How to Disable Steam Overlay

By Seth Amery

Updated September 22, 2017

Though the Steam Overlay offers its users the ability to check their achievements, browse the Internet and chat with other friends on the Steam client without tabbing out of the current game, it's known to cause problems in certain games and with lower-end computers. You can disable the Steam Overlay for all games directly from your Steam client; as of August 2014, it is not possible to disable the Steam Overlay for individual games.

Disabling the Overlay

Some games, such as "PlanetSide 2," "Payday 2," "Kerbal Space Program" and "Borderlands," suffer from bugs caused by the Steam Overlay. Known issues involving the Steam Overlay include a drop in the game's performance or frequent crashing back to the desktop. Disabling the Steam Overlay will help alleviate this problem. In your Steam client, click "Steam," followed by "Settings." Navigate to the In-Game tab and uncheck "Enable Steam Community In-Game." Click "OK" to save your changes.

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