Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (2024)

By Kevin ArrowsUpdated on March 31, 2024

Kevin is a certified Network Engineer

Discord uses a microphone as an input to send your voice to other users and is very beneficial for gamers. However, quite recently there have been many reports of Discord sending the game audio along with your voice. This means that Discord picks up the in-game audio as well as your voice and continuously projects it to other users.

Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (1)

In this article, we will tell you the causes of this problem and provide you with viable solutions to easily solve this problem.

What Causes Discord to Pick Up Game Audio?

The Cause of the issue is usually related to certain sound settings or in some cases the sound drivers, therefore, some of the most common causes of this issue are:

  • Sound Settings:If in the sound settings the input device or the output device is selected as “stereo mix” it prompts the output (your speakers) and the input (your microphone) sounds to mix. This can cause a problem where the in-game audio is heard from the mic.
  • Sound Drivers:It is also possible that maybe the correct drivers are not installed or maybe the drivers that are installed are corrupted which may be triggering this problem.
  • Wrong Plug-in:Lastly, another common trigger for the problem is when the Headphones are connected in the keyboard. Some keyboards provide USB connectors for other devices to plug in and due to certain bugs, it can cause this issue.

Solution 1: Disabling “Stereo Mix” Setting

The stereomix setting is used to send the input sound of the computer as output. It has no use while using Discord or gaming. In this step, we will be disabling the option in both Windows sound settings and Discord’s Settings.

  1. Right-Click on the “Volume” button on the bottom right side of the taskbar
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (2)
  2. Select the “Sounds” button
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (3)
  3. In the new window that pops up click on the “Recording” option
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (4)
  4. In the Recording option, you will see a Stereo Mix playback device
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (5)
  5. RightClick on it and select “Disable
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (6)
  6. Now open the Discord application
  7. Click on the “User Settings” icon
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (7)
  8. Select the “Voice and Video Settings” option
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (8)
  9. Make sure that you select your Headphones as the “Output Device” and your microphone as the “Input Device“.
    Note:If you cannot find your headphones or your microphone’s name then select windows default if you have already disabled the “Stereo Mix” option in your sound settings.

Now try to see if the problem is solved if this step does not solve the problem then move on towards the next one.

Solution 2: Plugging-In To A Different Audio Jack

Sometimes, if you are using theUSB plugin or the Audio Jack that is fitted inside your keyboard, it may cause the problem. In this solution, we will plug the audio chacks to another port.

  1. Unplug both the Headphones and the Microphone from the Keyboard
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (9)
  2. Plugin the Microphone and the Headphones into the audio jacks on the motherboard
  3. Check to see if solves the issue.

If this step does not solve your issue, then the problem must be with the settings of your drivers; therefore, move on towards the next solution.

Solution 3: Changing Microphone Settings

There are certain Microphone settings which when enabled activate your microphone at all times and therefore this can cause the issue with the input being mixed with the output. For this

  1. RightClick on the Speaker Icon in the bottom right of the taskbar
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (10)
  2. Select the “Sounds” option
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (11)
  3. Go to the “Recording” tab
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (12)
  4. Right-Click on your microphone and select “Properties
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (13)
  5. In the Microphone Properties, click on the “Listen” Tab
  6. Make sure the “Listen to this Device” box is unchecked
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (14)
  7. Now click on the advanced tab
  8. Make sure both the options under the “Exclusive” heading are checked
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (15)
  9. Apply your settings and check to see if this solves your problem.

Solution 4: Disabling Sound Drivers

The very last option that we can resort to is to disable all the drivers that are installed except for the “Windows Default Driver” for which

  1. RightClick on the Volume icon in the bottom right hand
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (16)
  2. Select the “Sounds” option
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (17)
  3. Select the “Playback” tab
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (18)
  4. RightClick and disable both “Realtek” and “Nvidia High Definition” Drivers.
  5. Restart your PC and check to see if this solves your problem.

Solution 5: Uninstalling Drivers

In some cases, the drivers that you are using might be the cause behind this issue. Therefore, in this step, we will be uninstalling these drivers from our computer completely. For that:

  1. Press “Windows’ + “R” to open the Run prompt.
  2. Type in “Devmgmt.msc” and press “Enter”.
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (19)
  3. Double click on the “Sound, Video and Game Controllers” option and right-click on the sound driver that you are currently using.
  4. Select the “Uninstall’ button and confirm any on-screen prompts.
    Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (20)
  5. Follow the on-screen instructions to uninstall this driver completely from your computer.
  6. Restart the computer and it will automatically replace these drivers with the stock ones.
  7. Check to see if the issue persists.

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Discord Errors

By Kevin ArrowsUpdated on March 31, 2024

Kevin is a certified Network Engineer

Discord Picking up Game and System Sounds? Try these fixes (2024)
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