How to Fix Nvidia Control Panel Missing | Keeps Disappearing

If you are one of the Nvidia Graphics card users, you must be used to the problem where the Nvidia control panel keeps disappearing? It’s quite a tiring and recurring problem for the graphic users. 

In this article, we will discuss the 5 easy hacks that will help you get rid of the missing Nvidia control panel problems.

What do you understand by Nvidia Control Panel?

Nvidia control panel is an application which when installed and configured with your graphics cards, provides the users with an exclusive gaming encounter.

When you have a Nvidia control panel on your system, it offers the perfect settings for perfect gaming.

But often users complain “my Nvidia Control Panel is gone“. Well, it doesn’t really go missing from the system, but you have a hard time locating it.

Why is the Nvidia Control Panel missing from your system?

Has the Nvidia Control Panel again disappeared from the gaming platform? Don’t know why this keeps happening? There are 2 reasons why this repeat-

  1. When you are using faulty or backdated drivers on your system
  2. When more than one account apart from the admin account is operational on your system

Knowing the reasons behind the disappearing control panel is likely to set a notion that using new drivers or only one account might resolve the problem.

Well, it doesn’t work that way. So, don’t change your drivers or turn off one account. Follow the hacks.

5 Best Hacks to Fix Nvidia Control Panel Missing Options

We already know that changing drivers or switching from multi-account to single account will not fix the problem of the disappearing Control Panel.

Then how to fix nvidia control panel problem? Before you uninstall the app, try these hacks. They have been proven as the most convenient methods to fix this error.


1. Reboot the services of Nvidia:

In most cases rebooting the services of Nvidia has proved effective. So, without wasting much of your time, try this hack first.

  • Press the Keys “Windows + R” simultaneously to open the “Run” dialogue box.
  • Type in “services.msc” and press the “Enter” button to open the Microsoft services.
Microsoft Support
  • Locate “Nvidia Services” from the Windows list of services and right-click.
  • From the pop-up context menu select the “Properties” option.
  • Go to the “General” tab in the properties and locate “Startup type” Set the startup type as “Automatic”.
Credit: TheGeekPage
  • Click on the “Stop” tab to stop all services and then press the “start” button to reboot.

Close the settings, return to desktop if the Nvidia Control panel is visible. This hack even works for GeForce Control Panel missing errors. 

If this hasn’t provided a positive result, go on to the 2nd hack.


2. Directory short cut for Nvidia Control Panel:

Creating a shortcut for Nvidia Control Panel from the directory and pinning it to the Start Menu is an easy job to do.

  • Open My files, go to C: drive, followed by Program Files, Nvidia Corporation folder, and Control Panel Client Folder.
  • Locate the extension “nvcplui.exe” and right-click on that.
  • From the pop-up context menu click on “Create Shortcut”.
  • When you have the Shortcut created, copy-paste the shortcut file to your desktop or you may also right-click the shortcut icon to select the “Pin to Taskbar” option.
Credit: shurikenskribbles

Having the shortcut on your desktop or taskbar will ensure you always have access to the control panel and it never goes missing.


3. Add a context menu on Desktop:

This is yet another simple hack.

  • Go to the search bar on your taskbar and type “Control Panel” and click on “Open”.
  • In the Control Panel page, navigate to the “View” tab.
  • See all the program options by clicking on the “Show large icons” option.
  • Locate the entry called Nvidia Control Panel and click on it.
  • As soon as the Nvidia Control Panel page opens, click on “Desktop / View”.
  • Navigate to the “Add Desktop Context Menu” option and put a tick mark in the box beside it.
Credit: Driver Talent

When you apply this control panel setting, the context menu appears on the screen afresh.


4. Uninstall and reinstall your drivers:

If you are maintaining a regularly updated Graphics card driver, it helps in resolving missing control panel errors. As mentioned earlier faulty or backdated driver results in this error. But if you get an update, this issue can be fixed.

But if you need to get an update manually? Uninstall the drivers and reinstall them to see the effect.

Here is how you can get it done-

  • Press the “Windows + R” keys simultaneously to open the “Run” dialogue box.
  • Type in the command “devmgmt.msc” and Press “Ok” to open the “Device Manager Folder.
  • In the new window locate and select the “Display adapters” option and then right-click on the “Nvidia GeForce” option.
  • In the new page locate and click the “Update driver software”.
  • From the next page select “Search automatically for updated driver software”.
Credit: top-password.com

By now both uninstallation and reinstallation have happened. Go to the Start menu and restart your computer to let the updated driver do its job of fixing errors.


5. Use the Display Driver Uninstaller:

If you don’t know how to use the display driver uninstaller to fix disappearing errors, here are the steps – 

  • Open your web browser and download the 17.0.7.5 version of the DDU app or Display Driver Uninstaller and install it on your PC.
  • Run the application on your system and select the “Safe mode” from the settings.
  • In this app select “Nvidia software and drivers” and then click on the “Clean and Restart” option.
  • In the software cleaning page uncheck all the drivers and only mark “PhysX” and “GPU driver”.
  • Go the “Clean install” button and click to make changes.
  • Once both are installed click the “Finish” tab and leave the app.
  • Go to the Start menu and Restart your PC.

once your PC starts you will be able to find the Nvidia Control Panels on your system again. This will also keep the disappearance from happening again.


To end with

Nvidia Control Panel app is really wonderous. It can be quite frustrating if you need to locate it again and again as it vanishes before you play the game. Try these hacks and save your time from locating the missing app icon.

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