What causes Discord Overlay to Not Show?
The list of things that can cause this issue is quite long.
Note
Before you dive deep into the methods given below, it’s worth doing a reboot of the system and/or Discord app. Sometimes it’s a glitch that goes away after a reboot. So, restart the Discord app and check if it fixes the issue or not. If it doesn’t then reboot the whole system and check if that fixes the problem.
1. Turn on Game Overlay
The very first thing that you should do is turn on the overlay option for your game. Even if you are sure that you turned this option on, it’s worth giving a look since there are a couple of things that need to be checked in the overlay and game settings. Follow the steps given below to make sure everything is set up properly to rule out any settings issue. Check if the Discord Overlay is now working.
2. Turn off Hardware Acceleration
Since hardware acceleration can be the culprit behind this issue, disabling this option is the logical thing to do. So, follow the steps given below to turn off the hardware acceleration for the Discord app. That’s it. The issue should be fixed once the Discord app restarts.
3. Rescale the Display
Some users found out that their display was scaled to 105% (or some other percentage) and the only thing they had to do was change the display back to 100%. So, this might be the case for you and the only reason you couldn’t see the overlay was because of a scaled display. All you have to do is scale the display back to the original 100% and everything should work fine. Once the scaling is done, run the game again. The overlay should be showing up now.
4. Move the Overlay
In some cases, the only issue is the location of the overlay. Since you can move the overlay around, it might have been the case that you accidentally moved the overlay off the screen. If you have tried everything and nothing has worked then the most likely cause is that everything is working but you just can’t see the overlay because of its location. So, the only solution here is to relocate the overlay by following the steps given below Launch game. The overlay should be back to its default position and you’ll be able to move it again.
5. Update Discord
Discord gets updates on a pretty regular basis so it might just be the update that introduced this bug in the application. This should be the case if you started experiencing the issue after the update. If the methods mentioned above didn’t solve the issue then, unfortunately, there isn’t anything that you can do. You can also try updating Discord yourself.
6. Run Discord as Administrator
In some cases, Discord might be missing some important system permissions to read and write on the root directory of the computer. This can sometimes prevent the overlay from working correctly and in this step, we will be granting these privileges to Discord to make sure that it is not the issue. For that:
7. Allow Discord Through Antiviruses
If you are using very strict configurations on a third-party security program or even if you are using the standard Windows Firewall and Defender, you might be getting this error due to these programs blocking Discord from running in the background and using the system resources. Therefore, in this step, we will be adding an exception in both the Windows Defender and Firewall for discord. For that: Also, make sure to examine your third-party antivirus and ensure that Discord isn’t being blocked by them. Discord can often get falsely flagged from these applications which can prevent it from working properly.
8. Reinstall Discord
Sometimes the installation of the application can get damaged due to system or storage failures and it can really hurt the integrity of some of Discord’s Functions. Therefore, in this step, to ensure that isn’t the case, we will be reinstalling Discord after removing it completely from our computers. In order to do that: This reinstallation step should fix your “Discord overlay not working” error now.
9. Disable Background Applications
In some situations, certain background programs can interfere and disrupt some functions of the Discord applications which can prevent its Overlay from showing as well. Therefore, in this step, we will be disabling these background applications from running on our computer and then check if it works properly. For that:
10. Use a VPN
You can also try to resolve this particular discord error by configuring a VPN connection on your PC because a lot of voice connection problems can be overcome simply by using a VPN on your device. But remember that Discord is designed to only work with VPN solutions that have UDP (User Datagram Protocol). A recommended VPN service to fulfill this purpose could be Nord VPN. Since it encrypts your internet traffic while keeping your identity safe and also allows you to connect up to six devices at the same time. Follow these steps to establish a VPN connection on your PC: After configuring the VPN, check to see if the Discord Overlay starts showing properly.
11. Use Overlay Hotkey
Usually, a hotkey is might not have been assigned for enabling the overlay at the start. But if it has been, be sure that it isn’t overlapping with any other Hotkey that you might’ve configured on Discord. If this happens then try to activate a new hotkey as it might be helpful in overcoming this error. You can enable a new hotkey by following these steps:
12. Restart Discord Completely
It is possible that Discord isn’t being started properly on your computer due to which the Discord Overlay issue is being triggered. Therefore, in this step, we will first be disabling it completely on our computer and then restart and check if that fixes the issue. For that:
13. Disable other Versions
If you are trying to run the normal and PTB version of discord at the same time you might often get the overlay error. Double-check your settings and make sure that you are not running both of these versions simultaneously. Edit the settings to run only a single version of Discord at one time and then check to see if doing so fixes this issue with Discord.
14. Contact Discord Support
If you are done implementing all of the above fixes then the last option that we are left with is to try to get help from the Discord Support team directly. You can visit their website and scroll down to the Support Section to get a detailed insight into the whole process. You will be able to get detailed contact information by having a thorough review of their help pages. For quick feedback regarding your issue you can also state the exact problem in the search box and they will get back to you as soon as possible. For obtaining a quick response you can contact Discord via their twitter account by writing your problem and tweeting it to them.
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