Unreal Engine GPU Crashed or D3D Device Removed

How to fix it

Try these in order — the most common fix is first.

1. 1. Check the reason code

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   1. Open the newest log in Saved/Logs and read the reason after the device-removed line
   2. DEVICE_HUNG or DEVICE_REMOVED points to your project; DEVICE_RESET often means another app crashed the GPU
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Update or roll back the GPU driver

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   1. Install a clean driver using DDU or the vendor installer's clean option
   2. If the crashes started after an update, roll back to the previous Studio driver
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Lower GPU load

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   1. Disable hardware ray tracing in Project Settings > Rendering
   2. Some users report r.RayTracing.Geometry.NiagaraSprites=0 and r.RayTracing.Geometry.NiagaraMeshes=0 in DefaultEngine.ini helps
   3. Lower Engine Scalability to High or Medium
   Did this fix it? Yes No

4. 4. Try another RHI

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   1. Project Settings > Platforms > Windows > Default RHI: switch DirectX 12 to DirectX 11 (or the reverse) and restart
   2. Note that Lumen hardware features and some Nanite paths need DX12
   Did this fix it? Yes No

5. 5. Last resort: Windows TDR

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   1. Only if load cannot be reduced, raise the TDR delay in the registry (HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers, TdrDelay)
   2. Back up the registry first
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

The editor or game dies with 'GPU Crashed or D3D Device Removed' or 'DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED', often after minutes in the viewport, during heavy scenes or on startup.

Why it happens

• Driver bug or a driver update that broke compatibility
• GPU overloaded (ray tracing, heavy Niagara, high-res shadows)
• DX12 RHI instability on some cards
• Overclock or unstable GPU power
• Another application crashing the GPU (reason DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_RESET)

This guide also covers

• gpu crashed or d3d device removed unreal
• DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED unreal engine 5
• unreal engine d3d device lost

The same problem in other apps

All missing or lost data guides →

• Blender GPU Not Detected / Not Showing in Preferences (Blender)

Other Unreal Engine errors

• Unreal Engine Fatal Error Crash
• Unreal Engine Shaders Compiling Forever (Stuck at 45%)
• Unreal Engine Out of Video Memory Error
• Unreal Engine Project Won't Open After Upgrade
• Epic Games Launcher Stuck Installing Unreal Engine
• Unreal Engine Packaging Failed (Unknown Cook Failure)
• Unreal Engine Visual Studio C++ Build Errors
• Unreal Engine 5 Lumen and Nanite Low FPS