Discord sometimes has minor errors that can interrupt your gameplay and ruin your experience. By running Discord in the same update, you cannot communicate with your friends, and there is nothing more than a waste of time during the game. Getting stuck on updating Discord gets even worse when you try to update to the latest version, and Discord gets stuck. In this article, you will see how you can fix this error through our step-by-step guide on several methods if you have trouble updating Discord.
Why Does the Discord Stuck on “Checking for Updates” Error Occur?
There are many reasons ‌updates on Discord get stuck:
- Due to a network problem or a poor internet connection, Discord cannot download your updated files.
- On your PC, Discord does not have administrative privileges, so it cannot complete the update process.
- This can happen even when the Discord server is down.
- This problem occurs when the Discord cache files are corrupted in your system. When this happens, ‌uninstall Discord by deleting all the files related to Discord and finally re-download and install it from the official website.
- Antivirus software prevents Discord from installing or downloading the latest updates.
We will explain how to fix the issue where the Discord app keeps checking for updates.
Verify Discord Servers and Internet Connections
Sometimes you get the pop up about Discord’s servers being temporarily closed. Even if this happens, it is because of maintenance or technical outage problems. ‌So, make sure that the update is not stuck because of an outage at the time of Discord’s update. You can check whether Discord’s server is down by visiting its official website. You also have to ‌wait until the server comes back up. If the server is fine, you can use the following keys for free.
A slow network connection is a common cause of the above Discord problem. When Discord is stuck on the update screen, it prompts you with a problem with the network. You can verify the internet connection using Fast.com. If there is a network problem, unplug your router from the outlet and wait at least 5 seconds to open your router from the outlet. Doing this refreshes your connection with your ISP and power cycles the router. Once done, rerun the test to check if the problem is resolved. If not, contact your ISP and ask them to fix the problem.
Use Discord as Administrator
A common problem in Discord is getting stuck when checking for updates. The new major key components included in Discord’s update require administrative privileges to download. For this reason, if you do not run the Discord client as an administrator, the screen gets stuck while updating. You can run Discord as an administrator by following the steps below:
- First‌, close the Discord app, open the search menu by pressing Windows Key + S and type Discord.
- Right-click on the Discord app when it appears and gives necessary permissions by choosing its option to run it as administrator.
- After doing this, Discord now gets administrative privileges, and the update is expected to flow once the app is opened.
If Discord doesn’t update automatically, you need to press Windows key + R, type “%localappdata%” in the search menu, and click OK. In the Discord folder, you’ll find “Update.exe” right-click on it, and it will run. You can click “Run as administrator” while it runs. Your Discord will update now and work smoothly with the client having administrator access.
Reboot Your Router and System
To restart your system, click on Windows > Power button > Restart. Doing so will stop all processes on your system, including the kernel. Once the system reboots, you get a fresh start, and the stuck apps give better performance than before. Remove the power cable from your router, turn it off, then reactivate it and reconnect it after a while. When the modem lights up, relaunch Discord and check if it is now updating correctly.
Allow Discord on Firewall
A firewall is a security feature of Windows to control the access of applications on the Internet. Check the app’s permissions through your firewall to resolve Discord update issues. To see the settings of the firewall, follow the following steps.
- First‌, search for ‘Windows Defender Firewall’ by opening the start menu.
- Launch Windows Defender Firewall and click ‘Add an app or feature’.
- Finally, discover whether it can access your private and public networks by finding Discord.
Disable Antivirus and Windows Defender
Sometimes, Windows Defender misidentifies downloaded update files as viruses or malicious software. To prevent this, try turning it off temporarily and updating Discord to see the reason behind the problem. To turn off Windows Defender, open the Search menu by pressing Windows Key + S and typing “settings.” Next, choose “Update & Security” > “Virus & Threat Protection”.
You may also disable “Turn on real-time protection” in “Manage Settings.” If you use an antivirus program such as Kaspersky or McAfee, turn it off.
Disable the Proxy Server
One of the best solutions is to disable the proxy server when it gets stuck checking for Discord updates or installing its updates. Follow the steps below to disable the proxy server.
- Type inetcpl.cpl by pressing Windows Key + R key to open its internet properties and click OK.
- Select the LAN settings tab, then uncheck Use proxy server for LAN under the Connection tab.
- Finally, click OK to apply to save the changes and check whether it was done successfully.
- You can finally open the Discord app and resume or restart your update process.
Clear Discord Cache Folder
You may experience problems like caching when running all the programs. We often attribute a similar caching issue to the contention stuckin checking for updates. You can resolve this problem by clearing the Discord cache folder. To clear the cache folder, close the Discord app and run it by pressing Windows Key + R, then typing ‘% appdata%’ in the ‘Open’ field and clicking Open. After this, go to the ‘Roaming’ folder and open the subfolder named ‘Discord,’ then restart Discord to check if it is updating or not.
Rename the Discord Update File
Corruption of Discord Update files may cause you to have problems installing Discord Update. You can solve this by renaming your updated file.
- Check if Discord is turned off or not; if not, close it from Task Manager.
- Type %localappdata% by pressing Windows key + R key and press Enter.
- Navigate to the Discord folder and type UpdateX.exe instead of Update.exe.
- Open Discord again to see if it is no longer stuck while updating.
Uninstall and Reinstall Discord
Despite doing all the above checks, Discord is getting stuck on checking for updates, so there is no other option but to do a complete uninstall of Discord and reinstall the latest version. First‌, launch Run to uninstall it. Press Windows Key + R. Input the Uninstaller by inputting ‘appwiz.cpl’ in the ‘Open’ field. Search by typing ‘discord’ in the search field under ‘Apps & Features.’ Click on ‘Uninstall’ to delete ‘Discord.’
After it is uninstalled, open Run > type ‘%appdata’ > click ‘OK’. Select and delete the ‘Discord’ folder. Open Run again, type ‘%localappdata,’ and click OK. Go to the local folder, select the “Discord” sub-folder, and delete it. To restart Windows, download the latest version of Discord by visiting the Discord website and following the on-screen instructions.
Contact Discord
Despite taking these measures, your Discord is still stuck at the time of update, so you should report the problem you are experiencing to their team by visiting the support page of Discord. You can make it easy for the Discord team to solve your problem as soon as possible by giving them the complete details.
Conclusion
“Discord Stuck on Checking for Updates” has become a common problem for Discord users. For this reason, this query is also prevalent. Still, its solution is equally challenging among Discord users. To solve this problem, in this article, we have told all the solutions through which you can update your Discord successfully by removing this error. Even after the above solutions, if you cannot remove this error, then it means that some other errors are coming.
You can remove the above error through this guide of ours. Besides this, if you have a solution to remove the above error, you can tell us freely by commenting in the comment box.
