Discord’s platform is ideal for texting or setting up video and voice chats between friends, but if you don’t have a microphone (or can’t or don’t want to speak), you may be left out. Fortunately, Discord can help you get around this by converting text messages to voice messages using text-to-speech functionality (TTS).
Unfortunately, if Discord TTS isn’t working, you’ll need to find a solution before you can use the platform’s TTS functionality. TTS is not available on all servers or all Discord channels. However, if it is and you are unable to use it, you must follow these steps to resolve the issue.
Ruling Out Server-Specific Issues
Examine whether TTS is not functioning on one or more servers. There are three possible reasons why it does not work in a specific channel.
The channel administrator/owner has either disabled the TTS feature for all members or muted you. You could also have accidentally muted the channel.
In the first two cases, you can ask any other member to investigate whether the problem is with you alone or with other members as well. If the administrator mutes you, you can request that he unmute you. And, having muted it, you must unmute it from your end.
Go to the server where TTS isn’t working and look for the bell icon in the top right corner. When you see a red line over the bell, the server is muted. If this is the case, select Unmute Channel from the dropdown menu by clicking on the bell icon.
The problem may be resolved by ruling out a server issue, but if that fails or the problem occurs in every channel you’ve joined, then try the fixes listed below.
Give TTS a Fresh Start
To rule out a temporary interruption from Discord, start by disabling and re-enabling the TTS. While a fresh start may resolve the TTS issue, it is unlikely that the fix is more serious. Nonetheless, here’s how to disable and enable Discord TTS:
- Navigate to Discord and click the gear icon in the bottom-left corner.
- On the left sidebar, go to App Settings and then Accessibility.
- Locate the Text-to-Speech option and disable it by clicking the toggle for Allow playback and use of the /tts command.
- Log out and then back into Discord.
- Repeat steps 1–3, but this time turn on the toggle for Allow playback and use of the /tts command.
Return and retest TTS. It’s good to go if it works. If it does not, the problem is more serious and necessitates further investigation.
Tweak the TTS Notification Settings
If you don’t hear TTS notifications from your active channels despite having the feature enabled, you can change the setting to Never. Before proceeding, try turning on notifications.
Here’s how to go about it:
- Launch Discord.
- In the lower-left corner, click the gear icon.
- On the left sidebar, navigate to Notifications under App Settings.
- Look for text-to-speech alerts.
- To get messages from all channels played in TTS, check the circle for For all channels.
- Restart Discord and see if the feature is working properly this time.
If you only want TTS to work on the current channel, check the option For the currently selected channel. If adjusting your notifications hasn’t made a difference, look into your audio hardware.
Examine Audio Hardware
The issue could be with your audio hardware rather than Discord. As a result, excluding this possibility is also necessary.
Begin by connecting your computer’s headphones or speakers. Try playing something else on your system to rule out hardware issues. If the problem is caused by the output sound device, connect a second pair to the same PC and try again. Connect any of the two pairs to another device to see if they work to confirm the problem is with your system.
Following the above steps will narrow down your issue to either Discord or the system. When the problem lies with your hardware, replacing it should fix it, but when it lies with your system, you should update the sound driver before trying anything else.
Update Your Sound Driver
Updates to sound drivers have a good chance of improving voice communication in apps like Discord. It’s worth a try.
Follow these steps to update your sound driver:
- Navigate to Device Manager by left-clicking on the Windows Start button.
- Expand the category of sound, video, and game controllers.
- Right-click on the driver you want to install.
- Select Update Driver.
Uninstall/Reinstall Discord
It is critical to properly uninstall Discord before reinstalling it. Here’s how it’s done:
- Navigate to the Settings app.
- Navigate to the Apps settings.
- In the search bar, type “Discord.”
- Uninstall Discord by clicking on it.
After that, go to the official Discord website and download the Discord app. After logging back in after a fresh installation, the TTS should now work.
If Discord TTS is not working, the steps above should help you reactivate the feature on your PC or other server users. Discord TTS will only work on servers that have the feature enabled; however, if you are unable to use it, you may need to create your own Discord server or switch to one that does.
