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.
References
Writer Bio
Seth Amery is a long-time writer whose specialties extend to all areas of video games, having written thousands of tutorials, fully-featured strategy guides and reviews across all platforms. His experience also includes one-on-one relationships with major gaming publishers to write previews on upcoming games, establish interviews with game designers and hold early game giveaways.