Discord’s in-game overlay allows you to see who is talking in your Discord voice channels and send messages without leaving your game. It can be a useful feature for chatting with teammates while gaming. However, some players may find the overlay distracting or want to disable it for specific games.
Fortunately, Discord makes it easy to disable the in-game overlay entirely or only for certain games.
Table of Contents
Disable Overlay for All Games
To completely turn off the overlay:
- Open Discord and click the gear icon next to your username to open User Settings
- Select “Game Overlay” on the left sidebar
- Toggle off “Enable In-Game Overlay” on the right side
The overlay will now be disabled for all games. To re-enable it, simply toggle “Enable In-Game Overlay” back on.
Disable Overlay for Specific Games
If you only want to disable overlay for certain games:
- Open Discord Settings > Game Overlay
- Click “Registered Games” on the left sidebar
- Find the game you want to disable overlay for and click the monitor icon next to it
- The monitor icon will become red with a slash through it, indicating overlay is off for that game
Repeat steps 3-4 for any other games you want to disable overlay for. The overlay will remain on for any games without the red disabled icon.
Troubleshooting Overlay Issues
If you are having issues with the overlay not behaving properly in games, here are some things to try:
- Launch Discord as Administrator
- Disable Discord hardware acceleration in User Settings > Appearance
- Update your graphics drivers
- Restart your PC
- Reinstall Discord
Customizing the Overlay
Aside from fully disabling overlay, you can also customize its behavior and appearance:
- Change overlay hotkey – User Settings > Game Overlay > Hotkeys
- Adjust overlay position – User Settings > Game Overlay > Position
- Toggle overlay features like chat and voice activity – User Settings > Game Overlay
Conclusion
Discord’s in-game overlay can improve communication and coordination while gaming with others. However, some players may find it distracting or want finer control over which games it appears in.
Fortunately, Discord provides easy options to globally disable overlay or disable it on a per-game basis. You can also customize overlay appearance, position, and hotkeys to your liking.
If you try disabling overlay but are still having issues, updating graphics drivers, restarting your PC, and reinstalling Discord may help resolve any lingering problems.
With these steps, you should have no trouble controlling Discord’s overlay based on your personal preferences and gaming needs. Just dive into the settings menu and toggle the options to fit your playstyle.
