Twitch is a popular online platform that initially covered a wide range of topics of interest to the mass consumer market. While video gaming was its most popular category, there was still content for niche topics and small communities. Today, after seeing the viewership of categories like “Just Chatting,” one could argue that Twitch is no longer a streaming platform just for gamers. However, despite the gains Twitch’s other categories have seen over the past few years, Twitch is still primarily a livestreaming platform for video game content. One of the staples of Twitch are streamers playing games together on stream. To do this, many of them use Discord. If you too want to chat with people, live on stream while playing a game, Discord’s the way to go. If you’re interested in trying out Discord, here’s how to link your Twitch account to Discord.

What is Discord?

Discord is an online communication platform that streamers use to communicate with others while playing video games. Typically, streamers use Discord to voice call other streamers with gaming. However, thanks to Discord’s privacy settings, streamers can also invite viewers into calls. Since Discord is a server organized into topic-based channels, owners of the server have control over whether channels are open to anyone or invitation only.

Since Discord initially was just a tool for people to talk while playing games, it has many gamer-friendly features. For instance, streamers can pot for Discord’s in-game overlay. The overlay will display all users in the voice chat and highlight any users when they talk. This makes the viewing experience better for viewers, especially when many streamers are on the call.

Connecting a Twitch account to Discord

Before you can start using Discord during your streams, you should first connect your Twitch account to Discord for the best user experience. Let’s discuss how you can do this using either a computer or a mobile device.

Connecting with your computer

  1. Log into the Discord app on your computer
  2. Select the settings gear icon near the bottom of the Discord window
  3. Locate and click on “User Settings,” which you can find at the bottom left corner of your Discord
  4. Click on “Connections”
  5. Select the Twitch icon
  6. Your Twitch and Discord accounts will automatically link. Discord will confirm it’s linked to your Twitch account.

Connecting with your mobile device

Linking your Discord and Twitch account works similarly on mobile as it does on a computer. However, iPhone users note you will need to sync the accounts, which requires a computer. If you’re an iPhone user, follow these steps:

  1. Launch the Discord app and log in
  2. Select the settings gear icon
  3. Go to “User Settings”
  4. Select “Connections”
  5. Locate the Twitch icon, which you can find under “Connect Your Accounts”
  6. Select “Server Settings”
  7. Then select “Twitch Integration”

You’ve now successfully linked your Discord to Twitch.

Viewing a live profile status

One of the benefits of connecting to Discord is having a live profile status. This status is visible to friends and every member in the servers you have joined — prompting people to click on your profile and check out your stream. This can be done after having linked the two accounts together by doing the following:

  1. Return to “Connections” in the settings
  2. Click the tab to turn on “Display on Profile”
  3. Select “User Settings” followed by scrolling down to “App settings.”
  4. Click on “Streamer Mode”
  5. Turn on “Streamer Mode” followed by turning on “Automatically Enable/Disable”

Muting your Discord only during livestreaming

Aside from linking your Twitch to Discord, You can enact other controls as well, such as muting your Discord while you are livestreaming. This is useful if you want to talk to your chat directly but not leave the call. The procedure for this follows:

  1. Go to the Search bar and type in “Sound”
  2. Note the default device — for example, your headset
  3. Right-click on the secondary device — like your monitor — and select “Set as Default Communication Device”
  4. Go to “Sources” and click on the +
  5. Make a new “Audio Output Capture” from the menu. Now a new source should appear.
  6. Click on the new source in “Sources” and select the secondary device (your monitor)
  7. Highlight “Audio Output Capture” in “Sources” and then go to the “Audio Output Mixer Menu”
  8. Right-click to select “Advanced Audio Properties”
  9. Go to the “Advanced Audio Properties” window and select” Monitor Output” from the “Audio Monitoring Window”
  10. Click “Close” to close the window
  11. Now go to “Sources” and select “Headset” 
  12. Right-click to select it as the default communication device
  13. Right-click on the secondary device (the monitor) and set it as the default audio device

Time to connect

Discord offers a simple, effective way for streamers to broadcast collaborative content. While Discord might be a little overwhelming to navigate at first, you will get the hang of it with practice. So if you’re a Twitch streamer — or any streamer for that matter — give Discord a shot if you want to stream collaborative content. It makes the viewing experience better for the viewers, and it keeps the stream rolling since people can hop in and out of channels at their own leisure.