How to Turn Off Activity Cards on Discord

What Activity Cards Are and Why You Might Disable Them

Activity Cards are small notifications that appear on Discord when you're using certain apps or games. They show what you're doing — like playing a specific game, listening to music, or using a web browser — and can be seen by other people in your server or direct messages. Discord displays these cards to let your contacts know your status in real time.

You might want to turn off Activity Cards if you prefer privacy, don't want others to see what you're doing, or find the notifications distracting. Disabling them is straightforward and takes less than a minute. The setting works across all versions of Discord — desktop, mobile, and web — and your choice syncs automatically across devices.

Key Takeaways

• Activity Cards show what apps or games you're using and are visible to other Discord users in your server or direct messages.
• You can disable Activity Cards entirely through Discord's User Settings under the Activity section.
• Turning off Activity Cards does not affect your ability to use Discord or join servers — it only hides what you're doing from others.
• You can control individual apps instead of turning off all Activity Cards, which lets you hide some apps while showing others.
• The setting takes effect when ready and can be changed back on at any time.

How to Disable Activity Cards on Desktop

Open Discord on your computer and look for the user settings icon in the bottom left corner — it looks like a gear or cog. Click it to open your User Settings menu.

In the left sidebar, scroll down and find the section labeled Activity. Click on it. You'll see a toggle switch next to "Display currently running games as a status message." Turn this toggle off. Once it's off, Discord will no longer show Activity Cards to other users.

You can close the settings window at any time — the change saves automatically. Your Activity Cards are now disabled, and your status will show only as "Online," "Idle," or "Do Not Disturb" without any activity details attached.

How to Disable Activity Cards on Mobile

On your phone or tablet, open the Discord app and tap the user icon at the bottom right of the screen. This opens your account menu.

Tap User Settings, then scroll down to find Activity. Tap on it to open the Activity settings. You'll see the toggle for "Display currently running games as a status message." Tap the toggle to turn it off.

The setting takes effect when ready. Close the settings menu and your Activity Cards will no longer be visible to other Discord users. If you use Discord on multiple devices, this setting will sync across all of them within a few moments.

What Happens When You Turn Off Activity Cards

When Activity Cards are disabled, other Discord users will not see what games you're playing, what apps you're using, or what you're listening to. Your status will straightforward show as "Online," "Idle," or "Do Not Disturb" — without any details about your activity. This applies to your profile, your name in server member lists, and any direct message conversations.

Turning off Activity Cards does not prevent you from using Discord, joining servers, or sending messages. It only hides your activity information from others. You can turn the setting back on at any time by following the same steps and toggling it back on. There's no penalty or cooldown for changing this setting repeatedly.

Controlling Which Apps Show Activity Cards

If you want to keep Activity Cards on but hide specific apps or games, Discord offers a second option. In the Activity settings, you'll see a list of apps and games that have permission to show Activity Cards. You can toggle individual apps on or off to control which ones display your activity.

This approach is useful if you want to show that you're playing one game but hide that you're using another app. straightforward find the app in the list and toggle it off. The app will continue to work normally — Discord just won't display it as an Activity Card. This gives you fine-grained control over what you share without turning off the feature entirely.

You can also remove apps from this list entirely by clicking the X button next to them, which prevents Discord from tracking that app's activity going forward. If you later want to re-enable an app, you'll need to authorize it again when you use it.

Troubleshooting Activity Card Settings

If you've turned off Activity Cards but they're still showing, check that you're looking at the right toggle. The setting is specifically labeled "Display currently running games as a status message" — not a general privacy setting. Make sure the toggle is fully off, not partially switched.

If the setting doesn't seem to be saving, try closing Discord completely and reopening it. On mobile, force-close the app by swiping it away from your recent apps, then reopen it. On desktop, click the X to close Discord entirely, wait a few seconds, and launch it again. This forces Discord to sync your settings from the server.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will people know I turned off Activity Cards?

No. When Activity Cards are off, your status straightforward shows as "Online" or another basic status. Other users won't receive a notification that you've disabled the feature — they'll just see that you're online without any activity details.

Can I turn Activity Cards back on later?

Yes. You can toggle Activity Cards on or off whenever you want by going back to User Settings > Activity and flipping the toggle. There's no limit to how many times you can change this setting, and changes take effect when ready.

Do Activity Cards show on my own profile?

Yes, if they're enabled, Activity Cards appear on your profile and in the user list when others view your profile or hover over your name. Disabling them removes them from all views that other users can see.

Does turning off Activity Cards affect Discord's performance?

No. Disabling Activity Cards has no impact on how Discord runs or how fast it loads. It's purely a privacy setting that controls what information is shared with other users.

What if I only want to hide one specific game or app?

You don't need to turn off all Activity Cards. In the Activity settings, find the specific app or game in the list and toggle it off individually. This lets you show some activities while hiding others.