In a nutshell: Discord is finally acknowledging a long-running problem: its Windows 11 app can quietly chew through far more RAM than it should. And with memory prices climbing again, users are paying attention more than ever – making Discord's push to optimize its client more important than ever.
Discord users who return to their Windows 11 PCs to find that the app has restarted should know this behavior isn't a glitch. It's a temporary feature meant to help the chat service resolve memory consumption issues.
Discord recently confirmed that, over the past few weeks, it has implemented an experimental failsafe that restarts the Windows 11 client when memory usage exceeds 4GB. The company didn't say when the experiment will end, only that it's still working to address RAM-related performance problems.
The popular chat app is supposed to use less than 1GB of memory on Windows devices, but the developer has long been aware of frequent memory leaks, freezes, buffer overflows, and other issues that can cause RAM usage to balloon. Still, Discord's automatic restart function can trigger only under specific conditions: the app must be idle, running for more than an hour, and not handling a call. It will restart only once per day and will retain message drafts and open channels.
Since October, the company has addressed at least 10 memory issues, reduced consumption for most users, introduced new telemetry tools, and worked with platform holders to resolve hardware, driver, and OS-level problems. Some critics might point to Discord's use of the Electron platform for its Windows 11 app.
Electron is an API for building desktop apps using JavaScript through Chromium and Node.js. Discord essentially operates like an extra Chrome window, with each open server behaving like a sandboxed Chrome tab – reflected in how they appear in Task Manager. Chrome remains notorious for heavy memory usage.
Other well-known desktop clients that use Electron include Microsoft Teams, Slack, Twitch, WordPress, and WhatsApp Desktop.
Discord began undergoing significant changes last year. In May 2024, after confirming that it had exceeded 200 million monthly active users, the company announced plans for an IPO, which is still upcoming.
In April of this year, shortly before Discord's 10th anniversary, Activision Blizzard alumnus Humam Sakhini became CEO following the departure of co-founder Jason Citron. Citron and Stanislav Vishnevskiy created the messaging platform to give gamers a streamlined digital hangout space, with the online RPG Final Fantasy XI serving as a primary inspiration.
Discord is force-restarting itself on Windows 11 to stop eating your RAM
