Aetrix Foundry
Guide

Use two Discord accounts on a Mac at the same time

Discord's account switcher only shows one account at a time. Here is how to keep two accounts online at once, each in its own Discord window.

Updated October 2026

The problem

Discord's built-in account switcher lets you add more than one account, but only one is active at a time. The other stays offline, you don't see its messages arrive, and you can't be in a voice channel on one while chatting on the other.

Opening Discord a second time just brings the existing window forward.

The usual workaround, and its limits

Discord also publishes test builds called Discord PTB and Discord Canary, which install as separate apps. Some people sign in to a second account there. It works, but those builds get unfinished features and more bugs, and you are limited to the three versions Discord offers.

How to run a second Discord with Duplex

  1. Install Duplex (instructions below).
  2. Click "New Instance…" and pick Discord.app from your Applications folder.
  3. Name it, for example "Discord Alt", and pick a badge icon so you can tell them apart.
  4. Launch it and sign in to your second account. It runs the same stable Discord as your original.

Both accounts are now online at the same time, each with its own window, notifications, and Dock icon.

What you should know

Get Duplex

Your first instance is free, forever. A $9 one-time license unlocks unlimited instances on up to 2 Macs. Requires macOS 13 or later.

brew tap bnimit/tap
brew trust bnimit/tap
brew install --cask duplex
Install free → Download the notarized zip

Questions

Can I be online on two Discord accounts at once on a Mac?

Yes. Run the normal Discord app for one account and a Duplex instance of Discord for the other. Both stay online, each in its own window.

Do I need Discord PTB or Canary?

No. A Duplex instance runs the same stable Discord build you already have, so you don't have to use a test build for your second account.

Does a second copy take up double the disk space?

No. Duplex makes a copy-on-write clone, which shares its disk blocks with the original. Finder shows the full app size, but a Claude instance costs about 6 MB of real disk.

Does Duplex change the original app?

No. The original is never modified and keeps updating itself. Each instance follows its updates automatically the next time you launch it.

Is Duplex free?

Your first instance is free, forever, which is all you need for a second account. A $9 one-time license unlocks unlimited instances on up to 2 Macs. There is no subscription.

Is it safe?

Duplex is native Swift, notarized by Apple, and collects no analytics. The source is public on GitHub, so you can read exactly what it does.

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