How To Fix Discord Overlay Not Working?

by

Discord is a well-known app that is used by several people to play games and to communicate. Display Overlay is one of the many amazing features offered by Discord, it lets the players communicate with each other while playing the game in full size. But many players reported that there has been an issue of Discord Overlay not working. So, we are here to help you fix this issue.

How To Fix The Discord Overlay Not Working?

In this article, we are providing you with 6 methods that can help you in fixing this issue. you will have to test them all, until your game is free of this issue. So, it is better that you verify after every method:

1. Enable Overlay In Discord

If you are facing the issue of discord overlay not working then you should ensure that the overlay setting in discord is turned on. Even if you are sure that it is enabled, we would suggest you check it again, because there are a few settings that need to be checked. So here’s how you can enable overlay in Discord:

  1. First of all, open Discord and then, tap on the Settings.
  2. You will see a bunch of settings on the left side, you have to click on the “Overlay”.
  3. Now, you have to confirm that the “Enable in-game overlay” option is turned on. If it is not on, then make sure that you slide that toggle.
  4. Now, head back to the left side menu, and tap on Games from those options.
  5. A new Game Activity settings page will open up, here you have to make sure that the in-game Overlay option is turned on (see the below image for better understanding). If it isn’t on, then you can turn it on by clicking on the monitor like icon for any game you like.

That is it, now re-launch your game and check if the issue gets fixed. If the problem still continues to exist then, try the other solutions given below.

2. Disable Hardware Acceleration

There are chances that Hardware Acceleration might be the one causing this issue, so it is best if we disable it and then, check if the problem gets fixed. Here’s how you can disable the hardware acceleration option in the Discord app:

  1. The first step is always to launch the Discord app.
  2. Now, you have to click on the Settings icon, the icon is in the shape of gear and it is located on the right sides of your avatar.
  3. The Settings page will open up, you will see a lot of settings on your left side, you have to click on the “Appearance” option.
  4. The Appearance settings page will open up in front of you on the right pane. You have to look up for the “Hardware Acceleration” option which is located on the lower page under the Advanced section. So, scroll down on that page and find the option.
  5. You have to disable the Hardware Acceleration option. You will receive a confirmation box, just click on “Okay” and this will automatically reboot the Discord.

Now, as soon as the Discord app restarts, launch your game and verify if the issue of Discord Overlay gets fixed.

3. Rescaling The Display

Some of the users have claimed that their display was adjusted to more than 100% and setting it back to normal, solved the overlay issue. So, we would recommend you give it a try because there are chances that due to the wrong scaled display you were not able to see the overlay. So here’s how you can rescale the display back to 100%:

  1. We can tell you the shortcut for opening Windows settings. You have to press the Windows key(the one that has 4 squares on the keyboard) along with the “I” key. If you press them together i.e. Windows Key + I then, the Settings page will open up. 
  2. The Settings will open up on the screen, click on the System.
  3. Automatically the Display settings will open up, here you have to head to the “Scale and layout” section.
  4. Under the Scale and layout head, you have to choose the “100% (Recommended)” option from the menu that drops down ( as shown in the image below).

4. Run Discord As Administrator

It is better if you run Discord as an administrator, this ensures that issues like discord overlay not working don’t occur. It helps in running a program smoothly, so we would recommend you to run as administrator if you are not already:

  1. You have to look for the shortcut of Discord on your desktop and then, right-click on it and then, select “Properties” from the list of options that occurs.
  2. A pop-up window will open, here you have to head to the Compatibility tab.
  3. And under Compatibility, you have to check the box labeled “Run this program as an administrator” and then click on “OK”.
  4. Now, head back to your desktop and launch the Discord app, and then run the game and verify if the issue gets fixed.

5. Disable Antivirus App

This issue occurs when we make use of a third-party antivirus program because there are accusations that these antivirus apps interfere with the working of Discord. Thus, there are high chances that due to this your Discord Overlay might run as expected. So, it is better that you disable the third party Antivirus application temporarily and then, check if the problem gets fixed.

6. Reinstall Discord

Now, the last solution that we are providing is to reinstall Discord, we all know restarting and reinstalling are two very basic steps that are proven to be a cure for almost all issues. So we would suggest you reinstall the Discord app and don’t worry if you don’t know how, because we are going to tell you. This might be the last resort after every possible situation mentioned above:

  1. First of all, you will have to uninstall the already existing Discord app from your PC. Below are the steps telling you how to uninstall Discord.
  2. Now, press Windows key and R together, this will open the Run dialog box in front of you. then, simply enter “Control” in the input box and tap OK.
  3. The Control Panel will open up on the screen, view the panel by Category, and then select the “Uninstall a program” option.
  4. Now, look for the Discord program from the list and then, simply double-tap on it to uninstall the program. That is it, now you can restart your PC.

 Let us know how to install Discord again:

  1. You can install Discord directly from its official website and the link to the site is here https://discordapp.com/ . Click on it and then, download it on your PC.
  2. Then, open the Discord app after it is installed and run your game and add it as well.
  3. Make sure that you Enable the in-game overlay feature for your game.

Conclusion

These are the only methods that are effective and will definitely help you in solving the issue. We would suggest you that you must try all the methods until you find the right one. We hope this article helps you, we can assure you that these methods are trustable and are effective. If you have any other queries then, please let us know in the comments box.

Leave a Comment