Nvidia GeForce Experience offers lots of exciting features, one of which is the in-game overlay. This feature helps monitor the performance, take screenshots, perform instant replays, and do much more. However, the feature can sometimes get glitchy and become unresponsive.

So, if the Nvidia GeForce overlay is not working on Windows PC, consider trying the below solutions.

Why Does the Nvidia Overlay Not Work on Windows PC?

By default, you can open Nvidia Overlay by pressing its Alt + Z hotkey. If pressing this hotkey doesn’t work, there’s most likely something wrong with the app.

Below are some of the common reasons that can be responsible for this problem:

The Nvidia overlay may not appear if you are using an old or corrupt graphics driver.
Third-party applications can interfere with the overlay and prevent it from popping up.
The problem can also result from an ongoing issue with your Visual C++ Redistributable package.

Now let’s check out all the effective solutions you can try in this situation.

1. Enable the Nvidia GeForce Overlay

Before we do any troubleshooting, double-check that you haven’t mistakenly disabled the overlay:

Open GeForce Experience.
Click on the Gear icon at the top bar.
Ensure that the toggle next to In-Game Overlay is enabled.

If it’s disabled, re-enable it then try opening the overlay again.

2. Update the Nvidia Graphics Driver

Using an outdated or corrupt Nvidia graphics driver can result in all kinds of problems, including issues with the overlay.Try downloading the latest update to solve the problem.

Here’s how to update the Nvidia graphics driver:

Press Win + X and choose Device Manager from the list.
Double-click on Display adapters.
Right-click on the Nvidia driver and choose Update driver from the context menu.
Click on Search automatically for drivers.

Windows will now look for and download the best available driver update for the system. Once the upgrade process is complete, reboot the device and check if you still face the problem at hand.

3. Enable the GeForce Experience Experimental Features

When you enable experimental features in GeForce Experience, it downloads and installs an update to show you all the new things. And sometimes, this new update contains the fix for whatever is causing your overlay issues.

Here’s how to get the experimental features:

Open GeForce Experience > Gear icon.
Checkmark Enable experimental features.
A small file will be downloaded via GeForce Experience.

That’s it. Check if you still face the problem.

4. Perform a Clean Boot

Different third-party applications can interfere with GeForce Experience and cause issues with the overlay. As a solution, boot the system without such applications and check if it resolves the problem. You can do so by performing a clean boot.

The system starts with a minimal set of drivers and applications in the clean boot state. Here’s how to perform a clean boot on Windows 11.

Open the Run dialogue box using Win + R.
Type msconfig and press Enter.
Switch to the Services tab.
Checkmark Hide all Microsoft services > Disable all.

The system will start in a clean boot state on the next boot.

Once you’re in a clean boot state, double-check to see if the problem goes away. If it does, try slowly re-enabling services until the issue re-appears. Whichever service you just enabled is the culprit, and you should either re-install it or download any pending updates for it if it’s important.

5. Repair the Visual C++ Redistributable Package

The Visual C++ Redistributable Package is a DLL file that helps run applications built using Microsoft Visual Studio. If there’s any corruption in the installed package, it can cause issues such as with the Nvidia overlay.

You will have to repair the redistributable package to solve the problem. Here’s how to do it.

Open Control Panel using one of the many ways to open the Control Panel.
Go to Programs > Uninstall a program.
Right-click on the installed Visual C++ Redistributable Package and chose Change from the context menu.
Click on the Repair option.

Next, follow the onscreen instruction to complete the repair process.

6. Install the Media Feature Pack

Sometimes, the Nvidia overlay won’t work because the media feature pack isn’t installed. As such, it’s worth downloading it and see if this fixes the issue.

Before continuing, ensure that the system features the latest graphics driver update.
Open Settings using Win + I.
Choose Apps from the left pane.
Click on Optional features.
Click on View features next to Add an optional feature.
Select Media Feature Pack.
Click Next > Install.

Reboot the system once the installation process is complete.

7. Turn Off Media Keys and Hardware Acceleration in the Spotify App

Weirdly enough, Spotify can sometimes be the culprit behind Nvidia overlay’s issues. But in truth, it’s not too far-fetched; Spotify comes with an overlay feature that can interfere with GeForce Experience’s own.

So, to fix the issue, consider disabling the Spotify overlay:

Open the Spotify app.
Press Ctrl + P to open Preferences.
In the Display section, disable the toggle next to Show desktop overlay when using media keys.

Additionally, the hardware acceleration feature of Spotify can also be responsible for the problem. So, consider disabling it as well. Here’s how.

Come to the Preferences window.
In the Compatibility section, disable the toggle next to Enable hardware acceleration.

Reboot the system and check for the issue.

8. Update Windows

If GeForce Experience overlay is still not working, consider updating the Windows OS. You can download the latest Windows update by following the below steps.

Open Settings.
Click on Windows Update on the left panel.
Choose Check for updates.

Windows will now look for and download any available update.

9. Reinstall GeForce Experience

If you are still facing the problem, most probably, it is being caused due to an issue with the installation files. In this situation, consider reinstalling GeForce Experience.

To do so, first, uninstall the application using the control panel. After that, visit the GeForce Experience official website and download the application.

Optimize Games Using GeForce Experience

Nvidia GeForce Experience is a GeForce GTX graphics card companion application that comes with a huge number of features to optimize your gaming experience. But if GeForce Experience is not working on Windows PC, consider trying the above solutions.