I can't find overlay function after updating iMovie to 10.1.15 last week

Hey there norris68hk,

It sounds like the overlay feature is missing in iMovie on your Mac after an update. We'll be happy to help.

To reveal those controls, click the Video Overlay Settings button. This looks like two rectangles off-set of one another.

For a visualization of this, check out step two here: iMovie for Mac: Create a picture-in-picture effect

We hope this helps. Cheers!

All else failing, here are some general diagnostic procedures that you can go through:

Updating

iMovie

To update/redownload iMovie 10, drag your iMovie 10 app from the Applications folder into the trash, but do not empty the

trash. Sign in to the app store and open your purchases folder by clicking on your name at the bottom of the app store side bar. (NOTE: For El Capitan and older, click on the Purchases tab at the top of the app store screen and then sign in. Click on Purchases again to reveal your purchases.)  You will see your purchases displayed, including iMovie 10. Redownload/update iMovie from there. If not successful, drag your present iMovie app out of the trash and return it to the Applications folder.

New

Project

Another thing you can try is to copy your media into a newly created project and see if that cures the problem. To do

that, do an Edit/Select All, Edit/Copy, of the media in your project and then Edit/Paste it into the newly created project.

Safe

Mode

You could also try booting up in Safe Mode (see Finder menu for instructions) and, after everything loads, immediately shut down and reboot in normal mode. Then see if iMovie works properly.

Open iMovie in New User Account

You can try opening iMovie in a new user account that you can create in System Preferences/Users and Groups.

Resetting

the System Management Controller

Try resetting the System Managemen Controller. It is easy to do -- basically restarting while holding down certain keys.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

Resetting the NVRAM or PRAM

Try resetting the NVRAM or PRAM, although this issue would be fairly rare. Requires a restart while holding down certain keys.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

-- Rich

Got it. In your initial post you didn’t describe what procedure you followed, so I wanted to cover that base.

The recent update has triggered a plethora of issues. Hopefully Apple will address them.

Meanwhile, you might try redownloading iMovie, deleting preferences, and resetting the System Management Controller. One or more of those procedures has occasionally helped cure a glitch.

— Rich

The overlay icon only appears when you have placed a clip in the upper timeline above another clip and then selected the upper clip.

-- Rich