22 December 2025

How to Fix Discord Keybinds Not Working in League of Legends

Blog

For many gamers, Discord is the go-to platform for communication, offering seamless voice and text chat features. When playing competitive games like League of Legends (LoL), effective communication becomes even more vital. Unfortunately, players often encounter a frustrating issue: Discord keybinds not working when League of Legends is running. This technical hiccup can make push-to-talk (PTT) or other shortcut controls unresponsive, disrupting team communication at critical moments. Fortunately, there are several practical solutions to fix this issue.

TL;DR

If Discord keybinds stop working while playing League of Legends, it’s usually due to admin permissions, focus behavior, or keyboard input conflicts. Making sure both apps are running with administrative privileges, enabling Discord’s overlay, and setting global keybinds usually solves the problem. Adjusting LoL settings and running both applications in compatibility mode are also reliable ways to fix this. Read on for a detailed guide.

1. Check for Administrative Privileges

The first and most common reason Discord keybinds don’t work in League of Legends is the lack of matching administrator permissions. If LoL is launched with admin rights but Discord isn’t, LoL takes control over the keyboard input, preventing Discord from detecting your keybinds.

How to fix:

Right-click on the Discord shortcut.
Select “Run as administrator.”
Do the same for the League of Legends client (or its launcher).

For a permanent fix, you can enable admin mode by default:

Right-click the app shortcut > “Properties.”
Go to the “Compatibility” tab.
Check the box for “Run this program as an administrator.”

2. Enable Discord Overlay

Discord’s overlay feature allows keybinds like push-to-talk to function properly within full-screen applications. If the overlay is disabled for League of Legends, your keybinds might be ignored entirely.

Steps to enable Discord overlay:

Open Discord and go to User Settings (gear icon).
Navigate to “Game Overlay.”
Toggle “Enable in-game overlay” to ON.
Under “Registered Games,” make sure League of Legends is on the list.
If not, click “Add It!” while League is running, then enable the overlay for it.

3. Use Global Keybinds

Discord allows users to choose between application-specific keybinds and global keybinds. In some cases, if the keybind is not recognized globally, Discord won’t respond when another app is in focus—in this case, League of Legends.

To set keybinds globally:

Go to User Settings > Keybinds.
Make sure your push-to-talk keybind is listed and active.
Set the action type to “Push to Talk (Global)” instead of “Push to Talk.”

4. Run League of Legends and Discord in the Same Mode

Sometimes, compatibility settings affect how applications interact with your system and each other. Running both Discord and League of Legends in the same compatibility mode ensures better performance and fewer conflicts.

How to apply compatibility mode:

Right-click on both Discord and LoL shortcuts > “Properties.”
Click on the “Compatibility” tab.
Check “Run this program in compatibility mode for” and choose Windows 8 (or 7 if issues persist).

Consistency is key here—don’t run one in compatibility mode and the other in regular mode.

5. Use Windowed or Borderless Mode in League

League of Legends running in full-screen exclusive mode may “trap” the keyboard input, causing Discord to lose access to keystrokes for PTT or other hotkeys. Switching to windowed or borderless mode can resolve this.

Here’s how:

Launch League of Legends.
Open Settings (gear icon on the top right corner).
Go to Video settings.
Set Display Mode to Borderless or Windowed.

6. Disable Other Macro or Overlay Applications

Third-party apps like NVIDIA GeForce Experience, Razer Synapse, or keyboard macro software can sometimes interfere with your common keybind settings, creating conflicts between Discord and League of Legends.

Suggested fixes:

Temporarily disable or close these programs while gaming.
Check if the same hotkeys are assigned in multiple apps like OBS, GeForce Shadowplay, or Steam Overlay.

7. Update Keyboard Drivers and Discord

Outdated software can often be the root cause of strange behavior. Make sure both your system’s keyboard drivers and Discord are up to date.

Steps to update keyboard drivers:

Press Win + X and click Device Manager.
Find “Keyboards,” right-click your keyboard driver and select “Update driver.”
Choose “Search automatically for drivers.”

To update Discord, simply restart the app—it usually auto-updates when launching. If that doesn’t work, download the latest version from the official site and reinstall it over your current version.

8. Rebind Hotkeys to Less Common Keys

Some key combinations might already be in use by League of Legends or your system. Try assigning your Discord keybinds to less used keys like Mouse4, Tilde (~), or F13-F15 if you have them on your keyboard.

This method is especially useful when conflicts can’t otherwise be resolved.

9. Reinstall Discord as a Last Resort

If none of the above solutions work, a clean installation of Discord might be necessary. This will reset all preferences, clear cached files, and often fix persistent issues.

How to clean install Discord:

Uninstall Discord via the Control Panel/Add or Remove Programs.
Navigate to C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Local\Discord and delete the folder.
Download the latest installer from https://discord.com/ and reinstall.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why do my Discord keybinds only stop working when I open League of Legends?
A: It’s usually because League is running with higher permissions or capturing input focus exclusively. Aligning admin rights and enabling Overlay helps.
Q: Can I just use voice detection instead of push-to-talk?
A: Yes, but in noisy environments PTT is more reliable. Voice detection can pick up unintended sounds.
Q: Do keybind conflicts also happen with other games?
A: Yes, especially in competitive or full-screen exclusive games. That’s why global keybinds and overlays are recommended.
Q: Is there any risk in running applications as administrator?
A: Not if you downloaded them from official sources. It’s common for games and communication apps to require elevated privileges to function correctly together.
Q: Can Windows gaming mode affect keybindings?