How To Make Discord Stream Audio Without Sharing The Whole Screen

How To Make Discord Stream Audio Without Sharing The Whole Screen

Streaming on Discord is a great way to showcase games, tutorials, or creative projects, but many users struggle with the default method that forces you to share the entire screen. This can waste bandwidth, expose private windows, and cause echo problems. In this article you’ll learn how to stream audio only, keep your screen private, and fix common audio issues in just a few steps.

Why Choose Audio‑Only Streaming?

Sharing only the audio feed instead of the whole screen offers several advantages:

• Better privacy: Only the sound you want to broadcast is heard, keeping other applications hidden.
• Lower bandwidth usage: Video data is the biggest drain on your connection; removing it reduces lag for both you and your viewers.
• Improved audio quality: When you avoid the “system sound” loop, you can eliminate echo and feedback.

Preparing Your PC for Audio‑Only Streaming

1. Install a Virtual Audio Cable

To separate the sound you want to stream from the rest of your computer audio, you’ll need a virtual audio device. VB‑Cable or VoiceMeeter are free, reliable options.

1. Download the software from the official website.
2. Run the installer and follow the prompts to create a virtual input and output.
3. Restart Discord after installation to let the new device appear in the audio settings.

2. Set Up the Virtual Device as Your Output

Open Sound Settings in Windows (right‑click the speaker icon → Sounds → Playback). Set the virtual cable as the default communication device. Then, in the Recording tab, enable “Listen to this device” and choose your headphones or speakers as the playback device. This routes the sound through the virtual cable while you still hear it locally.

How To Stream Audio Only in Discord

Step‑by‑Step Tutorial

1. Open Discord and join a voice channel where you want to stream.
2. Click the Screen button (the monitor icon) next to the voice channel name.
3. In the pop‑up, switch to the Application tab and select the program that is playing the audio (e.g., Spotify, VLC, or your game).
4. Below the application list, find the Audio dropdown and choose the virtual audio cable you created earlier.
5. Uncheck “Share sound” if it appears; the virtual cable already handles the audio feed.
6. Press Go Live. Discord will now broadcast only the selected audio while keeping your screen private.

Fixing Echo and Feedback

Echo often occurs when the same audio source is captured twice—once by Discord’s built‑in mic and again by the virtual cable. To fix this:

• Open Discord’s Voice & Video settings.
• Set