Solution when GeForce Experience can't find your games

Sometimes after reinstalling Windows, GeForce Experience can't find your games (doesn't show your library) or doesn't allow you to optimize titles. The app may open without errors, but the game list appears empty, the scan fails, or worse, it only recognizes titles once you launch them for the first time.

This behavior is most common when the system is reinstalled on a new SSD and the games were already on another HDD. Platforms like Steam often “recover” the library without re-downloading, but GeForce Experience often doesn't see them until something "reactivates" the installation. We'll explain why this happens and how to fix it with reliable methods, from quick tweaks to deeper repairs of services, drivers, and the registry.

Why GeForce Experience can't find your games after changing disks or reinstalling Windows

When you migrate Windows to a new SSD and leave the games on a secondary HDD, Steam, GOG, Ubisoft Connect, Epic or EA App usually detect the contents because they save manifest and libraries in their own folders. However, Windows loses the “Apps & Features” entries and the installation logs of each game that was on the old SSD, so other programs that depend in part on those keys do not “see” the titles as installed.

GeForce Experience Identify games in several ways: track known installation paths and executables, reads the manifest of some clients, and in some cases, relies on system flags (such as registry entries and uninstallers). If these flags don't exist on your newly installed Windows, GeForce may only "pin" the game to its database when you launch it for the first time, because starting it regenerates files, keys, or associations. Hence, many users see it appear after opening the game.…but not before.

One notable detail is that some Epic, GOG, or EA titles do appear even if you haven't run them after reinstalling. These platforms store more self-sufficient metadata in their own directories, so GeForce Experience can detect them by scanning them directly, without relying on the Windows Registry.

Also, if “Apps & Features” doesn’t list your games, It is very likely that the uninstall keys are missing and other typical installation identifiers. Steam's working status doesn't guarantee that these keys exist, because Steam relies on its appmanifest, not necessarily the system registry. This explains why GeForce Experience appears “blind” until you open the game and some data is rebuilt.

 

quick diagnosis

A common case: you open GeForce Experience and no games or drivers appear. When reinstalling the app it works once, but after restarting the PC, the problem returns. These cases often include symptoms such as: you can't add scan locations, the "Scan" button displays "scan failed," "Retry" in the drivers tab stays on "checking for updates," and the overlay (Alt+Z) doesn't respond. Even if you run as administrator, everything remains the same.

The message may also appear in English “That didn't work. Try restarting GeForce Experience.”. If reinstalling GeForce Experience improves the situation but restarting it again fails, there is usually an NVIDIA service that won't start, a misconfigured telemetry component, corrupted caches that regenerate poorly, or an antivirus/firewall that blocks connections necessary to detect games and drivers.

Before going into detail, it's a good idea to check the connectivity: a problematic network layerA proxy/VPN or firewall rules may prevent GeForce Experience from querying its database to recognize compatible titles and download drivers. While it doesn't display an explicit connection error, the typical symptom is "infinite search" or a scan that never progresses.

Finally, a game scan failure is often accompanied by an empty or uneditable path list in Preferences > Games. If you try to add folders (e.g., Steam\steamapps\common) the program does not save them, we are facing permissions, services or caches that are preventing the GeForce Experience local database from being updated.

Essential step-by-step solutions to get GeForce Experience detecting your games again

Start with these solutions in order of least to most impactful. They work whether the scan fails or if no games or drivers appear.

1. 1Completely restart NVIDIA processes. Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), go to the Processes tab, and end everything related to NVIDIA: GeForce Experience, NVIDIA Container, NVIDIA Share/ShadowPlay, User Experience, etc. Restart your PC and try the app again.
2. Reinstall graphics drivers with a clean install. Go to Device Manager > Display Adapters, right-click on your NVIDIA GPU, and uninstall the device (check Remove Driver Software if it appears). Then, download the latest driver for your model and system from the official website, run the installer, choose "Custom," and check "Perform a clean install." Reboot and try GeForce Experience.
3. Check and adjust NVIDIA Telemetry/Containers. Press Windows + R, type services.msc and confirm. Note critical processes such as lsass.exeLocate “NVIDIA Telemetry Container” and open its properties. Under “Log On,” select “Local System Account” and apply. Under “General,” set Startup Type to “Automatic,” stop and restart the service. Also, check “NVIDIA LocalSystem Container” and “NVIDIA NetworkService Container” and make sure they are set to Automatic and running.
4. Temporarily disable antivirus and DefenderSome engines intercept traffic or block write paths. In Windows, go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Manage settings and disable Real-time Protection to test. If GeForce Experience works, add permanent exclusions or whitelists for NVIDIA executables.
5. Reinstall GeForce ExperiencePress Windows + R, type appwiz.cpl, and uninstall “NVIDIA GeForce Experience.” Download the latest version from nvidia.com, install it, and open it. If it crashes again after a restart, go back to step 3 (services), as they typically aren't restored to the correct state.

Massively regenerate game information without opening one by one

If you've reinstalled Windows and have hundreds of games on another drive, you'll want to avoid launching them one by one. There are several strategies to “reconstruct” footprints that GeForce Experience can take advantage of.

1. Check that the library paths are set correctly in each launcher, especially in the Steam settingsIn Settings > Downloads > Steam Library Folders, make sure the HDD with the games is added as a library folder. Sometimes the path appears, but it's not marked as "default" in the background; change it and then revert it. This forces Steam to check its appmanifest and can help GeForce detect them.
2. Use GeForce Scan to target the correct folders. In GeForce Experience > Preferences > Games, manually add the paths to the executables, for example: “X:\Steam\steamapps\common”, “X:\GOG Games”, “X:\Ubisoft\games”, “X:\Epic Games”. Then, click Scan. If the paths don’t save or the scan fails, return to the Services and Antivirus sections.
3. Clear GeForce Experience caches. With the app closed, delete the contents of:
   • – C:\Users\YOUR_USER\AppData\Local\NVIDIA Corporation\NVIDIA GeForce Experience\
   • – C:\ProgramData\NVIDIA Corporation\GeForce Experience\.
4. Fix missing entries in “Apps & Features”Windows displays this list by reading registry keys under Uninstall. After reinstalling, these keys no longer exist. They aren't required for GeForce to detect games, but they help. Practical ways to "recreate" them without opening all the games:
   • on Steam, initiates a file check for multiple games sequentially. Even if you don't launch them, the check may rewrite installers and metadata.
   • In other launchers (GOG, Ubisoft, Epic, EA), use the Locate Installed Games option or bulk "Verify/Repair." Many clients reinject their own manifests and access points.
5. Permissions and inheritance in folders. Check that your library paths don't have restrictive permissions after reinstalling. In Explorer, right-click the folder (for example, "steamapps"), select Properties > Security, and make sure your user and SYSTEM have read/write access. Without the appropriate permissions, GeForce won't be able to create entries in its local database during the scan.

When GeForce Experience doesn't detect a connection or keeps getting stuck "checking for updates"

If when you go to the drivers tab you only see “looking for updates” indefinitely or the message “That didn't work. Try restarting GeForce Experience.”, the cause is usually connectivity. Check your connection first In general, temporarily disable VPN/Proxy and check the system date/time (TLS certificates may fail if the time is wrong).

Enable GeForce Experience in Firewall (and third-party firewalls). Make sure that NVIDIA executables (GeForce Experience, containers, and update modules) are authorized for both private and public networks. If you're still having trouble, temporarily disable Windows Firewall to test, and if that works, create firewall rules. allow permanent instead of leaving it disabled.

Also check that NVIDIA scheduled tasks exist and are running. The Task Scheduler manages certain update checks; if they were removed upon reinstallation, reinstall GeForce Experience to restore them and then confirm that the mentioned services (Telemetry, LocalSystem, NetworkService) they boot with Windows.

Finally, if reinstallation fixes the problem until the next reboot, resident software (antivirus, optimizer, security suite) typically reverts changes or locks cache folders. Try a clean boot (msconfig > Selective Startup), restart, and open GeForce Experience. If that works, enable third-party services one by one until you find the cause, and add exclusions.

GeForce Experience Quick FAQ

• How do I activate GeForce Experience? Download and install the app from the NVIDIA website, open it, and log in with your account (or create one). After logging in, follow the on-screen prompts and adjust your preferences to enable game optimization and, if desired, the in-game overlay.
• I don't see GeForce Experience or the NVIDIA Control Panel by right-clicking on the desktop. In some environments, NVIDIA distributes components through the Microsoft Store; if they don't appear, download them from the store or reinstall the official package to restore the integrations.
• How do I enable the in-game overlay? In the app, go to Settings and, in the Overlay section, turn on the toggle. You can customize keyboard shortcuts, recording locations, and other options to make ShadowPlay work the way you like.

The goal is to get your GeForce Experience working again to recover automatic optimization, filters and updatesIf you follow the steps for services, drivers, permissions, caches, and connectivity, you should be able to recover library scanning without opening each game. If keys or manifests are missing, use the "verify" or "locate installed" options in each launcher to speed up the rebuild.