Fix NVIDIA GeForce Experience overlay not working on Windows PC

Normally, on your Windows 11 or Windows 10 gaming PC, press the Alt+Z the key combination will bring up your NVIDIA GeForce Experience overlay. Some PC users report the issue of NVIDIA GeForce overlay not working on games on their gaming device. In this article, we provide the most suitable solutions for this problem.

The likely culprits for this problem are:

• Old or faulty drivers
• Conflicting third-party services
• Visual C++ Redistributable Package Issues
• Missing media feature pack
• Vapor Capture Settings
• Spotify overlay has interference
• Administrator permissions

NVIDIA GeForce Experience overlay not working

The GeForce Experience gaming overlay gives you access to GPU-accelerated video recording, screen capture, streaming, and co-op gaming capabilities.

If the NVIDIA GeForce Experience overlay not working on your Windows 11/10 system, you can try our recommended solutions below in no particular order and see if that helps fix the problem on your gaming PC.

1. Make sure the GeForce In-Game overlay is enabled
2. Disable media keys and hardware acceleration in the Spotify app (if applicable)
3. Update your graphics driver
4. Disable NVFBC capture on NVIDIA GPU in Steam (if applicable)
5. Enable experimental features
6. Fix issues in clean boot state
7. Repair Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package
8. Install Media Feature Pack
9. Reinstall GeForce Experience

Let’s take a look at the description of the process involved regarding each of the listed solutions.

Before trying the solutions below, first restart your PC and make sure to run the GeForce Experience application with administrator privileges, then see if the issue is resolved. If not, check for updates and install all available bits on your Windows 11/10 device and see if that helps.

1]Make sure the GeForce In-Game overlay is enabled

You can start troubleshooting to fix the issue on your Windows 11/10 system by making sure the GeForce In-Game overlay is enabled. To perform this task, follow these steps:

• Open the GeForce Experience.
• Click the gear icon to open Settings.
• In the left navigation panel, select GENERAL.
• Now scroll down in the right pane until IN-GAME OVERLAY section.
• Flip the switch to At.

2]Disable media keys and hardware acceleration in Spotify app (if applicable)

It appears when the Spotify overlay is in use, it interferes with the proper functioning of the NVIDIA GeForce Experience In-Game overlay. Some affected users reported that they were able to fix this problem by disabling the hardware acceleration and media keys option in the Spotify app.

To disable media keys and hardware acceleration in the Spotify app, follow these steps:

• Open Spotify.
• Click it Edit entry in the menu bar at the top of the window.
• To choose Preferences (or press the key CTRL+P key combination) in the list of menu options.
• Now scroll down to Display option section.
• In the section, locate the Show desktop overlay when using media keys option and toggle the button to Disabled.
• Then scroll down and click on the Show advanced settings to open advanced settings.
• In the advanced settings page, scroll down to Compatibility section.
• In the section, toggle the button for the Enable hardware acceleration Possibility of Disabled.

Once done, you can reopen the GeForce Experience client and the issue should be resolved. Otherwise, proceed to the next solution.

3]Update your graphics driver

The current problem is likely to occur due to corrupted or outdated graphics drivers. In this case, to fix the problem, update the graphics card driver on your gaming PC.

Here are the options available to you:

4]Disable NVFBC capture on NVIDIA GPU in Steam (if applicable)

Proceed as follows:

• Launch the Steam client.
• Click the Steam button in the menu bar at the top right of the window.
• To select Settings.
• On the Settings page, in the left navigation pane, select the Home broadcast tongue.
• Now in the right pane under the Advanced Host Options section, uncheck the box of the option Use NVFBC capture on NVIDIA GPU.
• In the Steam window, click the Steam button again and click Exit to exit Steam completely.

Once done, you can reopen the GeForce Experience client and see if the issue in question is resolved. Otherwise, proceed to the next solution.

5]Enable experimental features

Enabling experimental features in GeForce Experience gives you access to updates and features that have not been released for all users. This solution requires you to enable experimental features and see if that fixes the problem.

Proceed as follows:

• Open the GeForce Experience.
• Click the gear icon to open Settings.
• In the left navigation panel, select GENERAL.
• Under the ON section, check the option Enable experimental features. A GeForce Experience update may be required.

Once done, check if the in-game GeForce overlay now works. Otherwise, try the next solution.

6]Clean Boot State Troubleshooting

You may encounter the problem due to third-party services preventing the GeForce overlay from working properly. In this case, to fix the problem, you can fix the issue in clean boot state by temporarily disabling all services except NVIDIA services and restarting your system. On startup, if the GeForce overlay starts working again, you can try enabling third-party services one by one to identify the problematic services. Then restart your computer to apply the changes.

Read: NVIDIA GeForce Experience unable to open share

7]Repair Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package

Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Packages ensure that certain programs work properly without encountering conflicts on your Windows 11/10 PC. If these redistributables are corrupted, it may prevent the GeForce overlay from functioning normally.

To repair Visual C++ Redistributable through the Settings app, follow these steps:

• Open the Settings app.
• Click on apps in the left navigation pane.
• Now scroll down on the Apps and features right pane.
• Click the ellipsis (three vertical dots) for the installed Visual C++ Redistributable.
• To select To modify.
• Click on repair.
• Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the repair operation.
• Repeat for all other versions of the package installed on your system.

Alternatively, you can repair Visual C++ Redistributable via Programs and Features on your Windows 11/10 computer by following the guide instructions on how to fix runtime error R6034.

8]Install Media Feature Pack

Since media-related features do not ship with K/N/KN editions of Windows 11/10, if you encounter the issue in question and you are running K/N/KN edition of Windows, you can try installing the Media Feature Pack and see if that fixes the problem you are currently facing.

9]Reinstall GeForce Experience

At this point, if nothing has worked so far to fix the issue at hand, it’s likely due to inconsistencies or corrupt GeForce Experience app installer files. In this case, to fix the problem, you can reinstall the entire application to fix the problem on your gaming PC.

To apply this solution, you can uninstall the GeForce Experience app via Settings app or Control Panel, restart the PC, then download the latest version of the app from NVIDIA official website and reinstall it on your device. Windows 11/10 game.

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How do I open the overlay in GeForce Experience?

Simply press the “Alt + Z” shortcut or the Share icon to access the powerful capture and recording features. With this overlay, you can easily take advantage of GeForce Experience’s ability to record gameplay at 60FPS up to 4K, for both fullscreen and windowed modes.

Is ShadowPlay better than OBS?

One of the differences between ShadowPlay and OBS is the effect on CPU performance. ShadowPlay does not affect CPU performance, even when extending its support to higher frame rates. On the other side, OBS has a strong effect on CPU performance even when working on limited frame rates. NVIDIA ShadowPlay provides much better output with much less lag than recording via OBS.

Is GeForce good for recording?

The GeForce Experience, a companion app for video cards, makes it super easy to record gameplay footage. If you have a PC with an NVIDIA card – and most gamers do – there’s no need to install anything. If you’re playing a game that’s less CPU-intensive, it won’t affect performance as much. If you are using an encoder tied to the GPU, it will affect performance more.

Is ShadowPlay free?

NVIDIA’s ShadowPlay can have high to low performance depending on your PC configuration. But it’s free, easy to use, and can be modified for live recording, capturing the action-packed last minutes of your game, or streaming your adventures on Twitch. Keep in mind that if you are running ShadowPlay features such as instant replay, recording, or live streaming, it will affect FPS at varying levels depending on the GPU.