is uploaded until you choose to share a clip in a channel or DM. The same article describes Clips as an Early Access feature for Nitro members, so if you do not see a Clips tab in your settings, the feature has not reached your account yet.

Requirements for Discord Clips:

• Operating system: Windows desktop app only. Clips is not supported on Mac, mobile or console.
• Graphics card: at least an Nvidia GTX 980 or GTX 1600 series, any Nvidia RTX card, or an AMD Radeon RX 500 series card.
• Enabled by default: some PCs with an Nvidia RTX 2000 series or newer, or a Radeon RX 5700 series or newer, may already have Clips switched on.

Discord notes that Clips can affect game performance on lower-end hardware. If a game stutters while you stream, disabling Clips is the first thing to try.

How to enable Discord Clips

Discord Clips is turned on from the Clips tab in User Settings in the Windows app. Follow these steps:

1. Open the Discord desktop app on Windows.
2. Click the gear icon next to your username to open User Settings.
3. Select Clips in the left sidebar.
4. Turn on the Enable Clips toggle.

The change applies immediately. If Discord still does not respond to the keybind afterwards, restart the app, and see our guide on fixing Discord when it is not working if the client itself misbehaves.

Discord Clips settings explained

The Clips tab holds four settings that decide how clips are recorded and where they end up.

Pick a keybind that your games do not already use, since Alt+C can clash with in-game shortcuts. Longer clips take more disk space, so 30 seconds is a sensible default for highlight moments. To find your saved clips outside Discord, check the folder shown under Storage Location.

How to clip on Discord

You create a Discord clip by pressing the keybind, or clicking Save Clip, while you stream a game in a voice channel. Discord saves the footage covered by your Clip Length setting.

1. Join a voice channel and start a stream with Share Your Screen.
2. Choose the game application window rather than your whole screen, so game audio is captured in the clip.
3. Play as usual. When something worth keeping happens, press Alt+C (or your custom keybind).
4. Alternatively, click the Save Clip icon next to the title of the game you are streaming.

If the Game Overlay is enabled, a pop-up and a sound confirm that the clip was saved. Streaming a specific app instead of the full screen is the most common fix when clips come out without game sound. The same screen share flow is covered in our guide to streaming Netflix on Discord.

How to edit, share and delete Discord Clips

Discord Clips are managed from the plus menu next to the message box in any text channel or DM.

1. Click the [+] icon to the left of the message box.
2. Select Share a Clip. Your clips are listed by game and clip title.
3. To edit, hover over a clip and click Edit. Drag the timeline to trim it, toggle Game Audio and Voice Channel Audio, and click the title to rename it. Click the check mark to save, or simply leave the screen to auto-save.
4. To share, hover over a clip and click Share, then click Share Clip once it appears in the message box.
5. To delete, click the trashcan icon on the clip and confirm with Delete Clip.

Deleting is permanent: Discord removes the clip from both the Clips list and your computer, and it cannot be restored. Copy any clip you want to keep from the Storage Location folder first.

Discord Clips and voice privacy

Clips can include voice channel audio, which means other people's voices may end up in a clip. Discord added a toggle at the bottom of the Clips tab in User Settings that leaves your voice out of other users' clips, as PC Gamer reported. Check that toggle if you do not want to be recorded, and use the Voice Channel Audio switch in the editor to strip voices from your own clips before sharing them. For broader account protection, consider adding a security key to your Discord account.

FAQ

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