Click the cogwheel to open User Settings, then choose Profiles to change your avatar, About Me or pronouns, or Appearance to switch theme. On mobile, tap your avatar and then Edit Profile. Banners, animated avatars and profile theme colours are Nitro extras, so they'll stay locked without a subscription.
What customising changes, and what it doesn't
There are two separate areas, and mixing them up sends people round in circles. Profiles is about you: your avatar, your About Me text, your pronouns. Appearance is about the app: its theme and how tightly everything's packed together.
It isn't one big settings page where anything goes. Several of the most eye-catching profile options are locked behind a subscription, and if you're wondering whether that's worth it, what Discord Nitro includes is the next thing to read.
Changing your profile and theme, click by click
Profile on desktop
- Click the cogwheel at the bottom-left of the app to open User Settings.
- Open the Profiles tab.
- Press the Change Avatar button and choose your image (PNG and GIF are supported).
- Select Apply.
- Select Save Changes.
Your About Me lives on that same tab. It takes up to 190 characters, and emojis, markdown text and links all count towards that total, so a long link will eat a good chunk of your space. Treat it as a sentence or two: say what you're into or what people can come to you for, and leave the rest.
Pronouns have their own section, and once they're in you press Save.
Profile on mobile
- Tap your avatar in the bottom-right corner of the app.
- Tap Edit Profile.
- Change your display name, avatar and whatever else you're after.
Starting from nothing? Do the free items first: an avatar people will recognise at a small size, a short About Me, pronouns if you want them, then a theme you can live with. Only after that does it make sense to think about paying for extras.
Theme on desktop
- Open User Settings with the cogwheel.
- Select Appearance.
- Pick from Light, Ash, Dark, Onyx or Sync with computer.
While you're in there, have a look at UI Density. Compact, Default and Spacious change how much room sits around content, which matters more than a colour swap if you read a lot of busy channels.
Theme on mobile
- Tap your avatar at the bottom-right.
- Tap the cogwheel at the top-right.
- Scroll down and tap Appearance.
- Choose Light, Dark, Midnight or Automatic, which follows your device settings.
Notice the two lists differ, so Ash and Onyx belong to desktop while Midnight belongs to mobile. To keep things consistent, turn on Sync across clients from the desktop app and your theme will follow you to mobile and browser, although it may look slightly different on your phone.
The Nitro line: which extras a free account can't use
A free account stops at this line. Plenty of the options you'll see on other people's profiles aren't available without a subscription:
- An animated GIF as your avatar.
- A profile banner, whether that's an image or an animated GIF.
- Profile Theme, where you pick Primary and Accent colours.
- Per-server profiles, which give you a different identity in each server.
If you do subscribe, banners have their own file rules. They must be PNG, JPG or animated GIF, under 10MB, and at least 680x240 pixels, so check the file before you try to upload it.
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When changing these settings is the wrong fix
- Your new avatar won't move. Re-uploading won't help if you're on a free account, since animation is reserved for Nitro.
- You want coloured profile accents. Switching to Onyx or Midnight only changes the app's theme. Primary and Accent colours are a separate, paid setting.
- The banner upload keeps failing. Look at the file itself: its type, whether it's under 10MB and whether it meets the minimum dimensions.
- Mismatch between devices. That's one for the desktop app's sync option.
- Text feels cramped. A new theme won't change that, whereas UI Density will.
New to all this and not sure where these settings fit into everyday use? Here's a short explainer on what people use Discord for.
Frequently asked questions
Does my avatar show in every server?
Without Nitro, yes, because having a different identity in each server is a Nitro feature called per-server profiles.
Will Discord accept a JPG for my profile picture?
Avatars take PNG and GIF, so convert a JPG first. Banners are the ones that accept JPG.
Where do I change my display name?
On mobile it's under Edit Profile, and on desktop the Profiles tab is where you update anything in your profile.
What size should my avatar image be?
Banner dimensions are the ones you'll find above. Avatar sizing is one to look up in Discord's own support articles.
What happens to my banner if my Nitro ends?
Banners, animated avatars and profile colours all rely on a subscription, but what happens once it lapses is one to confirm with Discord support.
Can I make my own custom app theme?
The app themes listed above are Discord's default options. For anything beyond those, check Discord's help page.
