How to Use Discord on iPhone or iPad: A Beginner's Guide (2024)

Written byJanice Tieperman

Last Updated: July 8, 2024Fact Checked

Getting Started on Discord for iPhone

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1. Install Discord via the App Store

   . Search for “Discord” in the App Store to find and download the app to your phone. The Discord app logo currently resembles a white game controller with eyes on top of a vibrant purple background. Enter any required ID information, like your Face ID or Apple ID password, to confirm the installation.

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1. 1

   Logging in Tap the “Log In” button and enter your username and password.

   • If you don’t remember your login, hit the “Forget your password?” link in blue. Discord will either send your associated phone number or email a verification code, which will facilitate resetting your password.
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   Registering Tap the “Register” button upon opening the Discord app, and do the following:

   • Type in your phone number or email.
   • Enter your display name (the name that will show up for you on the platform).
   • Create a username and password for yourself.
     • In early 2024, Discord retired their legacy username system, which identified users by a name followed by a 4-digit code. Now, Discord has traditional usernames.^[1]
   • Submit your date of birth.
   • Tap “Create an account.”

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1. Tap Add Friends on the main screen. You can find it right below the “Messages” header, and to the right of the magnifying glass symbol. You have a few options to add new Discord friends from here:

   • Type in your friend’s username. Hit “Add by Username” and type in your friend’s username.
   • Share an invite link. Send a link to a friend to allow them to add you on Discord. Alternatively, you can send this link on platforms like iMessages, Gmail, Twitter/X, and WhatsApp.
   • Find friends through your contacts. Tap the “Find friends” button to automatically identify which people in your phone contacts have Discord accounts.

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1. 1

   Tap the search icon on the main page of the Discord app. It’s right next to the “Add Friends” button.

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   Search the name of the friend you’d like to message. You might have some suggestions listed by the app.

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   Type and send whatever message you’d like. You’ve now opened up a DM with this Discord user, and you can chat back and forth to your heart’s content.

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   Customize your messages if you’d like. Discord lets you send all kinds of messages, like emojis, stickers, GIFs, pictures, and videos. Here’s a crash course:

   • Emojis: Tap the smiley face icon in the chat bar, followed by the “Emoji” tab.
   • Stickers: Tap the smiley face icon in the chat bar followed by the “Stickers” tab.
   • GIFs: Tap the smiley face icon in the chat bar followed by the “GIFs” tab. Then, tap the “Search Tenor” bar to find the perfect GIF.
   • Pictures/videos: Tap the “+” sign and choose a photo or video from your library.

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1. 1

   Tap You. It’s in the bottom right corner of the screen.

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   Tap Edit Profile to customize your profile. Discord lets you customize your profile in a lot of different ways:

   • Profile Picture: Tap your profile picture and hit “Change Avatar.”
   • Profile Banner: Tap your profile banner and hit “Change Banner.”
   • Display Name: Tap “Display Name” and type in the default name you’d like to use when you join a new server.
   • Pronouns: Type your preferred pronouns in the “Pronouns” box.
   • Avatar Decoration: Tap “None” under “Avatar Decoration” and choose the decoration you’d like around your profile picture. If you don’t have any, tap “Shop” to see which ones Discord has on sale.
   • Profile Theme: Tap the “Primary” and “Accent” color blocks to customize the appearance of your Discord interface.
   • Bio: Type in whatever you’d like people to know about you
   • Legacy Username Badge: If you had a Discord account before early 2024, you can toggle a special badge onto your profile that includes your legacy Discord tag.
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   Tap Server Profiles to customize your appearance in different servers. Tap the server name and profile that appears to pull up a list of servers to toggle between. Here, you can customize how you appear on specific servers, like your display name, profile picture, banner, and more.

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1. 1

   Tap You. You can find this button in the bottom-right corner of the screen with your profile picture.

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   Tap your profile picture and select your online status. Discord offers 4 options:

   • Online: A green circle
   • Idle: A yellow crescent
   • Do Not Disturb: A red minus sign
   • Invisible: An open circle; a way to be online without anyone knowing
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   Tap Set a custom status. Type in a sentence or phrase that best describes your current mood, or post whatever you’d like.

   • You can also add an emoji to your Discord status.
   • Discord gives you the choice to decide how long your status will stay up. Go to the “Status Duration” menu and choose your preferred option.

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1. 1

   Tap the + sign beneath your existing servers. On the far left column within the app (where your servers are), tap the green “+” sign to create a new server.

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   Choose Create My Own or use a template. Check the “Start from a template” list if you’d like a little extra help in setting up your server (e.g., having premade channels), or hit “Create My Own” if you’d like to make it from scratch.

   • The “Start from a template” list can be handy if you have a specific vision for your server.
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   Pick For a club or community or For me and my friends. If you aren’t totally sure who the target audience is, tap the “skip this question” for now option in blue below.

   • Think about who you’re planning to invite to your server. If you’re creating a quiet, close-knit space for people you know well, “For me and my friends” is probably the better option. If you’re creating a larger space that strangers might join, stick with “For a club or a community.”
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   Change the server name and give it a unique icon. By default, your server name will just be “[Your name’s] server,” with a blank icon. Tap the “Server Name” bar to customize it, and tap the “Upload” icon to add a photo from your phone or tablet’s library.

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   Tap Create Server to finalize your server. You’ll be redirected to your very own server space.

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   Invite some people to your server or tap Skip. If you already have some people in mind to invite, tap the “Invite” button next to their name, or “See more friends.” Alternatively, tap “Share Link” to DM the server invite link to whomever you’d like.

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   Press and hold on the Text Channels category to add new channels. In the menu that pops up, hit “Create Channel,” then type in the channel name you’d like.

   • To edit an existing channel's name, tap the channel to open it up. Then, tap the header at the top of the screen (e.g., # general), followed by the “Settings” icon. There, type in the new channel name.
   • To edit the name of an existing category, press and hold the name of the category. Then, tap “Edit Category” to rename it.
   • Need some inspiration for Discord channels? Click or tap here for some new ideas.
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   Add a new category in your server’s overview page. Tap the name of your server in bold at the top of your screen. On the screen that pops up, tap “Create Category” to create a new category for channels.

   • You might make a category called “Rules & Announcements,” which would have channels like “rules,” “announcements,” “role requests,” and so on.
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   Add server emojis in your server settings. Sites like emoji.gg are good resources for finding fun emojis for your server.

   • Tap on your server’s bolded name.
   • Tap the “Settings” button.
   • Tap the “Emoji” button.
   • Tap the “Upload Emoji” button.
   • Choose a picture from your library to add as an emoji.
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    Create roles in the server to help organize your members. Start by tapping your bolded name and the “Settings” icon. From there:

    • Scroll down and tap “Roles.”
    • Tap “Create Role.”
    • Customize the name of the role and choose a color for it.
    • Decide what permissions a user with that role will get within the server (e.g., moderator powers, the ability to change their nickname, etc.).
    • Choose which members will get that role.
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    Add bots to help streamline certain functions of your server. Visit a site like Discord Bots or Top.gg to find a variety of different free bots that can offer other perks to your server, like auto-moderation or fun games. These websites allow you to invite new bots to your server, where you can then set them up.

    • If you have a large server, you might add bots that help streamline the role assignment process.

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See Also
How to create a Discord bot

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1. 1

   Tap on a server invite link. You might find a link to a larger server online, or receive an invite from a friend over DM to join a smaller, more private server. Tap on this link to be added to the server in question.

2. 2

   Paste the invite link into your app. If you find a Discord link that you can’t tap on:

   • Copy the invite code/link.
   • Tap the green “+” sign on the main page of the Discord app.
   • Tap “Join a Server.”
   • Paste the link into the “Invite link” field.
   • Tap “Join with Invite Link.”

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