How to fix Discord Overlay Not Working
In recent years, Discord has become a popular name in chatting apps. However, it was initially designed for gamers. Windows users have access to a feature called the Game Overlay feature.
While playing a game, the Discords In-Game overlay feature allows you to bring up Discord. The Discord overlay feature will enable you to message, call, and even pin a chat to the screen. In addition, you can have the Discord window open or close on the full-screen game while playing.
While using Discord, many gamers pointed out this error- Discord overlay not working. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence on Windows 10 PC. It restricts you from communicating with your Discord friends while intense gaming sessions.
The first step to try is to restart or reboot your computer and then restart Discord. Then launch a game and enable overlay to check if the problem persists. If this doesn’t work, give these solutions a try:
How to fix the discord overlay not working error
Fix#1- Ensure Discord Over is Enabled
Before going deep into fixing the Discord overlay issue, let us check if the Discord overlay works. For this, let us check if the In-game overlay option is enabled in Discord settings.
Step#1- Launch Discord. Select the User Settings icon. Select Game overlay, go to the Game Activity tab and click the monitor button.
Step#2– Ensure that the Enable in-game overlay is activated. Once checked, you can start a game and check if the error occurs again.
Fix#2- Running Discord as Administrator
When you run Discord as Administrator, it may fix the Discord overlay not working error.
Follow these steps to fix the issue with just a few clicks.
Step#1– Right-click on the Discord icon and click on Properties on Windows 10.
Step#2– Click on the Compatibility tab. Now, select the Run this program as an administrator option. Click on OK.
Step#3– Next, launch the Discord overlay on a game and check for the error; this method will fix your issue.
Fix#3- Rescale the display
Change the display of your computer to 100%. This simple solution has managed to rectify the Discord overlay issue.
Step#1– By pressing the Win + I keys, you can quick-launch Windows Settings. Select System from the list.
Step#2– The Display window will open under the Scale and layout section. Change the size of text, apps, and other items, and select 100% (Recommended) from the drop-down option.
After this, start a game and check if the overlay is showing up.
Fix#4- Move the Overlay
This issue may arise merely because of the change in the location of the overlay. Here’s how to fix it:
Step#1- Close the game, then open Discord. While the Discord page is open, press the Ctrl+ Shift+ I keys together.
This will open the JavaScript console.
Step#2– Click the arrows icon >> on the top right corner beside Profiles. This will open a pop-up menu. Here, select Application.
Step#3 will open the Application window; double-click the Local Storage option.
The option that you will see is http:\\discordapp.com. Click on it.
Step#4– Now, in the Key column, select OverlayStoreV2. In the next pop-up window, select Delete.
Step#5– Now, open Discord along with the game. You will be able to find the overlay in its default position.
Fix#5- Disabling third-party applications
There could be several reasons responsible for the Discord overlay not working problem. One of them could be an Antivirus running on your Windows Operating System.
If the other methods have not worked, Uninstall/Disable the antivirus app temporarily.
Once you have disabled the third-party antivirus application, start any game and see if the issue persists.
Fix#6- Add Game Support
You can witness an error if the game in question is not supported by Discord overlay. You can manually add the specific games to the Discord list of supported games.
Step#1– Ensure the game is running when performing this fix. Open Discord, then select User Settings.
Step#2– Click the Activity Status tab and select Add it! Button.
Step#3– Add the game running and click Add Game.
Note: If you do not see the game you added to the list, you can go to the Game Activity section and check if the game has been added or not.
Now, the Discord overlay will automatically activate while playing this specific game.
Fix#7- Disable conflicting overlay
Maybe too many apps with overlays running at a time could be why the Discord overlay is not working.
Another app’s overlay can conflict with discord; let us disable them.
#1- Disable the Nvidia Shadowplay overlay option
This is the most common overlay; let us disable it.
Step#1– Open Nvidia GeForce Experience and click the Settings– cogwheel icon on the top right corner of your screen.
Step#2- Select the General tab, select In-Game overlay settings, and disable them.
Start a game, then check if disabling this overlay has helped solve the issue.
#2- Disable AMD Radeon overlay
Let us disable the AMD Radeon overlay to see if it helps with the issue.
Step#1– Right-click on the desktop, then select the Radeon settings.
Step#2– The Settings window will open. Click on the Settings icon– cogwheel at the top right corner of the screen to open Advance settings.
Step#3– Click the General tab at the bottom; under Preferences, select In-Game overlay, and disable it.
Fix#8- Disable Hardware Acceleration
The Discord hardware acceleration feature uses the GPU to make the Discord function smoothly. However, hardware acceleration is also responsible for the Discord overlay not working issue.
Let us try and check if disabling hardware acceleration can fix the Discord overlay. This is the best working fix for the overlay not working.
Step#1– Launch Discord, then click the cogwheel gear icon to open User Settings.
Step#2– Go to the left pane of your screen, and click Appearances. In the left panel, disable the toggle switch present along with the Hardware acceleration to disable hardware acceleration.
Start a game and see if the problem persists now that we have disabled the feature hardware acceleration.
Fix#9- Reinstall Discord
After trying all the above fixes, if you were unable to fix the issue with the Discord overlay, reinstalling Discord might help. By doing this, you are also updating your Discord to its latest version.
#1- Uninstall Discord
Before we Reinstall Discord, let us Uninstall the existing app first. Follow these steps.
Step#1- To open Control Panel, press the Win + R keys to launch the Run dialog box, type in control, and press Enter or OK.
Step#2– Once Control Panel opens, under the Programs section, select Uninstall Program.
Step#3– From the list of programs, locate Discord, double-click it to Uninstall, or right-click on Discord, then tap the Uninstall option.
By uninstalling Discord, you will obliterate the Discord app from your PC.
#2- Download Discord
Step#1– Open the official web page to download Discord; click the Download for Windows button to download Discord on your Personal computer.
Step#2– Start a game. Next, add the game to Discord.
Step#3– Once you have enabled the In-game overlay, check if this was able to fix the Discord overlay.
Conclusion
The above steps explain how to fix the Discord overlay not working issue. These will solve the problem and enable a smooth gaming experience.
