Solution for Discord overlay not working
Discord has been used by over 90 million and is considered to be one of the top Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) platforms for gamers. You can have private direct messages in form of text, media, files, voice and video call and also have a group chat in community groups know as discord server commonly. It is supported in Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS and web browsers. Discord has over 250 million users as per July 2019 report. There are many features available on discord except the chatting features. You can stream your gameplay, add custom boats in the channel, etc. One of such feature of Discord is Discord overlay.
There is a special feature of discord known as Discord Overlay. With Discord overlay, you can exchange messages, screenshots and talk with your friends while playing the game. Due to this unique feature, the popularity of Discord is high among the gamer community. A large number of people are using Discord to get aid in gaming. What if the overlay feature of discord suddenly stops working? While you open the game to play and start discord, the overlay might not be working. This is a nightmare for gamers.
We cannot play all games along with discord overlay. But popular games aren’t an exception for discord overlay. Even for supported games, you might not be able to run discord while playing games. What might be causing this problem? How to fix discord overlay not working issue? Today we will discuss everything about discord overlay not working.
What is Discord overlay?
Discord overlay is the feature of discord which allow a user to send a message and do voice calls while playing the game. User can open and close discord easily while playing the game. This feature is known as Discord Overlay. Discord helps the user to play with their friends and coordinate the game even if there is no voice chatting or text chatting option in the game. You can stream gameplay with discord and manage it.
You can set Discord overlay for the game you want. When you open the game you can make discord appear or you can also make it invisible. You can setup overlay through your discord app. But sometimes error known as “discord overlay not working” is shown while we want to use Discord overlay. Today we will learn how we can fix this issue.
How to use discord overlay
Discord overlay allows user to chat with friends while playing a full-screen game without the closing game. Enabling discord overlay is an easy procedure. Here is how you can turn on game overplay in discord.
- At first, open discord and click on setting icon.
- Now click on overlay option from the left side of the category by scrolling down.
- Then turn on enable in-game overplay option. This will turn the overlay for a game.
- Now click on the Game activity option from the categories of the left side.
- Now you will see Overlay: on written in the green box. If the overlay is shown on then everything is okay for you. If the overlay isn’t on then click on the monitor icon in front of your game name and this will turn on overlay for your game.
- You can also add your game manually and then turn on Overlay from then by clicking on the monitor option.
Why discord overlay isn’t working?
Discord shows many types of issues time and again because of bugs and our system compatibility problems. Various errors such as discord overlay not working and Discord javascript error are seen with discord. What might be an issue behind these errors? Here are some of the issues which can cause discord overlay not working issue.
- Game overplay option might be off or not configured properly.
- Enabling hardware acceleration can sometimes cause an error in discord.
- Sometime discord overlay can be blocked by antivirus program.
- Overlay location might be moved out of screen making it invisible to you.
How to fix discord overlay not working
You should make sure that your game supports discord overlay at first. If your game is supported but the overlay isn’t working then you can fix it by our methods. We will discuss 10 methods to fix discord overlay not working issues.
Also check: How to change discord custom status
1. Restart your PC
Restarting or rebooting your PC is the very first step towards fixing discord overlay not working issue. There might be several glitches which prevent you to overlay game. Several processes might be running in PC which creates conflicts. Simply restarting PC is a good way to close all those activities. It is an effective thing to restart your PC and open Discord after that. Check now your discord overlay error will be fixed.
2. Run Discord as administrator
3. Turn off Hardware acceleration
Hardware accelerations make Discord to use GPU more effectively and run discord smoothly. However, this might stop your discord overlay from working. Turning off hardware acceleration is a clever thing to do if you find your discord overlay is not working properly while playing the game. Follow the steps given below to turn off Hardware acceleration.
- Open discord app and click on setting from the bottom.
- Now click on appearance from left categories by scrolling little down.
- Then scroll your appearance page to the bottom and find hardware acceleration. Turn the hard acceleration off.
- Now your Discord overlay not working issue will be fixed.
4. Customize and adjust your display screen
Sometimes our display can be more than 100% due to which overlay might not work. Resize the display back to original and your discord overlay not showing issue will be fixed. You can go to your display setting by clicking Windows + I key at the same time. After that go to the system and select display. Change your display layout to 100% and save. You can also find display setting under personalization setting. If there was a problem with display scale and layout then resizing your display will now show overlay.
5. Update discord
Check if there is an update available for discord. Sometime discord overlay not working error is caused if your app needs to be updated. Check for update and install new update for your app. This can also fix your overlay issue on discord.
6. Close applications running in the background
You can open the taskbar and close all the applications that can cause discord overlay error. To open taskbar you can press Control + Shift + Esc key at the same time from your keyboard. Now select the applications which you don’t want to run. Right-click over them and hit end task. This can also fix your discord overlay issues.
7. Disable antivirus programs and add an exception
You can turn off your antivirus program by opening them. Just turn off the antivirus program until you want to use discord overlay with your game. You can also add an exception for discord in the antivirus program you use. If your overlay was blocked by antivirus program then this will fix the issue.
8. Use a secure VPN to check for network issue
You might not even know that voice chat error in discord can be fixed in some case by connecting through the secure VPN server. Find yourself a good VPN and connect to a server. Now try to play game and overlay. This can also fix your discord overlay not working issue.
9. Change the location of the overlay
Discord allows you to move overlay but sometime you might move it out off-screen and you cannot locate it. Now you are unable to see the overlay. This is the second last option in our list which you can try out. Follow the steps given below to relocate discord overlay.
- Close your game and discord app. Now open the discord app. After discord is opened press Control + shift + I button from your keyboard. Wait for a few seconds. This will open developer console inside Discord.
- Now click on the arrows icon (<<) from the top right corner of the screen. Select application from there.
- Double click on Local storage and select https://discordapp.com
- Right-click on OverlayStoreV2 and click on delete.
- Now your discord overlay will be available on its default position. This will fix your discord overlay not working problem.
10. Completly end task for discord and reinstall discord if the problem exist
Even after doing all things your discord overlay not working issue isn’t fixed then you can simply end all task for discord. You can completely end task for discord and restart it. You can press Windows + R key at the same time top open run. Now type taskmgr.exe and enter. Now select every task with discord name, right-click over them and hit end task. Now restart your PC and open the discord app. Your discord overlay not working issue should be fixed.
If your discord overlay doesn’t work even after freshly starting then you can completely remove the file of discord and reinstall it. Uninstall your discord app and locate discord files from the local directory and delete them. Then reinstall the discord app. This will sure fix discord overlay not working issue if there was a problem with your discord app.
Discord is an irreplaceable platform when it comes to gaming and streaming live. Discord overlay not working problem can be great obstacles in gaming. I hope this article helped you to fix the overlay issue on discord. If you have any requires or if any of the above methods has been the best solution for you then leave a comment below.