Official Discord app is now available through the Microsoft Store on Windows 11

Discord Microsoft Store
Discord Microsoft Store (Image credit: Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • The official Discord app is now available in the Microsoft Store for Windows 11.
  • The app joins other big names like Zoom, KakaoTalk, Luminar AI, Music Maker, VLC, TeamViewer, Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, and LibreOffice.
  • The Microsoft Store is now open to third-party stores and more.

The official Discord app for Windows is now discoverable in the new Microsoft Store for Windows 11. The app appeared sometime last week around September 22, but with Microsoft's announcement around Epic Games coming to the store and more, the app has now been officially revealed.

Discord, once almost acquired by Microsoft, is one of the most established social networks with 150 million monthly active users (MAUs) used by many gamers. Microsoft landing the app, which users a standalone installer (so, no updates through the Microsoft Store itself), is a big win for Microsoft's new "open" strategy to lure developers and software back to Microsoft.

Microsoft seems to be resonating with those developers too. The company remarked in a blog post how big names like Zoom, KakaoTalk, Luminar AI, Music Maker, VLC, TeamViewer, Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, and LibreOffice are all on the store right now. Epic Games, Opera, and Yandex browsers, and Android apps (via Amazon) are all coming too, with likely many more on the way.

Of course, Microsoft is taking some shortcuts with the Store in letting companies use their own CDNs (Content Delivery Network) and even installers, eschewing Microsoft's tools and commerce systems. In that sense, the Store is sort of a placeholder for these apps but still gives users a trusted source for Windows software.

So far, people seem to like Discord on the Microsoft Store as it has a 4.8 rating (out of 5) from 13 reviews. The biggest complaint seems to be people wanting the app to update through the store itself and not via the app. Discord could solve that by using Microsoft's own package installer, something we'll have to wait and see if they adopt.

To find the new app, users must search for the Discord app in the Microsoft Store as currently, there are no dedicated links for non-packaged apps.

Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.