Fix: nVidia Control Panel Missing

Users who have Nvidia Graphics card installed in their PCs have always had the options to tweak certain graphic settings by using the Nvidia Control Panel. However, sometimes an issue appears where the Nvidia Control Panel is nowhere to be found and that is definitely a problem.

There are several ways to get back the Control Panel but some of these solutions may appear long and complicated. Either way, you will need to follow through the rest of the article in order to locate the solutions which should fix the problem for you.

Solution 1: Solution Suggested by Nvidia Support

This solution was suggested to users who struggled with the same issue regarding the Control Panel. As generic as some of the solutions suggested by Support Centers may be, this one really solved the problem immediately but it’s somewhat long to follow. Good luck!

1. First of all, you will need to boot into safe mode by following these steps. Use the Windows Key + I key combination in order to open Settings or click the Start menu and click the gear key at the bottom left part.

2. Click on Update & security >> Recovery and click the Restart Now option under the Advanced startup section. Your PC will proceed to restart and you will be prompted with the Choose an options screen.
3. Click the number 4 key or F4 in order to start your PC in Safe Mode.

Now, you will need to delete the Nvidia folder on your hard disk and uninstall the driver.

1. Navigate to your local hard disk by clicking on This PC >> Local Disk C. You should be able to see the NVIDIA folder right there. Right-click on it and choose Delete.

2. Click Start and type Run. Select Run, A Run dialog box will appear.
3. Type “devmgmt.msc” in the run box and click OK button. This is to open Device Manager Window.
4. Expand the “Display Adapters” field. This will list all network adapters that the machine has installed. Right click on the Nvidia adapter you want to uninstall and select “Uninstall”. This will remove the adapter from the list and uninstall the device.

5. Click “OK” when prompted to uninstall the device. This will remove the adapter from the list and uninstall the driver.

Now, you will need to reboot into normal mode and download the latest Nvidia driver available online. You can check the list at their official website.

1. Run the setup file you just downloaded and follow the instructions which appear on screen. Choose the Custom installation option and check all the boxes in the custom install options windows. Also check the box which states “perform clean install”.
2. Restart your computer and check to see if the Nvidia Control Panel is back.

Solution 2: Restart Several Nvidia Services

Services are the backbone of each program and restarting them is the usual method of solving any issues related to them. If Nvidia services have gone corrupt, restarting them is almost sure to solve the problem no matter what caused the issue in the first place.

1. If you are using a version of Windows older than Windows 10, the easiest way for you to access the services running on your PC is clicking on the Start button and navigating to the Run dialog box.
2. Type “services.msc” in the dialog box and wait for the list of services to open.

3. If you are using Windows 10, you can also access Services by using the Ctrl + Shift + Esc key combination in order to bring up Task Manager.
4. Navigate to the Services tab in Task Manager and click on Open Services at the bottom of its windows, next to the gears icon.

After you have successfully open Services, follow the instructions below.

1. Locate the Nvidia services by clicking on the Name column in order to sort the services in an alphabetical order. Repeat the same process for the processes which contain the work Nvidia.
2. Right-click on the service and click on Properties.

3. Navigate to the Startup type and set it to Automatic if it’s not set already. Click the Stop button in order to stop the service and wait for a minute. Click on Start after a while and confirm the dialog boxes which may appear.
4. Check to see if the issue with the Control Panel is gone.

Solution 3: If the Control Panel is There But Missing from the Desktop Context Menu

Some users claim that they are able to find the Nvidia Control Panel in the regular Control Panel but they which to have it available in the context menu which appears when they right-click on their Desktop. This is a much easier way to access this option so follow the instructions below in order to achieve this.

1. Use the Windows Key + R key combination in order to open the Run dialog box or simply search for “Run” in the Start menu.

2. Type “control panel” in the Run dialog box and press Enter on your keyboard. This will open Control Panel immediately. At the top right part of the windows, change the View by option to large icons.
3. Locate the NVIDIA Control Panel entry, click it, and the NVIDIA Control Panel should open right away. Click on View or Desktop and check the option which says Add Desktop Context Menu.

4. Apply the changes you have made, navigate to your desktop, and check to see if the Control Panel appears in the context menu once again.

Solution 4: Fix the Problem with NVIDIA Control Panel Simply not Launching

One of the users on Nvidia’s official forum spotted a possible solution for this problem, tried it out, and he turned out to be successful. The solution is short but it involves some advanced actions which you should perform carefully.

1. Navigate to “C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\Display.NvContainer”, right click on the “NVDisplay.Container.exe” file and select Copy from the context menu.

2. Use the Windows Key + R key combination in order to open the Run dialog box or simply search for “Run” in the Start menu. Type in “shell:startup” in the dialog box and click Enter.

3. It should the open “C:\Users\naoda\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup” folder. Paste the “NVDisplay.Container.exe” as a shortcut in this folder.
4. Finally, right-click on “NVDisplay.Container.exe” shortcut you just made, go to Properties, and navigate to the Shortcut tab. In the Shortcut Tab go to Advanced and check the “Run as Administrator” option. Confirm the changes, navigate to the Compatibility tab and check “Run This Program as Administrator”. Click on Apply and then OK, and check to see if the problem is solved.

Solution 5: Open the Control Panel Process Manually

If the process fails to launch automatically when you want it to, the issue may be with the fact that something regarding the automatic launch is misconfigured and it simply won’t open on its own. You can force it to launch by following the steps below:

1. Use the Ctrl + Shift + Esc key combination in order to open the Task Manager. Click on More details if the window is shrunk and locate the Nvidia Container entry on the list. Right-click on it and choose the Open File Location option.

2. While you are in the folder of Nvidia, go Up one folder until you end up in the Nvidia Corporation Folder. Try to locate the folder named Control Panel Client, open it, and look for the application called nvcplui.exe.

3. Right-click on it and choose the Run as administrator option. The problem should be solved now.

Solution 6: Stop Overclocking Your GPU

Overclocking your GPU usually causes these errors.  Overclocking is a process where you change the frequency and speed of your processor to a greater value and above the factory settings. This can give your PC a significant speed boost but you have to absolutely careful since there were occasions where entire PCs went down in flames after users overclocked them too much or because they were careless.

Returning your GPU’s rate and frequency to its original state depends on which software you used to overclock in the first place. AMD and Nvidia have their own applications available to download which let users overclock their GPU but there are dozens of programs available to choose from.

Stop overclocking your graphics card and check to see if Control Panel reppears.

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