GeForce Experience is NVIDIA’s companion application for Windows PCs with GeForce graphics cards. It keeps the graphics driver current, sets in-game graphics options to suit the hardware, and adds an overlay for recording, streaming and capturing screenshots while a game runs. It works on Windows 10 and Windows 11 with GeForce GTX, RTX and MX series GPUs.
NVIDIA has replaced GeForce Experience with the NVIDIA app. NVIDIA states that the move of GeForce Experience features into the NVIDIA app is complete. It is switching off critical web servers that GeForce Experience depends on. Older GeForce Experience installations cannot update themselves to the NVIDIA app. Users must install it separately or add it through a current Game Ready Driver.
Game Ready driver updates
The driver side of GeForce Experience watches for new GeForce drivers and notifies the user when one is released. Users can download and install the update from inside the program with one click. They do not need to search NVIDIA’s driver pages for the right card and operating system. Game Ready Drivers are tuned together with game developers for new releases. Keeping them current through GeForce Experience is therefore mainly about getting support for recently launched games.
Optimal settings for installed games
GeForce Experience scans the PC for supported games and can apply recommended graphics settings to each one. NVIDIA tests a large range of hardware combinations in its data centers to find settings that balance frame rate and image quality. It then matches those results to the user’s GPU, CPU and display. Choosing the optimize option applies those values to the game in one step, instead of the player working through each graphics menu.
The same approach extends to some applications through optimal application settings. Support is limited to titles in NVIDIA’s list of supported games.
Recording and streaming with ShadowPlay
ShadowPlay is the capture part of GeForce Experience. It is built to record with minimal impact on game performance. Users control it through the in-game overlay, which opens with Alt+Z by default.
- Instant Replay keeps a rolling buffer of recent gameplay in the background. Pressing the save shortcut turns the last stretch of play into a video file. This lets the player keep a moment after it has already happened.
- Record starts and stops a normal manual recording in full-screen or windowed games.
- Broadcast sends a live stream to Twitch or YouTube from the overlay, with optional on-screen indicators such as viewer count and a webcam feed.
- Highlights saves clips automatically in supported games when key moments occur, without the player pressing anything.
Users must allow desktop capture outside games in the overlay’s privacy control. They can remap keyboard shortcuts for capture, recording and broadcasting in the overlay preferences.
Screenshots and Ansel photo mode
Alt+F1 takes a standard screenshot and stores it in the GeForce Experience gallery. Users can upload images from the gallery to services such as Google Photos and Imgur once they connect those accounts. In games that support NVIDIA Ansel, the photo mode goes further. The player can stop the action, move the camera freely and capture super-resolution, 360-degree, HDR or stereo images.
Freestyle game filters
Freestyle applies post-processing filters to a game while it is running. Adjustments range from simple color and saturation changes to stronger effects such as an HDR-style look. The filters work at the driver level rather than inside the game. Custom ReShade filters can also be loaded.
Performance overlay
The overlay can show a frame-rate counter in the corner of the screen during play. This gives a quick reading of how a game behaves after the optimal settings are applied or after changing options manually.
NVIDIA account and giveaways
GeForce Experience includes sign-in with an NVIDIA account. Logged-in users can take part in NVIDIA’s giveaways and rewards. The program can link external accounts such as Google, YouTube, Twitch and Imgur for sharing captures and streaming. A beta program lets users try new GeForce Experience features before general release.
Moving to the NVIDIA app
The NVIDIA app takes over the GeForce Experience functions covered above: driver updates, the optimize button for game settings, ShadowPlay recording with Instant Replay and Highlights, screenshots, photo mode and game filters. It also brings in parts of the NVIDIA Control Panel, such as GPU and in-game settings in one place. It adds a performance overlay with more statistics than the GeForce Experience frame counter. The NVIDIA app needs an NVIDIA account only for claiming rewards; the other functions work without signing in. Display options such as Surround and custom resolutions remain in the NVIDIA Control Panel.
