The Ultimate Guide to Make Discord Profile Picture

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

A part of the appeal of the popular multimedia messaging platform Discord is that users can assume online identities that present them in a favorable light. Since Discord serves to enable groups of friends or people with shared interests to communicate in real-time, standing out from the crowd and establishing a well-known and well-liked persona can be very challenging. Every element of presence on the platform contributes to the overall impression the user will make, and his profile picture is definitely one of the most impactful elements that go a long way towards identity building.

It’s important to note that Discord users can only use a single profile picture or avatar on the platform, and can’t switch them from one server to another. This rule serves to establish some accountability and familiarity and applies even to server administrators. With that in mind, choosing a great image to represent you everywhere on the Discord platform is a task that shouldn’t be taken lightly. To help you do this the right way while respecting all the rules, we prepared a detailed guide for this process.

• Part 1: Discord Profile Picture Size and Content Guidance
• Part 2: Discord Profile Pictures Download
• Part 3: How to Create A Discord Avatar in Filmora?
• Part 4: How to Change My Profile Picture on Discord?
• Part 5: Frequently Asked Questions About Discord PFP

Part 1: Discord Profile Picture Size and Content Guidance

Like all other social networks and online communication services, Discord has a set of rules determining whether a certain image is suitable for use as an avatar.

First of all, you have to adhere to a size limit for technical reasons, as too large images would slow down the channel. On the other hand, too small images won’t be legible and can look bad due to pixelization. The most optimal image size you should use for your Discord profile photo is at least 512 x 512 pixels – enough to be clearly visible and far above the 180 x 180-pixel minimum.

You don’t have to use your real photo or likeness for your Discord avatar – in fact, you don’t have to use a realistic image at all. Discord allows the use of photographs as well as various types of illustrations and cartoon images and accepts JPG as well as the animated GIF format.

This gives you a lot of freedom to craft your new identity and uses some powerful imagery, either created from scratch or taken from the internet. However, there are still some community standards that you’ll have to meet in terms of image content, or your submission for a profile picture might be rejected for failing to meet Discord’s T&C.

Basically, no NSFW images are allowed on Discord so you will have to avoid anything extreme or controversial. Pornographic content or explicit nudity is not welcome on this platform, and the same goes for showing minors in any sexually suggestive positions or promoting non-consensual forms of sexuality. You also need to stay away from violent imagery or anything depicting illegal activity, including drug use, racial discrimination, or mistreatment of animals. While this eliminates a lot of content, it still leaves enough room to express yourself freely without risking offending any other Discord users.

Part 2: Discord Profile Pictures Download

If you want to download a cool Discord profile picture, you can check the following websites:

1. discordavatars.com

This website collects free Discord avatars and profile pictures, which allow you to download without any limitations. You can search for a Discord avatar on the search bar or find it from the popular tags on the side.

 Besides Discord PFP downloading, you can also find some resources and tips about Discord on this website.

2. Discord Profile Pictures and Server Icons from woodpunchsgraphics.com

This website provides both regular non-animated and animated profile pictures for Discord, but as you may all know, you can only add an animated profile when you subscribed to Discord Nitro.

There are limited Discord profile picture and server icon templates on this website, and you should customize the color and text, and submit your email to purchase.

Part 3: How to Create A Discord Avatar in Filmora?

Many Discord users ultimately decide to create custom profile pictures using external visual tools, and this option is highly recommended to anyone with at least basic creative skills. It doesn’t take too much effort to make a fantastic avatar that will be completely unique and tell exactly the story you want. There are many different software tools you can use for this purpose, but since the task is very simple you can use a practical, free program such as Filmora.

The procedure of creating a profile picture for Discord in a visual suite like Filmora is not very complex and involves just a few simple steps.

You should start by identifying the picture that will form the basis of your avatar – it can be an animated character or a real-life photo. You can search on Google image or download it from some discord profile sites.

Next, you need to load the selected image into a new project, and then resize the image to fit the preferred dimensions for Discord and change its shape to circular. To change the shape, go to Effects -> Utility -> Image Mask to optimize the image for a Discord avatar.

By adding overlays on top of the basic image, you can also introduce any visual or textual elements that will personalize the avatar even further. To get maximum attention, you might want to use a video or animation as part of the avatar – just add them to overlays and save your file as GIF. Since Discord allows GIF format, you can get an avatar that literally jumps off the page in every chat that you are a part of and elicits a strong reaction from those who see it.

Part 4: How to Change My Profile Picture on Discord?

After you successfully created a profile image that you are completely satisfied with, it’s time to upload it to Discord and start using it as your avatar in all your chats. However, this is not done in the same way on different platforms, so you will need to follow the instructions for the type of system you normally use to access your Discord account.

How to Change Avatars on Discord Desktop Computer?

Open your Discord app (Mac or Windows version) and look for a gear icon in the bottom left corner of your screen. Clicking on this icon will take you to the User settings menu, where you need to find the My Account tab.

Next, hover with your mouse cursor over the current profile picture, then click on the icon that appears right next to it. This action will let you upload an image (JPG or GIF) from your hard drive and make it your new profile picture.

Keep in mind that Discord will automatically crop images that are not already in a circular format, so you need to make sure that the image is well centered before uploading.

How to Change Discord Avatars on Mobile Devices?

The procedure for changing the profile avatar on Discord from a mobile device is equally straightforward, and it’s similar on both Android and iOS phones. After you open the app, you need to tap on the icon in the right bottom corner to access the Account menu.

Find the profile picture in the screen that opens, and tap on it to access your phone gallery, then choose the image you would like to use for identification on Discord. It will automatically be uploaded and replace the current image as your only avatar on all Discord channels until it’s changed again.

Frequently Asked Questions About Profile Pictures on Discord

1. Why can’t I change my profile picture on Discord?

If you experience this problem, it’s most likely a consequence of trying to make too many picture changes too fast. While Discord will allow you to upload two profile images in rapid succession, the third attempt within a few minutes is going to be unsuccessful. The problem will disappear if you wait for a short period of time and try uploading again. Another reason might be that your firewall is preventing you from using an image from a cloud server, but you can easily bypass the issue and download the picture first to your hard disc before uploading it to Discord from there.

2. How can I find my old profile picture?

All of the images you previously used as Discord avatars remain memorized and can be reactivated at any time. You can find this collection of images on a specific portion of your profile page, so if you want to use any of them you can simply click on them without having to go through the regular upload process all over again.

3. What do the colored dots next to my profile picture mean?

Those dots indicate the current status of the user, with each color having a fixed meaning. If you see a green dot, the user is available to chat at the moment. A yellow dot indicated an idle user that hasn’t been active in a while, and the red color means the user is busy and doesn’t want to be disturbed. Finally, a gray dot confirms that the user is currently not signed in to his Discord account.

4. Can I use different avatars on different Discord servers?

Unfortunately, this is not possible to do. While Discord lets you use multiple nicknames on different servers, every member (including admins) can have just one avatar on Discord at any given time.

5. How can I download someone’s profile icon in Discord?

If you like someone’s photo and want to save it, you will need to open that member’s profile by clicking on it and choosing View Profile. Next, you need to activate the Inspect element window and copy the image URL from here. Pasting the URL into your browser will open the image and allow you to save it as you would do with any other picture from the internet.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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