Repository navigation
Clean Launch
Clean Launch helps identify background applications and overlays that may interfere with a game, affect performance, or complicate troubleshooting.
The goal is not to suggest that every detected background application is a problem. Instead, Clean Launch gives you a quick view of software that is commonly worth checking when a game is stuttering, crashing, behaving unexpectedly, or being benchmarked.
When you use Clean Launch, GameAtlas inspects currently running processes and looks for software that may interact with games.
This can include:
- Game overlays
- Recording and capture software
- Performance monitoring tools
- Communication applications
- Launcher-related background processes
- RGB and peripheral software
- Hardware monitoring utilities
- Other applications that inject overlays or hooks into games
Detected applications are surfaced so you can decide whether temporarily closing them is useful for troubleshooting.
Many gaming utilities work by interacting directly with the game process.
Depending on the application, this may involve:
- Injecting an overlay
- Hooking rendering APIs
- Monitoring frame presentation
- Capturing video
- Reading hardware telemetry
- Adding controller support
- Modifying input behavior
Most of the time these tools work correctly, but they can occasionally contribute to issues such as:
- Stuttering
- Crashes
- Poor frame pacing
- Input problems
- Overlay conflicts
- HDR issues
- Capture problems
- Unexpected performance loss
Clean Launch helps narrow down those possibilities.
GameAtlas may identify applications in categories such as the following.
Examples include software that adds an in-game overlay for:
- Notifications
- Friends lists
- Performance information
- Screenshots
- Recording
- Chat
Multiple active overlays can sometimes conflict with one another.
Communication software can include applications such as Discord.
Features such as:
- In-game overlays
- Screen sharing
- Hardware acceleration
- Streaming
may interact with a running game.
Clean Launch can surface these applications so you can temporarily disable or close them during troubleshooting.
Game recording and capture tools may use:
- GPU encoding
- Rendering hooks
- Frame capture
- Audio capture
- Overlay injection
These can occasionally affect performance or compatibility.
Monitoring applications can provide useful information such as:
- FPS
- GPU usage
- CPU usage
- Temperatures
- Frame times
However, some monitoring tools also hook into the game process and may conflict with other software.
Graphics driver software can include built-in overlay and recording functionality.
Examples may include features provided by:
- NVIDIA software
- AMD software
- Intel graphics utilities
GameAtlas can detect relevant running components where supported.
Game launchers often remain active after a game starts.
Examples include:
- Steam
- Epic Games Launcher
- EA App
- Ubisoft Connect
- GOG Galaxy
These processes are normally expected and should not automatically be considered problematic.
Clean Launch may still surface related components when they include overlays or other game-interaction features.
A Clean Launch warning should be treated as a troubleshooting suggestion, not a diagnosis.
For example, if GameAtlas detects Discord, that does not mean Discord is causing the problem.
It means Discord is running and may include features that interact with the game.
A useful troubleshooting test is to temporarily close or disable the detected software and see whether the problem changes.
If a game is having performance or stability problems:
- Close the game.
- Open the game's Clean Launch section in GameAtlas.
- Review the detected background applications.
- Close or disable nonessential overlays and monitoring tools.
- Launch the game again.
- Test whether the problem still occurs.
- Re-enable applications one at a time if the problem disappears.
This process can help identify conflicts without permanently changing your system configuration.
Overlays are one of the most common categories to investigate.
A system may have several overlays active at the same time, such as:
Steam Overlay
Discord Overlay
NVIDIA Overlay
Xbox Game Bar
Performance overlay
Recording overlay