Graphics Driver Crashed Valorant? Here’s How to Fix It

Valorant is a competitive first-person shooter game that launched in June of 2020. Since then, it has been able to amass a huge number of players ranging from professional players from CS: GO to players new in the FPS genre.

However, there might be some problems you can face while playing the game. And one of the problems we can look at is when your graphics driver crashes while playing Valorant.

If you, too, are someone whose graphics driver crashed in Valorant, you can continue reading to find the best solutions to tackle your issue.

Fixing Graphics Driver Crash in Valorant

There are different methods you can use to fix the problem you are facing. But before moving on to the fixes, it is best to make sure that the game is using the right GPU (If your PC/laptop has multiple GPUs).

Additionally, you can also try to restart your PC to omit the possibility of a startup bug. If everything looks normal, you can move on to the fixes listed below.

Update Graphics Driver

If you have not updated your graphics card driver in a while, chances are there is a new update that is better suited to run the game. You can use the graphics card’s companion app such as Nvidia’s GeForce Experience app to update your graphics drivers.

1. Open Search, type in Geforce Experience and hit Enter.
2. Go to the Drivers tab.
3. Hit the Check for updates button.
   
4. Wait until the app finds and downloads the new update.
5. Hit the Express Installation button.
6. Restart the PC if prompted when the process is complete.
7. Run Valorant to check if the problem persists.

Likewise, you can also use the Device Manager to update your graphics card drivers.

1. Right-click on the Start menu and select Device Manager.
2. Expand the Display adapters option.
3. Select the Graphics card you wish to update and right-click on it.
   
4. Select Update Drivers.
5. In the new window that pops up, click on Search Automatically for Drivers.
6. Follow the prompt and wait until the process is fully complete.

Rollback Graphics Driver Update

If you updated your graphics driver and then the game stopped working, it means that the new update was not fully supported by the game. Hence, you can uninstall the new update by rolling back the graphics driver.

1. Press the Windows + R keys on your keyboard to open the Run Dialog.
2. Type in devmgmt.msc and hit Enter.
3. Find and expand Display Adapters.
4. Right-click on the GPU you wish to roll back.
5. Go to Properties.
6. Move to the Driver tab.
   
7. Hit the Roll Back Driver button.
8. Click Yes on the next popup that shows up.
9. Restart your PC once the process is complete.

Update DirectX

Oftentimes, an outdated DirectX software can cause the problem to arise. If that is the case, your best bet is to update your DirectX using use the steps below.

1. Open the Run dialog by pressing the Windows + R keys.
2. Type in dxdiag and hit Enter.
3. Under the System tab, find the DirectX version.
   
4. If the version is up to date (DirectX 12 as of June 2022), ignore this method, if it is not, then Open Search, type in Windows Update Settings, and hit Enter.
5. Press the Check for Updates button.
6. Hit the Download and Install button if prompted after Windows finds new updates.
7. Restart your Device if prompted after the process is complete.

Reset Your Graphics Card

You can also uninstall your graphics card and reinstall it so that any bugs that were present will go away. You can use the Device Manager to reset your graphics card.

1. Open the Device Manager.
2. Expand the Display adapters section.
3. Right-click on your GPU and select Uninstall device.
   
4. Confirm on the warning Window.
5. Restart your PC. Once restarted, your PC will automatically search and install the needed drivers. 

Use Windowed Mode In Valorant

Playing Valorant fullscreen can be heavy on your GPU, especially if it’s of low end. So to avoid it, you can simply change the game from fullscreen mode to the Windowed mode. Press Alt + Enter on your keyboard to disable fullscreen.

Turn off VSync

If you have the V-sync on for Valorant, it may not just drop your FPS, but can also make your game quite lackey. To turn it off, follow these steps: 

1. Launch the game.
2. Go to the cog wheel and select Settings.
3. Steer towards the Video tab.
4. Now, go to the Graphics Quality tab.
   
5. Find and disable V-sync by selecting the off button.

Turn off Background Apps

If there are graphics-heavy apps running in the background such as Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, or Lightroom, you might get the error saying your graphics driver crashed. So, it is best to close all the background apps.

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your keyboard to open Task Manager.
2. Select the app you wish to close.
   
3. Hit the End Task button located at the bottom right.
4. Repeat the process for other apps you wish to close.
5. Check if the problem persists.

Disable Overclocking

If you are overclocking your GPU or your processor, there is a good chance that your graphics card driver is crashing because of it. You can try to disable the overclocking and restore it to default. Once you do that, restart your PC and try running the game.

Reinstall Valorant

If none of the solutions worked, your last shot is to reinstall the game. 

1. Open your Control Panel.
2. Go to Programs. 
3. Open Programs and Features.
4. Find and select Vanguard from the list and hit the Uninstall button located at the top.
   
5. Wait for the uninstall process to finish and restart your PC.
6. Go to Valorant’s official website and download the setup file.
   
7. Run the downloaded file.
8. Wait until the process is complete and restart your PC.
9. Run the game to see if the error persists.

If you still see the problem, there might be something wrong with your GPU, you may want to run a separate diagnosis for the graphics card or take it to a professional for further assessment.

Conclusion

Hopefully, one of the solutions worked for you and you can now play Valorant without any issues. If you have any queries, please feel free to post them on the comments.