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How To Change and Update Location in Discord App

Discord is a popular free voice, video, and text chat app used by over 150 million people worldwide. One of Discord’s features is the ability to set and share your location with your friends or Discord server members.

As a frequent Discord user for over 5 years and a server admin, I often get asked about how to update your location in the app. So in this comprehensive guide, I’ll walk you through the steps to change and update your location on both desktop and mobile versions of Discord.

Why Would You Want to Change Your Location?

There are a few reasons why you may want to update your location on Discord:

  • Meet up with local friends or communities: By setting your actual location, you can connect with Discord servers and users in your local area to potentially meet up in real life.
  • Accurately share your time zone: Updating your location will automatically change your time zone in Discord. This helps avoid confusion when coordinating meetups or events.
  • Privacy reasons: Some users understandably only feel comfortable sharing approximate or fake location data.

I’ll cover how to set both real and fake locations below.

Changing Location on Discord Desktop

Changing your location on desktop Discord is simple. Just follow these steps:

  1. Open the Discord app and click on the User Settings icon (gear icon)
  2. Select “Privacy & Safety” in the left sidebar
  3. Scroll down and click on “Location”
  4. Toggle “Ask to Share My Location” to the ON position
  5. Type your location or coordinates into the text field
    • For privacy reasons, you can enter a fake location here if you wish
  6. Click “Save Changes” at the bottom

Your new location should now be visible in your Discord user profile and shared with any servers you’ve joined.

Sharing Precise Location

To share your precise location, toggle “Precise Location” to the ON position before saving changes. This will let others see your exact coordinates.

Updating Location on Discord Mobile

The process is very similar for mobile:

  1. Launch the Discord app on your iPhone, Android, or other mobile device
  2. Tap your profile picture in the bottom toolbar to open your User Profile page
  3. Tap the ≡ icon in the top-right corner
  4. Select “Privacy & Safety”
  5. Scroll down and tap “Location”
  6. Toggle “Share Your Location” ON/OFF
  7. Type a location into the text field or tap to select a location on the map
    • You can enter an approximate location or fake coordinates here if preferred
  8. Tap ≡ in the top-right again
  9. Tap “Save Changes”

You’re all set! Your updated location will now display in your user profile.

Location Permissions Explained

When you first enable location services in Discord, it will ask your permission to access your device’s location. This allows Discord to auto-fill your current location, making it easier to share quickly.

However, Discord only retrieves your location details in that moment. It does NOT continually track your location over time.

You can revoke Discord’s access anytime in your device settings without losing your set location within Discord.

Why Isn’t My Location Updating?

If your location does not update even after following the steps above, there are a few things you can try:

  • Check if Discord has permission to access your location: In your device settings, make sure Discord still has permission to retrieve location data. If not, re-enable it.
  • Manually type your new location: Instead of auto-filling, manually enter your new coordinates or location name in Discord’s settings.
  • Restart Discord: Close Discord fully from your app switcher/manager, restart your device if needed, and re-open Discord. Your new location may then display properly.
  • Update Discord app: If all else fails, updating the Discord app from your device’s app store can resolve bugs that may prevent location updating.

Location Privacy Tips

While sharing your location on Discord can be fun and convenient, always keep privacy in mind:

  • Be wary of sharing your precise location: Toggling the “Precise Location” setting on shares your exact GPS coordinates. Leave this off unless completely necessary.
  • Review server member lists: Double check that all members of a Discord server are trusted before sharing a location, especially precise coordinates.
  • Use approximate locations: Sharing the name of your city or metro area instead of street address adds some privacy.
  • Set fake location for total privacy: You can always manually enter a fake location in your user profile settings for full privacy.

Conclusion

I hope this guide covered everything you need to know to easily change and update your location on desktop or mobile Discord apps!

Location sharing can enable local meetups, help coordinate events, improve privacy, and more. Just be sure to review who can view your location, and tweak your precision settings and coordinates appropriately.

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