Discord calls finally get end-to-end encryption, but your DMs didn’t make the cut
Discord's multi-year encryption project is done. Every call is now E2EE by default across consoles, mobile, and browsers. However, there’s a catch that you might want to know.
MikeTyes
Discord spent three years building one of the most cross-platform encryption systems ever shipped, and it doesn’t cover the part of the app that forms the basis of day-to-day communication.
Discord
Discord just completed something it started back in 2023, and while the result is genuinely impressive, there’s a big asterisk in place.
As of early March 2026, every standard voice and video call on Discord is end-to-end encrypted (E2EE), and you don’t have to toggle any switches, as the feature is enabled by default. The encryption is based on DAVE, which, for the uninitiated, is Discord’s own open-source protocol.
Nearly three years after we started, every voice and video call on @Discord (except Stages) is now end-to-end encrypted (E2EE). No opt-in required.
Shipping this seamlessly across web, desktop, mobile, apps/bots, consoles, and our Social SDK (without compromising the performance…
Which platforms support E2EE Discord calls?
The protocol covers every platform Discord runs on: Windows, Mac, Linux, smartphones, gaming consoles, and web browsers. In fact, Discord had to go inside Firefox’s own codebase to fix an upstream bug to release the feature.
Yes, other messaging platforms like WhatsApp also provide E2EE for calls, but there’s something that makes Discord’s rollout unique: its scale. Getting E2EE to work simultaneously on a variety of devices across different operating systems is a feat in itself.
As good as the rollout sounds, there’s something that the platform has left for some other time. Your text messages, the thing that you might be using Discord for, still remain unencrypted. Discord’s VP of Core Technology has said outright there are no current plans to change that.
ELLA DON / Varun Mirchandani / Unsplash / Digital Trends
What’s the catch?
Does the platform have a reason or excuse for that? Technically, yes. The structural reason is that the bots, search, automated moderation, and several other community features are built on the assumption that the text is readable.
Rebuilding all of that around encryption is a multi-year project, not something that can be fixed immediately. Stage channels are also excluded, though they’re designed for public broadcasts, and I don’t really see the need to encrypt those.
Discord has been under pressure from privacy advocates for years, as the platform’s always-readable text history sits awkwardly next to its reputation as a place for close-knit communications and communities. The DAVE rollout should reduce some of that pressure.
For more than five years, Shikhar has consistently simplified developments in the field of consumer tech and presented them…
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