Previously, computer games could only be purchased on physical media, and this was not very convenient. Each game needed to be searched independently in all stores, to buy it, to store disks at home and so on. With the advent of electronic distribution platforms for computer games, the life of gamers has become much easier - now you can install Steam and buy all your games through it, store them in a shared library, and use a huge number of other useful functions. One of them is Overlay, a special feature that will be discussed in more detail in this article. You can learn not only how to enable Overlay in Steam, but also how to use it, as well as how to deal with some common problems.
What is an "Overlay"?
Before you figure out how to enable Overlay in Steam, it’s worth understanding what it is. If you use Steam, then you run all the games through this platform - you do not need to store dozens of shortcuts and choose the game you need from them - moreover, all files are stored in a single place, and the saves in most games are duplicated to the cloud, so that even if your game is deleted, your Windows flies or some other unpleasant incident happens, you can then start your game from the place where you finished. When you find yourself in a game, you naturally devote all your time to the process, however, you still have the opportunity to take advantage of Overlay. This is a special feature that opens the main functionality of "Steam" on top of the game so that you do not need to close or minimize it. You can chat with a friend, enter the community of a specific game, peek through the progress, evaluate your statistics or look at what achievements you have received. This is an incredibly useful feature, so it’s natural that everyone wants to learn how to turn on Overlay in Steam.
Turn on Overlay
The answer to the question of how to enable Overlay in Steam is not so simple, but this does not mean that you will have problems with this function. The thing is that Overlay is active in the Steam by default, that is, if you enter the game through this platform, you can call up the necessary screen at any time. By default, this is done with the Shift and Tab keys , but you can change this at any time in your client’s settings. Thus, if the "Overlay" in the "Steam" does not work for you, it only means that you have some kind of error that you need to deal with privately.
Failures with Overlay
First of all, you should understand that the only platform on which Overlay operates is Steam. How to open Overlay in non-Steam games? This question is asked by many gamers, but it makes no sense. "Overlay" is a feature of "Steam", respectively, it will work only if you launch the game through this platform. However, there is another common problem that may cause Overlay to fail. Modern PCs have Hardware Acceleration, which may not be activated by default. And if it doesn’t work for you, then Overlay will not start. The easiest way to activate this feature is to open any video on the Internet and put a checkmark in the settings of the built-in player. After that, the problems should disappear.
Games without Overlay
Steam strives for improvement; this platform is constantly growing and improving. However, one cannot fail to note the fact that in some games the Overlay simply does not work - it is not supported. For example, the recent post-apocalyptic release of Wasteland 2 does not support Overlay's functions, but game developers and Steam creators are actively working to solve this problem.