Discord's August update is all about giving users more control over how they appear, communicate, and interact on the platform.

On August 11, 2026, Discord published a new changelog covering a collection of features that have recently arrived across the platform. The update includes Private Profiles, Spoiler Channels, Friend Request Notes, @game mentions, profile formatting, Profile Frames, and Meta Quest support.

Some of these features are aimed at everyday users, while others are particularly useful for large communities and gamers.

Here's the complete breakdown.

🔒 Private Profiles Give Users More Control

One of the biggest additions is Discord's new Profile Privacy functionality.

Instead of having the same level of profile visibility for everyone, users can now choose who gets access to their fuller profile information.

Discord's available privacy choices include:

• Friends & All Servers
• Friends & Smaller Servers
• Friends Only

The goal is simple:

People you don't know don't necessarily need access to everything on your profile.

Discord's support documentation confirms that Profile Privacy can restrict access to details such as your:

• Bio
• Custom status
• Pronouns
• Badges
• Activity
• Connected accounts
• Widgets

Basic account identifiers remain visible even when profile privacy is restricted.

👀 What Happens When Your Profile Is Private?

The feature is particularly useful if you're active in large public communities.

Imagine joining a server with thousands of members.

Previously, someone you have never interacted with could potentially open your profile and see a considerable amount of information about you.

With Profile Privacy, you can limit what those people see.

Your friends can continue to access the fuller profile according to your selected setting, while people outside your chosen audience see a more limited version.

This gives Discord users a better balance between:

Discoverability ↔ Privacy

📝 Friend Request Notes

Discord has also added a surprisingly useful small feature:

Friend Request Notes

When sending someone a friend request, you can now attach a note explaining why you're adding them.

This is particularly useful when you've met someone briefly in:

• A gaming session
• A large server
• A community event
• A voice channel
• Another online community

Instead of receiving a random friend request from someone whose username you don't recognize, the recipient can immediately see the context.

Discord officially included this feature in the August 11 changelog.

🚨 Spoiler Channels Are Finally Here

Another major community-management improvement is Spoiler Channels.

Previously, server administrators looking to protect sensitive story content sometimes had to rely on workarounds, including age-restricted channels.

Discord's new Spoiler Channel feature gives servers a dedicated option.

When a channel is configured as a spoiler channel, members receive a warning before entering it.

They must actively choose to reveal the channel's content.

This could be especially useful for communities discussing:

• Movies
• TV shows
• Anime
• Video games
• Books
• Story-driven events

Instead of spoiling an entire server, communities can now create dedicated spaces where spoilers are clearly separated.

🎮 @game Mentions Make Game Sharing Easier

Discord is also making game discovery inside conversations more convenient.

On desktop, users can type:

@game

and search for a game that has a Discord profile.

For example:

@game Palworld

The game can then be embedded directly into the message.

This means users don't necessarily need to search for a game separately and paste information into the conversation.

Discord says mobile support is still in development.

✍️ Better Profile Bio Formatting

Your Discord bio can now be edited with a more visual formatting experience on desktop.

Instead of having to remember Markdown syntax, Discord has introduced a WYSIWYG-style editor.

That allows users to apply formatting such as:

• Bold
• Italic
• Strikethrough
• Quotes

directly through the editor.

For users who aren't familiar with Markdown, this makes customizing a profile much easier.

🖼️ Profile Frames Arrive

Discord is also expanding its profile customization options with Profile Frames.

Frames act as decorative borders around your profile, giving users another way to customize their appearance.

They join Discord's existing collection of profile customization features, including:

• Avatar Decorations
• Profile Effects
• Nameplates
• Other Shop cosmetics

Discord officially highlighted Frames in the August 11 changelog.

🥽 Discord on Meta Quest

One of the most interesting parts of Discord's recent expansion is its native Meta Quest application.

There's an important timeline detail here:

Discord launched the native Quest app on June 30, 2026.

The application became available directly through Meta's Horizon App Store, eliminating the need for users to rely on browser workarounds or sideloading.

The August 11 changelog highlights the Quest integration as part of Discord's current feature set.

🥽 What Can You Do With Discord on Quest?

The native application provides access to the familiar Discord experience while you're wearing the headset.

Users can access:

• Servers
• Direct messages
• Group DMs
• Voice calls
• Video chats
• Meta Avatar video calls
• Quest gameplay streaming

Discord can also remain pinned inside your VR playspace.

That means you can keep your Discord conversations visible while playing a VR game.

You don't have to constantly remove your headset just to check a message.

🎥 Stream Quest Gameplay Directly to Discord

The Quest integration goes beyond messaging.

Discord allows users to stream their Quest gameplay directly to Discord.

This removes the need for older workarounds involving browsers or another device.

You can therefore play a VR game while your friends watch the gameplay through Discord.

For VR communities, this is one of the most meaningful parts of the integration.

🧑‍🚀 Meta Avatars Join Discord Calls

Quest users can also participate in Discord video calls using their Meta Avatar.

Instead of appearing through a conventional camera feed, users can represent themselves with their virtual avatar.

Combined with the pinned Discord interface, this makes Discord considerably more natural to use while inside VR.

⚙️ Discord Is Also Redesigning Settings

The August changelog contains several less-visible changes to Discord's settings interface.

Discord says another portion of its User Settings redesign has shipped.

Among the changes:

• Activity is now called Games & Apps
• Content & Social is now Messaging Permissions
• Related settings have been consolidated
• Authorized Apps and Connections have been reorganized
• Language and styling have been updated across settings
• Data & Privacy and Activity Privacy pages have received wording and organization changes

These aren't flashy features, but they should make Discord's increasingly large settings system easier to navigate.

💻 Discord Desktop Gets a Technical Upgrade

Discord also upgraded its desktop application to Electron 42.

According to Discord, the update provides general maintenance improvements and has resulted in some incremental CPU-usage improvements.

For most users, this won't dramatically change how Discord looks.

But improvements like these matter because Discord can remain open for hours while users are gaming, streaming, studying, or working.

🧩 Discord's August 2026 Features at a Glance

🔐 Why the Privacy Changes Matter

Discord has grown far beyond its original gaming chat roots.

Large public communities can contain thousands or even hundreds of thousands of members.

That creates a privacy problem.

You may want to participate in a community without making your entire online identity visible to every stranger inside it.

Profile Privacy addresses that problem directly.

Instead of forcing users to choose between:

Public profile OR no Discord presence

Discord now gives users more control over what information they expose.

🌐 Discord Is Becoming More Than a Chat App

The August update also shows how broad Discord's ambitions have become.

The platform now spans:

Gaming → Communities → Social Profiles → VR → Streaming → Digital Commerce

The Meta Quest integration is particularly important because it takes Discord outside the traditional PC and mobile interface.

You can now interact with your communities while physically inside a virtual environment.

Meanwhile, features such as Spoiler Channels and Private Profiles show Discord continuing to invest in the community side of the platform.

🛡️ Privacy vs. Community

The biggest theme connecting these updates is control.

Private Profiles control who sees your information.

Spoiler Channels control when people reveal potentially sensitive content.

Friend Request Notes provide context before someone joins your social circle.

And Discord's settings redesign makes more of those controls easier to find.

None of these features completely transform Discord individually.

Together, however, they make the platform more customizable.

🎯 Who Benefits Most From the Update?

👤 Everyday Users

Private Profiles and friend-request notes make Discord more comfortable for people who participate in large communities.

🎮 Gamers

@game mentions and Quest integration make Discord more tightly connected to gaming.

🛡️ Server Moderators

Spoiler Channels provide another useful tool for controlling how sensitive content is presented.

🥽 VR Players

Native Meta Quest support brings Discord directly into the VR experience.

🎨 Profile Customizers

Bio formatting and Profile Frames provide additional ways to personalize your account.

🏁 The Bottom Line

Discord's August 2026 update isn't one giant redesign.

Instead, it's a collection of features that make the platform more private, customizable, and connected.

The biggest additions include:

Private Profiles

Spoiler Channels

Friend Request Notes

@game Mentions

Bio Formatting

Profile Frames

Native Meta Quest support

And that's what makes this update interesting.

Discord isn't simply adding another flashy feature.

It's gradually giving users more control over how they appear, what they share, and how they interact with their communities.

For anyone who uses Discord every day, these small changes could make a surprisingly big difference.