How to Disable Discord Overlay

When playing a team-based game, communication with your other team members is very important. It’s no surprise then that Discord has become a popular tool among gamers as it is one of the best text and chat tools out there. Having the overlay while playing keeps you connected to each party member at all times.

When you’re back to playing solo, the overlay becomes rather useless and tends to be more of a distraction than a help. Knowing how to disable the Discord Overlay so you can focus on your game is a useful bit of information to have.

How to Disable the Discord Overlay for Windows or Chromebook

You can disable the Discord Overlay for specific games or all games on your computer. Whether you are using a Windows PC or a Chromebook, the process is the same as the application is not dependent on the operating system. Follow these steps to disable the overlay on your computer:

note: The overlay feature is not available for Mac users.

1. Open you up disagreement app. If the Discord app window doesn’t open, check if it’s minimized on your system tray.
   
2. Once on the Discord home screen, click on the User settings icon. This will be the gear icon at the bottom left of the screen.
   
3. From the menu on the left, scroll down until you get to application settings. Find and click on Overlay.
   
4. At the very top of the menu that appears, look for the Enable in-game overlay vary. Click this to turn it on or off. The Toggle overlay lock option should be grayed out if it is off.
   
5. Navigate out of this window. Launch any game while Discord is open. If the overlay is disabled correctly, it should no longer appear.

How to Disable the Discord Overlay on Steam

There is no specific setting to turn off the Discord Overlay for Steam games only while turning it on for other game libraries. Turning it off through the Overlay option, as shown above, will also disable Steam. Just follow the instructions above for Windows and Chromebooks. However, Steam has its own overlay that you may want to turn off instead. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open the Steam app. If the Steam window does not maximize, the application may be minimized in your taskbar. Double click on the Steam icon to open the window.
   
2. Click on the Steam menu in the upper left corner of the Steam window. From the drop-down list, click on Institutions.
   
3. Select from the left menu of the window that appears in a game.
   
4. Check if the checkbox is on Enable Steam Overlay while in game is turned on. If it is, turn it off.
   
5. Click on the Well button at the bottom right to save your changes.
   
6. Both Steam and Discord overlays should now be disabled when playing Steam games.

Disable Discord Overlay for a game

If you want to disable the Discord Overlay for a specific game, you can use the Discord settings options. This applies to all games you have installed, regardless of whether they are team-based or not.

To do this, follow these simple steps:

1. Open the disagreement app. If the window doesn’t maximize, double-click the Discord icon on your taskbar.
2. Sign in to your game. Once the game is running, press either alt+tab to minimize the main window, or you can quit the game altogether.
3. On Discord, make the user settings menu. Click on the gear icon on the lower left part of the Discord screen to the right of your username.
4. On the menu on the left, scroll down until you get to application settings. Find and click on gaming activity.
5. On the menu on the right, below games addedyou should see your game.
6. To the right of the game you should see a screen icon. This is the Toggle Overlay button. Toggling it on or off will disable the overlay for that specific game only.
7. Once you’ve made your changes, you can navigate from this window.
8. Open or return to your game to see if the overlay is properly disabled.

Disable text chats, but keep consultation

If, instead of disabling the overlay entirely, you just want to get rid of the text chats, you can also use the user settings. Follow the steps below to achieve this:

1. Open your Discord app.
   
2. Click on the user settings icon. It’s the gear icon to the right of your username.
   
3. On the menu on the left, scroll down to application settings. Click on Overlay.
   
4. Scroll down to the very bottom of the options on the right. Find the Show text chat notifications vary. Turn this switch off.
   
5. You can now navigate from this window. Launch a game while Discord is open to see if text chat is disabled.

Overlay will not turn on

Sometimes you might want the overlay to be enabled, but you just can’t get it to work. This could be because the overlay itself is disabled or some other type of error. To find the reason why Discord might not be working, follow the steps below:

1. Check if the game actually supports disagreement. Some games, especially older games, are notorious for running the Discord Overlay. If you’re playing an old game and Discord refuses to work, check the game’s website to see if they actually support overlay features.
2. Check if Discord Overlay is disabled.
   1. Using the instructions as given in the Windows and Chromebook section, navigate to the Overlay menu and check if the In-Game Overlay is turned off. If it is, turn it on.
   2. Launch the game while Discord is open to see if the overlay is enabled.
3. Reboot your computer.
   Sometimes all it takes to fix any software errors is to reboot your computer. Shut down both Discord and your game properly, then restart your computer. Once it starts, open the apps again.
4. Run Discord as administrator
   It’s also possible that the Discord Overlay refuses to run because it doesn’t have enough administrator rights to function properly. You will need to do the following to enable Administrator functionality in Discord
   1. Temporary Admin Privilege
   on. Right click on the Disagreement shortcut or application icon.
   b. Choose from the menu Start as administrator.
   c. On the pop-up window, click on Forks.
   2. Permanent Admin Privileges
   on. Right click on the Disagreement shortcut or app icon.
   b. Click on Characteristics.
   c. Click on the Compatibility tab.
   d. under Institutionsclick on the Run this program as an administrator checkbox.
   and. Click on apply.
   F. opening disagreement to see if it can run the overlay now.

Focus on your game

While the Discord tool is a great way to communicate with teammates, the overlay can get a little annoying, especially if you’re playing solo. Knowing how to disable the Discord Overlay, even if only temporarily, removes such nuisance and allows you to focus on your game.

Do you know of other ways to disable the Discord Overlay? Please share your thoughts in the comments.