You want a program that allows you to chat with friends and stream video from your computer, while gaming. Discord is an instant messaging program that gamers love to use to communicate with their friends.
Discord is available for free on all computers. To get started, you only need to create an account. You will have full access to Discord’s features once you create an account. This includes an in-game overlay.
But what exactly is the overlay and how is it used? This page will explain the Discord overlay, its benefits, and how to use it while you play your favorite games.
What is Discord’s Ingame Overlay?
This allows you to use Discord’s voice and messaging while playing a game. It can be opened and closed at any time, so it is easy to use even when you are gaming.
This is best used when playing with others so that you can easily chat and coordinate while you play. It can also be used to stream your gameplay via Discord and manage it in-game.
This feature is very simple to use and can be customized to your liking by Discord. The overlay can be used with only the games that you choose, or it can show up above your game.
How to Open the Discord Overlay
Go into Discord, click on the User Options, and then open your game. This small icon is located below your username and at the bottom.
Click on the overlay option under the app Settings. Click the slider to toggle Enable in-game overlay. You can also adjust which button combinations bring up the overlay in-game by clicking on the keyboard icon beneath the Toggle overlay lock.
You can also modify settings to display names, avatars, and other users as well as notifications that appear while you are gaming.
Next, click on Game Activity in the Application Settings. You will see a list listing all games that are connected to Discord. If there isn’t one, you can add it by clicking on the Add button. At the top. To see your games, you can connect to your Steam account. Click on Connect in the User Setting.
An icon of a computer will be displayed next to your games. The overlay can be toggled to turn on or off depending on the game. You should ensure that the overlay is turned on for all the games you intend to play.
Open the game that you wish to play with the overlay. To open the overlay, you can use the keyboard shortcut Shift+’ or any other shortcut.
Discord Overlay
You can now open any chats that you are a part of by opening the overlay. You can search for users and channels in which you wish to start a conversation.
You can use the overlay to send a direct message or start a voice chat. Click on the phone icon at the top right to create a voice chat. You can see the name of the user when your voice chats, depending on how your overlay settings were modified. The upper left corner will show all users of the voice chat. You can also open the overlay to move the voice chat box anywhere on the screen.
Pin a chat to make it open even after you close the overlay. Click on the thumbtack icon at the top of your window to do this. You’ll be able to move the chatbox around, resize it and disconnect it from the sidebar.
To enter the chat, you can press the [ key or any key that Discord has set to this action. You can also change the opacity by clicking Opacity at the top right. Slide the bar until the desired level.
You can also stream your gameplay via Discord. You can click the computer icon at the bottom of the screen next to your title if you are in a server channel. This will stream your game to others who have chosen to view it.
While you are in-game, you can also change the Discord overlay’s settings. Navigate to the gear icon once the overlay has been opened to access the settings. These settings can be changed under the Overlay Settings section of Discord’s main application.