How to Fix the Missing NVIDIA Control Panel in Windows

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In This Guide

TRY IT NOW: Simple Fixes for a Missing NVIDIA Control Panel

Easy Solutions to Restore the NVIDIA Control Panel

Solution 1. Ensure NVIDIA Control Panel is Installed or Reinstall

Solution 2. Open the NVIDIA Control Panel Manually

Solution 3. Update Your NVIDIA Graphics Card Driver

Solution 4. Reinstall the NVIDIA Graphics Card Driver

Advanced Solutions for Fixing Missing NVIDIA CP

Solution 5. Reveal the Hidden NVIDIA Control Panel

Solution 6. Verify and Activate NVIDIA Services

Solution 7. Add the “NVDisplay.Container” File to the Startup Folder

Fix nvidia CP

Many users have reported that their NVIDIA Control Panel has gone missing and that they cannot find it either in the desktop context menu or the Windows Control Panel.

Are you encountering the same issue? If so, you are in the right place. This guide will walk you through several methods to fix this issue, helping you restore the NVIDIA Control Panel.

No secret that the NVIDIA Control Panel is an important tool for managing your graphics settings, enhancing game performance, and customizing display configurations.

This problem can occur due to various reasons, including outdated drivers, disabled NVIDIA services, or even a hidden control panel, but it can be easily fixed with the solutions highlighted in this guide.

Before starting, it’s useful to know that those above mentioned issues can cause other errors like ‘GeForce Experience Error Code 0x0003‘.

Easy Solutions to Restore the NVIDIA Control Panel

Let’s start with the easy ways that often resolve the error. 

Solution 1. Ensure NVIDIA Control Panel is Installed or Reinstall

In some cases, the NVIDIA Control Panel might not be installed correctly or might have been accidentally removed.

• Press ‘Win + I’ to open “Settings” and go to “Apps” > “Installed apps”.
• Search for the “NVIDIA Control Panel”. 
• If it’s not listed, download it from the Microsoft Store. 

• If it’s listed, uninstall it and then reinstall it from the same link. 

• Install the application and restart your computer.

Solution 2. Open the NVIDIA Control Panel Manually

Sometimes, the control panel is installed but not visible in the system tray or desktop context menu. You can manually open it.

• To open “Task Manager”, press ‘Ctrl + Shift + Esc’’ 

• Find “NVIDIA Container” in the list, right-click on it, and choose “Open File Location”. This action will take you to C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\Display.NvContainer. 
• Click the back button in File Explorer to go to the NVIDIA Corporation folder (C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation). 
• Here, open the Control Panel Client folder and locate “nvcplui.exe”. 

• Right-click on “nvcplui.exe” and select “Run as administrator”. 

• Next, in the app’s menu bar, click on “Desktop”, then select both the “Add Desktop Context Menu” and “Show Notification Tray Icon” options. This will restore the app to your system tray and desktop context menu.

• After that, restart your computer.
• Once your system reboots, check if the “NVIDIA Control Panel” has reappeared in your desktop context menu and system tray. If it’s still missing, proceed to the next solution.

Solution 3. Update Your NVIDIA Graphics Card Driver

Outdated drivers can often cause the NVIDIA Control Panel to disappear. Keeping your drivers up to date ensures compatibility with your system.

• Press ‘Win + R’ to launch the “Run” dialog.
• Type “dxdiag” and press ‘Enter’. 

• In the “DirectX Diagnostic Tool”, navigate to the “Display” tab to find your graphics card information. 

• Next, open your browser and visit the NVIDIA driver download page. 
• Use the dropdown options to select the latest driver for your hardware. 
• Once located, download the latest driver and run the installer to update your graphics driver.

Solution 4. Reinstall the NVIDIA Graphics Card Driver

If updating the driver doesn’t resolve the issue, reinstalling it might help. This ensures that any corrupted files are replaced with fresh ones.

• Open “Device Manager” by pressing Win + X and selecting “Device Manager”.

• Locate your NVIDIA graphics driver, right-click on it, and select “Uninstall device”. 

• Make sure to check the box labeled “Attempt to remove the driver for this device” before clicking “Uninstall” to confirm.

• After uninstalling, visit the NVIDIA website, download the latest driver for your graphics card, and then install it.

Advanced Solutions for Fixing Missing NVIDIA CP

If the easy solutions didn’t solve the error, you can try the below advanced solutions to target complex issues.

Solution 5. Reveal the Hidden NVIDIA Control Panel

Sometimes, the control panel might be hidden in the system tray, making it appear as if it’s missing.

• Start by opening the Run dialog box by pressing ‘Win + R’.
• Type “control panel”, and press ‘Enter’ to launch the “Control Panel”. 

• Set the “View by” option to “Large icons”, then select “NVIDIA Control Panel”. 

• Once the panel is open, go to the “Desktop” menu and check “Add Desktop Context Menu” to enable it. 

• Now, check your desktop to see if the NVIDIA Control Panel is available.

Solution 6. Verify and Activate NVIDIA Services

For the NVIDIA Control Panel to work properly, make sure that all related services are up and running. If these services are disabled, the control panel might not appear.

• Press ‘Win + R’ to open the “Run” dialog box.
• Type “services.msc” and press ‘Enter’.

• In the “Services” window, look for the following NVIDIA services:
  NVIDIA Display Container LS
  NVIDIA Telemetry Container
  NVIDIA LocalSystem Container
  NVIDIA NetworkService Container
• Right-click on the service and select “Stop”.

• Set the “Startup type” to “Automatic” for each service and after a few minutes, select “Start” again.

• Follow these steps for each service, then restart your PC.

Solution 7. Add the “NVDisplay.Container” File to the Startup Folder

Ensuring that the NVIDIA Control Panel starts with Windows can solve the issue of it going missing.

• Use “Windows Search” to launch the “Services” app.

• Locate the “NVIDIA Display Container LS” service and double-click it to access its properties.
• Note the file path mentioned in the “Path to the executable” section.

• Press ‘Win + E’ to open “File Explorer”, paste the copied path into the address bar, and press ‘Enter’.
• Locate and right-click the “Display.NvContainer” file and choose “Copy”.

• Open the “Run” dialog by pressing ‘Win + R’, type “shell:startup”, and press ‘Enter’.

• Paste the copied “Display.NvContainer” file into the “Startup” folder and then restart your computer.

If the issue persists, consider reaching out to NVIDIA support for further assistance. If you encounter any problems or need more help, feel free to leave a comment below.

Useful: if Nvidia CP is not the only thing that’s missing on your PC & you have a missing brightness slider — see how to resolve it here.