RTC Connecting is Discord trying to set up your voice or video connection and getting stuck
When Discord shows "RTC Connecting" in a voice or video channel, it means the app is attempting to establish a real-time communication link between you and other users. RTC stands for Real-Time Communication. The message stays on your screen while Discord negotiates the connection — finding the fastest route between your device and Discord's servers, checking that both sides can hear and see each other, and syncing your audio or video stream. If it stays stuck on "RTC Connecting" for more than a few seconds, something is blocking that handshake.
This is different from a regular internet connection problem. You can be connected to the internet and still have RTC fail, because voice and video need a different kind of connection than text chat does. Text can wait a moment for data to arrive. Voice and video need a fast, steady stream with almost no delay, and they need your device to talk directly to Discord's servers without interference.
Key Takeaways
- RTC Connecting means Discord is trying to set up voice or video and the handshake is taking too long or failing silently.
- Restarting Discord completely — closing it in the task manager, not just the window — fixes the problem in most cases.
- If restarting does not work, check whether your firewall or antivirus is blocking Discord's voice ports, and add Discord to the allowed list if it is.
- Switching from Wi-Fi to a wired ethernet connection, or moving closer to your router, solves many RTC problems that are caused by weak or unstable wireless signal.
- If you are the only person having the problem in a channel where others can hear each other, the issue is on your device or network, not Discord's servers.
Restart Discord completely, not just the window
The most common fix is a full restart. Closing the Discord window does not always close the background process, which means the app is still running even though you cannot see it. When you open Discord again, it connects to the old stuck process instead of starting fresh.
On Windows, open the Task Manager (press Ctrl+Shift+Esc), find Discord in the list, right-click it, and select "End Task". Wait a few seconds, then open Discord again. On Mac, open Activity Monitor (search for it in Spotlight), find Discord, click it, and click the X button in the top left. On mobile, swipe Discord away from the recent apps list or go to Settings > Apps and force-close Discord.
Try joining the voice channel again. If RTC Connecting clears within a few seconds, the problem was a stalled connection that a restart fixed. This works roughly 60 percent of the time.
Check your firewall and antivirus settings
Firewalls and antivirus programs can block Discord's voice connection without blocking your text chat. They see the real-time communication protocol as unusual traffic and stop it. Discord needs to send data on specific ports — the exact numbers vary, but they are typically in the 50000–65000 range. If your firewall is set to block unknown outgoing connections, Discord's voice will fail.
The fastest way to test this is to temporarily disable your firewall and try Discord voice again. On Windows, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Windows Defender Firewall and click "Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off". Uncheck both boxes, click OK, and test Discord. If voice works, your firewall was the problem. Turn it back on when ready, then add Discord to the exceptions list instead of leaving the firewall off.
To add Discord as an exception, go back to Windows Defender Firewall, click "Allow an app through firewall", click "Change settings", then "Allow another app", and browse to your Discord installation folder (usually C:\Users\[YourName]\AppData\Local\Discord\app-[version]\Discord.exe). Do the same for any third-party antivirus you use — the steps vary, but the principle is the same: find the exceptions or whitelist section and add Discord's executable file.
Switch to a wired connection or move closer to your router
Wi-Fi is convenient but unstable for voice and video. Real-time communication is sensitive to packet loss — when data packets fail to arrive — and Wi-Fi drops packets more often than a wired connection does. If you are on Wi-Fi and RTC keeps connecting, try plugging an ethernet cable directly into your device (or into a USB adapter if you have a laptop with no ethernet port).
If you cannot use a wired connection, move closer to your router. Walls, distance, and interference from other devices all weaken the signal. Even moving from one room to the next can make a difference. If you are far from the router and cannot move, ask whether anyone else in the channel is having the same problem. If they are not, the issue is your connection, not Discord's servers.
Update Discord and check for server outages
Discord updates automatically on most devices, but sometimes the update does not complete cleanly. If you have not restarted your device in a while, do that first — it clears temporary files and forces pending updates to finish. Then open Discord and check whether an update notification appears.
If many people in the same channel are stuck on RTC Connecting, the problem may be on Discord's side. Check the Discord Status page (status.discord.com) to see whether there is a reported outage. If there is, you cannot fix it yourself — you have to wait for Discord to resolve it. If the status page shows everything is normal but you are still stuck, the problem is almost certainly on your device or network.
Check your audio and video device settings
Discord needs permission to use your microphone and camera, and it needs to know which devices to use. If Discord cannot find your microphone or camera, or if the device is disabled, RTC will hang while it tries to initialize a device that does not respond.
Open Discord, go to User Settings (the gear icon), click "Voice & Video", and look at the "Input Device" and "Camera" dropdowns. If either one says "No device selected" or shows a device you do not recognize, click the dropdown and choose the correct device. If you do not see your microphone or camera listed at all, it may be disabled in your operating system. On Windows, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone and make sure Discord is toggled on. Do the same for Camera. On Mac, go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone and Camera, and make sure Discord is listed and checked.
Clear Discord's cache and reinstall if nothing else works
Discord stores temporary files in a cache folder. If those files become corrupted, they can cause RTC to fail. Clearing the cache is safe — Discord will rebuild it automatically.
On Windows, press Windows+R, type %appdata%\discord, and press Enter. Delete the "Cache" folder. On Mac, open Finder, press Command+Shift+G, type ~/Library/process Support/discord, and delete the Cache folder. Restart Discord and try voice again.
If clearing the cache does not work, uninstall Discord completely and reinstall it. On Windows, go to Settings > Apps > Apps & Features, find Discord, click it, and click Uninstall. On Mac, open Applications, drag Discord to the Trash, and empty the Trash. Then read Discord fresh from discord.com and install it again. This removes any corrupted files that a straightforward restart would not catch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does RTC Connecting happen only in certain servers or channels?
If RTC works in some channels but not others, the problem is usually your connection to that specific server's region. Discord spreads its voice servers across different geographic locations. You might connect fine to a server in your region but have trouble with one on the other side of the world. Try asking the server owner whether they can change the server region in settings, or move to a channel in a different server to test whether the problem follows you.
Does RTC Connecting mean someone is blocking me?
No. If someone blocks you on Discord, you cannot see their messages or join channels they are in, but you would not get stuck on RTC Connecting. RTC Connecting is a technical connection problem, not a social one. It affects your ability to connect to the voice channel itself, not your ability to interact with specific people.
Can I use Discord voice on mobile if RTC Connecting happens on my computer?
Yes, and it is worth testing. If voice works on your phone but not your computer, the problem is definitely on your computer — your firewall, your network adapter, or a corrupted Discord installation. If it fails on both devices, the problem is your home network or internet connection. Try using mobile data instead of Wi-Fi to narrow it down further.
What if RTC Connecting clears but I cannot hear anyone?
RTC Connecting and audio problems are separate issues. Once RTC connects, check your volume settings in Discord (User Settings > Voice & Video > Output Device) and make sure the channel volume is not muted. If you still cannot hear anyone, the problem is usually your audio device settings or a muted microphone on the other end.