Discord’s overlay is an extremely helpful feature as it provides access to voice channels, server members, and even text channels (messaging), all while in-game.
However, it is also true that this overlay can sometimes disrupt a player’s gaming experience. Too much information on your screen can become a major distraction.
This guide will teach you how to get rid of the Discord overlay.
Let’s look at what you need to do!
Table of ContentsShow
Turning Off Discord’s Overlay
For the people that can’t find any real use for this feature, we suggest turning it off completely. Here is a quick guide on how to disable the Discord overlay:
- Start Discord.
- Open User Settings by clicking the cogwheel icon near your username.
- Scroll the left panel all the way down until you see the Game Overlay tab (this feature/tab is only accessible via the desktop application).
- If the Enable in-game overlay button is green, click it to disable it.
With that, the overlay is permanently disabled unless you enable it again.
Overlay Lock
If you want to keep using Discord’s overlay but want to do it more effectively, you should learn how to use the overlay lock shortcut.
By using this shortcut, you can unlock the overlay to interact with it. The default shortcut is Shift + ~. You can change it via the Game Overlay tab in User Settings.
If you want to remove, pin, or add certain elements to the overlay, simply use the shortcut.
Adjust Overlay Appearance
If you haven’t been able to improve the overlay using the overlay lock, you can also modify its look in User Settings – Game Overlay.
Here are some of the options:
- Avatar Size – Make the size of the avatars larger or smaller.
- Display Names – Choose whether to display names constantly, while the users are speaking, or never. For the cleanest UI, choose Never.
- Display Users – Choose whether avatars and names are displayed constantly or only while speaking.
- Notification position – Choose which of the four corners you want the overlay notifications to pop up in.
Disabling Discord Overlay For Individual Games
The overlay shouldn’t pose much of a challenge in single-player games. Naturally, in multiplayer titles, you will desire as few interruptions as possible.
Instead of turning off the overlay every time you play a different game, you can disable it for specific games. Here’s how:
- Start Discord and access User Settings.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the left panel. This time, select Activity Status.
- Here, you will see a list of all the games in your Discord library.
- Click the small monitor icon next to the game title to enable or disable the overlay.
You now know how to disable the Discord overlay for every game or specific titles. The overlay is highly customizable, so you have several options other than disabling it completely.
