Guide to Fix Discord Overlay Not Working

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Last Updated on August 18, 2020 by Jay

Can’t stay connected to your squad while gaming because of the Discord overlay not working issues? Here’s what you need to know about the problems related to Discord, and how you can resolve them the easy way.

The human race has collectively moved forward at a greater speed than ever before since we began communicating freely from one part of the globe to the other. In just the span of a few decades, telecommunication has revolutionized the way we reach out to one another, do business, create policies of conduct, and so much more. Enter, the gaming industry, with billions of dollars to spend and no free and open-source channel to communicate with other gamers across the world. Online multiplayer gaming has ranked up to be professionally played as e-Sports, and Discord has been the official line of communication for millions globally.

An estimated 90 million gamers actively use Discord to freely communicate with each other online while gaming, hold discussions and even share their gaming achievements with one another through this gaming VoIP app available across PC and mobile platforms. The core feature of the app is the Discord Overlay feature, which allows sharing of messages, voice and video chat, and even sharing screenshots – all while during the gameplay itself. However, just like any and every app ever made, Discord Overlay not working issues have been reported by thousands of users.

What could cause Discord Overlay not working issues?

Considering that the Discord app is designed to work on multiple different operating systems and versions of those operating systems, there isn’t a universal fix that could resolve all of the issues. With several moving parts in the software, here are some of the common culprits we discovered that could be causing the issue and rendering Discord useful while gaming.

Game Overlay Settings

Before you do declare that the Discord app is broken because you can’t seem to get the Overlay feature to work, you might want to consider that your knowledge of how the app works might be limited. This common issue related the Discord usually arises due to the fact that the users not being well-versed with the settings and features of the app in the first place.

On contrary to popular belief, the Discord Overlay feature is not enabled by default within the app. Additionally, even if the feature has been manually enabled by you, the game might not have been added to the Discord game list, both of which are incremental to using the communication agent during live gameplay.

Display Scaling

Since not all of us are always playing the latest game titles, your current computer configuration may be too ahead of the time of the game itself. This may require you to scale the display on your computer, which could inadvertently cause the Discord Overlay tab to be hidden.

Antivirus Interference

Although there’s barely any element to the Discord app that could come under scrutiny, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time that antivirus software would’ve tightened up the security for no apparent reason. Depending on the protection level you’ve enabled on your antivirus software, it could be directly affecting the functionality of the Discord app and leaving the Overlay feature inoperable.

Hardware Acceleration

The computer that you have Discord installed and running on, might not have a dedicated graphics card to support the CPU when the system fires up. This is where the Hardware Acceleration feature of the system kicks in to efficiently performs the functions of the general-purpose CPU. The downside is that this feature of the Windows OS has been known to deter the functionality of the Discord Overlay, which is one aspect to consider.

How to Fix Discord Overlay Problems

Before you get into the entire guide on how you can get the communication network up and running while gaming with Discord, there are a few no-brainer solutions that you should try before the rest. The most basic one is rebooting the system which could rid the system of any glitch that’s causing the Discord Overlay to not appear during a gaming session. However, if a simple reboot of the computer system doesn’t do the trick, look down below for some verified and tested solutions.

Solution 1: Enable Game In-Game Overlay

The in-game overlay feature is what transforms Discord from being just another VoIP communication client to a power-packed communication panel while gaming. However, this crucial feature is not enabled by default within the Discord, and if you haven’t done it manually, it would obviously mean that the overlay won’t appear when you launch any game on your computer.

Launch the Discord app on your computer.
Head over to the User Settings menu by press the gear icon on the menu.
From the side menu, head to the Overlay tab on the screen.
Press the toggle switch next to Enable in-game overlay to activate it.

The in-game overlay will now be enabled, and you will be able to play games along with a direct line of communication through the Discord app.

Solution 2: Add Games to Discord

Although you have the overlay feature for the Discord app enabled on your computer, you might find yourself unable to use it with a few, or all of the games installed on the system. To fix this, you need to make sure that the game title in question is added to the Discord Game Activity menu, which decided whether the in-game overlay should appear during a particular game or not.

Launch the Discord app on your computer.
Head over to the User Settings menu by press the gear icon on the menu.
From the side menu, head to the Game Activity tab on the screen.
Here you will be able to see the menu – “Not seeing your game? Add it!”.
Using the drop-down menu, you will be able to individually choose the game title.
Once you find the game title, press the Add Game button to continue.

Once you’ve added the game manually to Discord, it should be able to launch the in-game overlay successfully.

Solution 3: Disable Hardware Acceleration

As we discussed above, the hardware acceleration feature of the system, while useful in bringing an improved gaming experience, does lead to Discord overlay not working issue on certain devices. However, there’s an easy fix to get past this by disabling Hardware Acceleration from the Discord app using the instructions below:

Launch the Discord app on your computer.
Head over to the User Settings menu by press the gear icon on the menu.
From the side menu, head to the Appearance tab on the screen.
Head right down to find the Hardware Acceleration tab, which should be under the Advanced
Turn off the toggle switch and confirm your action by pressing the Okay button on the pop-up window.

Restart the Discord app after you’ve confirmed your action, and even reboot the computer system for good measures to see if the issue has been fixed.

Solution 4: Run as Administrator

Another quick fix to make Discord work optimally on any system is to grant the application permission to “run as Administrator”. This seems to be an effective solution not just for the Discord overlay issue, but any limitation that you may be facing with the app in general.

Find the Discord app icon and right-click on it to select the Properties
From the pop-up window, navigate to the Compatibility tab from the menu.
Under the Settings menu, check the box next to “Run this program as an administrator” and press the OK button to confirm your action.

Now you can launch the Discord app, and then play the game that you were previously having an issue to see if it’s all been taken care of.

Solution 5: Remove and Reinstall Discord

If none of the suggested fixes that have been listed above seems to work for you, the only way out of the issue of Discord overlay not working is to hit the kill switch. Over the years as the system accumulates temporary files and updates, the Discord app might conflict with any other app that offers an overlay feature, or just stop working entirely. The simplest way to turn a new leaf is by planting a new one by removing all traces of the Discord app and reinstalling it from scratch.

Head to the Start menu and access “Add or remove programs” menu from the list.
From the list of programs installed, scroll down to find the Discord
Press the Uninstall button right under it and complete the process.

Now that you have uninstalled the Discord app, take it one step further and reboot the system before you perform a fresh install.

Using a web browser, head over to the Discord download page (Link here).
Download the .exe file for the program and install it on the system.
Open the Discord app and enable the in-game overlay option from the Settings

This method has been known to resolve most issues with the Discord overlay not working and should most likely work for you too.

Frequently Asked Questions?

Can display scaling cause Discord overlay issues?

A number of users on the Discord community forums have reported that when scaling the display of their computers, the overlay feature seems to either be affected or is entirely broken. If you’ve scaled the display above 100%, you might want to try reducing it and see if it helps resolve the problem.

On the home screen, right-click and select the Display settings tab from the list.
Scroll down to the Scale and layout option to view the current settings.
From the drop-down menu, select either 100% or the “Recommended” settings by the system.

The system will refresh and you will notice that the entire text, along with icons has been resized. Now go ahead and try launching a game with Discord enabled to see if the overlay feature works as intended.

Why can’t I join Discord servers?

There have been reports where players are unable to join Discord server, either as a persisting issue or just as a problem that has surfaced out of nowhere. There are, however, a handful of fixes that you can try out to fix this:

Either the server or your user ID has been banned for policy violations.
Ask the server creator to share a new link since the old one could’ve expired.
Discord goes through systemic general maintenance, so wait for some time and then try connecting to the server again.

Does my VPN work with Discord?

Based on the region where you’re set-up or the players that you’re trying to connect with, you might not be able to use Discord’s communication servers without a VPN service. However, Discord is configured to only work with VPN service providers that offer UDP (User Data Protocol) feature.

For those who are concerned about user privacy and wish to use a VPN with Discord, we recommend ExpressVPN for the cause. Designed to help you gear up with a stable and fast connection on the fly, ExpressVPN allows multiple devices to hook up at the same time, which makes up for some serious multiplayer action.

Final Words

We’ve come a long way from hooking up humble gaming systems that were once “consoles” to the CRT TV boxes and smashing buttons during some local multiplayer action. Gaming has gone global and is no longer limited to geographical boundaries in terms of multiplayer gaming, which is only further improved through dedicated communication apps such as Discord. Despite being great most of the time, the service suffers from its own set of issues, none as common as the Discord overlay not working just when you need it to.

Are you among the social gamers who weren’t able to make the most of this gaming VoIP platform, and which of the solutions listed above seemed to work for you? Be sure to share what you think in the comments section right below, we’d love to hear from you.

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Jay

Editor at WhyTheLuckyStiff

Holding a Bachelor's Degree in Physics, Jay found his calling of becoming a full-time tech writer and is living the dream ever since. A fast learner and an ever-curious mind, you'll find him tinkering with subjects he's got no business around.

Guide to Fix Discord Overlay Not Working