NVIDIA Control Panel Missing? Here’s The Fix

If Nvidia Control Panel is missing on your PC, then this guide will help you fix the issue and bring it back again.

NVIDIA Control Panel is a key component in managing the properties of your graphics card, and it can be worrying when the application goes missing. However, you shouldn’t worry as the fix is quite easy, which you will see in this guide.

Usually, you can click on your computer screen using your right mouse button to reach the NVIDIA Control Panel found in the list that appears. Sometimes, it may have disappeared.

If you’re wondering how to bring it back, keep reading. Before looking at some of the standard troubleshooting options, we’ll explain why this issue occurs in the first place.

There are several reasons why you might be unable to find your NVIDIA Control Panel, and the most common one is your graphics card driver receiving an update. During the installation, something might have been moved, which then caused the normal flow to be disrupted.

A registry subkey might have gone missing, or a value was displaced, and there are also numerous random errors that could occur. Luckily, all of these issues can be fixed if you follow these instructions.

Table of ContentsShow

Missing NVIDIA Control Panel: Step-by-Step Fix

As mentioned earlier, there are several possible reasons why the NVIDIA Control Panel is missing. We’ll walk you through some of the more common ones.

Restart NVIDIA Services

You might want to try this method if the NVIDIA icon is also missing from the desktop tray.

  1. Press Windows key + R to open the “Run” window, then type in services.msc and press Enter.
  2. Once the services window opens, look for items with the “NVIDIA” name before them. Right-click each of the items and select Restart from the menu that appears.
nvidia control panel missing restart nvidia services

If a service is not running, make sure you choose it and click Initiate.

If you receive the Error 14109 message, right-click the “Start” button, then select “Device Manager”. From here, find your graphics card’s name (in the “Display adapters” section) and right-click it. Then choose “Uninstall Device”. Don’t worry, this won’t remove your GPU, but it will remove all the faulty drivers. Restart your PC and re-install the drivers.

Manually Launch The NVIDIA Control Panel

Before continuing, let us make it clear that this is not a permanent solution. It will be effective temporarily, yet there may be an underlying problem that must be resolved, and being able to reach the Control Panel might assist in troubleshooting.

  1. Navigate to the C:Program FilesNVIDIA CorporationControl Panel Client location on your PC. The NVIDIA Corporation folder might also be in the Program Files (x86) folder.
  2. Right-click the nvcplui file and choose the “Run as administrator” option.

Unhide NVIDIA Control Panel

This is often the simplest and quickest outcome as it is entirely possible that the Control Panel was simply hidden. To fix this, do the following:

  1. Access your computer’s Control Panel by pressing the Windows key + R and typing in “control“.
  2. Once the Control Panel opens, go to the upper-right corner and change “View by” to “Large icons“. Alternatively, you can choose “Small icons”; it’s entirely up to you.
  3. Double-click the NVIDIA Control Panel.
  4. Select the ‘Desktop’ option from the top menu and then tick both “Add Desktop Context Menu” and “Show Notification Tray Icon“.

After doing this, check whether or not that was the issue by either right-clicking your desktop or checking your tray.

Use NVIDIA’s Official Solution

This issue has apparently become widespread enough to catch the attention of NVIDIA. The company’s official solution goes like this:

  1. Navigate to C:Program FilesNVIDIA CorporationNvContainer and copy the nvcontainer file.
  2. Go to C:Users(Your Username)AppDataRoamingMicrosoftWindowsStart MenuProgramsStartup and paste the file you copied.
  3. Afterward, right-click the nvcontainer file and select “Properties”.
  4. Navigate to the “Compatibility” tab and tick the “Run this program as administrator” option.
  5. Apply the settings and restart your PC.

This method will ensure that the app starts running when Windows initiates.

Re-install The Drivers

If the issue in question is indeed being caused by your drivers, a fresh install should usually do the trick. The best way to do this is by using GeForce Experience. This application is usually located in the system tray and can be accessed with a double click. When its window appears, you should do the following:

  1. Click on the Drivers tab.
  2. On the right-hand side, you will see three dots showing that there are additional options. Click them and choose “Re-install drivers“.

Another method is to use Windows Device Manager and uninstall the drivers from there.

  1. In the “Display Adapters” menu, right-click your GPU and select “Uninstall the device“.
  2. Restart your PC.
  3. Navigate to NVIDIA’s website in your browser.
  4. Select your graphics card and operating system and download the driver.
  5. Run the setup wizard and follow the instructions.

Alternatively, you could try downloading NVIDIA Control Panel from the Microsoft Store.

Even the manual reinstallation of the drivers is straightforward, which usually makes this solution the easiest and likeliest to get you the best results.

Recommended Reads

MSI Afterburner
MSI Afterburner: How To Download And Use
Aleksandar Cosic

Alex is a Computer Science student and a former game designer. That has enabled him to develop skills in critical thinking and fair analysis. As a CS student, Aleksandar has very in-depth technical knowledge about computers, and he also likes to stay current with new technologies.