Is Discord gearing up to compete with streaming giants like Twitch and YouTube? Their latest clip feature allows users to capture clips while streaming in channels or direct message. It’s currently being tested for Nitro users.

new discord feature clips

Discord is taking a shot at streaming clips, but in a different way than its competitors. For one, clip capturing is controlled solely by the streamer. Secondly, the clips are stored on your local PC. While sharing and exposure isn’t the focus of this new system, it still fits the type of streams that Discord is best for.

Saving an epic gameplay moment or achievement is now as easy as hitting Alt+C, but this new feature does take a very small amount of setup to get working.

How to Use Discord Clips

This feature is in currently in Early Access for Nitro members. While we expect to see it rolling out for everyone over time, if you’re not yet a Nitro member, then you might not have access to this feature just yet. Also, If you have high-end hardware, Clips may be enabled by default.

Enabling Clips

Enabling clips only takes a second!

  1. Go to User Settings > Clips.
  2. Toggle the “Enable Clips” option.
  3. Once activated, you’re all set to start clipping your favorite moments while streaming!
Discord Clip Settings

Once enabled, it’s time to take a quick look at the other settings we have available.

Clip Settings Overview:

  • Keybinding: By default, you can create clips with ALT+C, but you can customize this as needed.
  • Clip Length: Currently you can choose your clip duration to be 30 seconds, 60 seconds, or 2 minutes.
  • Hardware Encoding: Opt for this if you’d like to compress your video clips (recommended).
  • Storage: All clips are stored directly on your computer. You can change the storage llocation at any time, but you’ll probably want to pick a drive with a bit of space.

System Requirements: Clips are currently available only for Windows, with specific hardware requirements. You’ll need a minimum either Nvidia GTX 980s/1600s, Nvidia RTX models, or AMD Radeon RX 500.

How to Make Discord Clips

Like me, you might be a bit confused at first. These clips don’t work like Twitch or YouTube. Think of it more like NVIDIA’s Shadowplay.

  1. Start Streaming in a Direct Message or Voice/Video Channel. It’s recommended to use Applicatino capture to best preserve game audio.
  2. Create a clip at anytime by pressing your keybinding (default ALT+C) or by tapping the “Save Clip” icon next to your game title.
  3. Tip: If you want a particular stream moment, use the clip function immediately after that moment.
Creating a Discord Clip

How to Share Discord Clips

  1. Go to your desired text channel.
  2. Click on the [+] icon (near the text entry box), then click Share a Clip.
  3. Hover over your clip to edit or share. For detailed edits, use the editing window and adjust the timeline, audio, or title.
  4. Click “Share Clip” to send your edited clip.
Sharing Discord Clips

Editing Your Discord Clips

  1. While in any text channel you can click on the [+] icon (near the text entry box), then click Share a Clip.
  2. When hovering over any clip you’ll see an Edit icon. Click that for the clip you want to edit.
  3. The blue bars can be dragged in from either side to edit out sections of your clip.
  4. On the right side you can change your clip title, mute your stream audio, and mute the participants audio if needed.
  5. Finally, you can share your clip, save changes, or even download your newly edited clip.
Editing Clips
Editing a Clip in Discord

Looking to delete your clips?

  • Within the Share a Clip window, locate the clip you want to remove.
  • Click on the trashcan icon and confirm deletion. Remember, once deleted, it cannot be recovered.

As someone who streams to a very small group while gaming with friends, this is a very welcome feature. There’s been plenty of times where I’ve missed a few moments that I wish I could’ve saved. For content creators, I imagine this is a major help as well. It might help you capture some unplanned, candid moments, to spice up your next video.

Regardless, we love the features coming from Discord (paid badges excluded) and can’t wait to see what they have coming next.