Baldur's Gate 3 Crashing Fix: Startup, Loading and Mod Crashes

Baldur’s Gate 3 crashes on PC usually come from one of four things: an out-of-date mod or Script Extender after a game update, a renderer that’s unstable on your GPU (Vulkan or DirectX 11), a corrupt file in the game’s LevelCache folder, or an overlay hooking the game. Larian’s own fix order is to close background programs, verify the game files, switch between DirectX 11 and Vulkan, update drivers and Windows, and remove mods. Match your crash in the table below and start with that fix.

Match your crash to the fix

When it crashes	Most likely cause	Fix first
On startup, before the main menu	Renderer, overlay or a missing Visual C++ runtime	Switch renderer, then Visual C++
The Larian Launcher itself won’t open	Launcher problem, not the game	Skip the launcher
At the main menu or on loading a save, with mods installed	Mod or Script Extender out of date after a patch	Test without mods
On loading screens after it worked before	Corrupt cached level data	Clear LevelCache
Randomly mid-combat or in busy areas	Renderer, overlay, GPU driver or overclock	Switch renderer, then driver and overclocks
With a DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG or “device removed” error	GPU timeout under load	Driver and overclocks

Before any fix, verify the game files: in Steam, right-click Baldur’s Gate 3 → Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity of game files. On GOG Galaxy, use Manage installation → Verify / Repair. A damaged game file causes crashes no setting can fix.

Fix 1 — Switch between DirectX 11 and Vulkan

Switching the renderer is the single most useful Baldur’s Gate 3 crash fix, because the game ships two complete rendering paths and a driver bug usually breaks only one of them. Larian’s own support advice is to try the other API and see if the game starts or stops crashing.

1. Launch Baldur’s Gate 3 so the Larian Launcher opens.
2. Click the settings (gear) icon next to Play.
3. Pick DirectX 11 if you’re on Vulkan, or Vulkan if you’re on DirectX 11.
4. Play the section that was crashing.

Renderer	Executable	Try it when
Vulkan	bin\bg3.exe	DirectX 11 crashes or runs poorly on your GPU
DirectX 11	bin\bg3_dx11.exe	Vulkan crashes on startup or mid-game

Neither is universally more stable — keep whichever one survives on your PC. If you stay on Vulkan, make sure your GPU driver is current, since the Vulkan runtime ships with it (Larian also points to updating the Vulkan runtime).

Fix 2 — Skip the Larian Launcher

If the launcher crashes or hangs but the game itself is fine, start the game executable directly. Larian’s own startup-crash steps include closing Steam (or GOG Galaxy) and running the game straight from its bin folder.

1. In Steam, right-click Baldur’s Gate 3 → Manage → Browse local files.
2. Open the bin folder.
3. Run bg3_dx11.exe for DirectX 11 or bg3.exe for Vulkan.

Running the executable directly also tells you whether the problem is the launcher or the game: if the game opens and plays this way, the launcher was the crash.

Fix 3 — Disable mods and the Script Extender

Out-of-date mods are the most common cause of Baldur’s Gate 3 crashing right after a game update. Patches change the game data and code that mods and Norbyte’s Script Extender depend on, so a mod that worked yesterday can crash the game at the main menu, on loading a save, or the moment a scripted event fires. Larian’s support steps also say to remove mods, especially UI mods.

To test cleanly:

1. Disable every mod in the in-game Mod Manager (or in BG3 Mod Manager if you use it).
2. Move the .pak files out of %LocalAppData%\Larian Studios\Baldur's Gate 3\Mods into a backup folder.
3. Remove the Script Extender by moving DWrite.dll out of the game’s bin folder.
4. Launch the game. If it now runs, a mod was the cause.
5. Update the Script Extender and each mod to the version made for the current game patch, then re-enable them one at a time to find the one that crashes.

A modded save may refuse to load without its mods, so test with a new game or an unmodded save. Keep a copy of your load order before you start — game updates can rewrite modsettings.lsx in PlayerProfiles\Public.

Fix 4 — Clear LevelCache and reset the config folder

A corrupt file in Baldur’s Gate 3’s LevelCache folder can make the game crash on startup or on loading screens, and clearing it is safe. Larian recommends this for installs that worked before and started crashing.

1. Close the game and the launcher.
2. Press Win + R, enter %LocalAppData%\Larian Studios\Baldur's Gate 3 and press Enter.
3. Open LevelCache and delete its contents. The game rebuilds it.

If that doesn’t help, Larian’s next step is to rename the whole Baldur's Gate 3 folder (for example to Baldur's Gate 3.old) so the game recreates it with default settings. That folder also holds your local saves in PlayerProfiles\Public\Savegames, so copy that folder back into the new one afterwards — renaming instead of deleting means nothing is lost.

Fix 5 — Repair Visual C++ and update Windows

Baldur’s Gate 3 needs the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 runtime, and a damaged copy crashes the game at startup with no useful message. Larian lists installing or repairing it among its startup-crash fixes.

1. Download the latest Visual C++ Redistributable (x64) from Microsoft.
2. Run it and choose Repair (or Install if it’s missing), then restart.
3. Run Windows Update and install pending updates.

While you’re in Windows, Larian also suggests trying compatibility settings and turning off fullscreen optimizations on the game executable — right-click bg3.exe or bg3_dx11.exe → Properties → Compatibility. Our guide on whether to disable fullscreen optimizations explains what that toggle actually does.

Fix 6 — Update or clean-install the GPU driver and drop overclocks

Random Baldur’s Gate 3 crashes mid-combat, or crashes with a “device hung” or “device removed” error, point to the GPU driver or an unstable GPU tune. Busy scenes push the GPU hardest, which is exactly where a marginal overclock or undervolt fails.

1. Install the latest driver from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel. If crashes started after a driver update, do a clean install with DDU.
2. Reset any GPU overclock or undervolt to stock in MSI Afterburner or AMD Software and test again.
3. On Intel 13th or 14th Gen CPUs, update the motherboard BIOS — Intel’s microcode fixes for those chips’ instability ship through BIOS updates.

For the error-code details, see DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG, DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED and the 0xc0000005 access violation guides.

Fix 7 — Close overlays and background tools

Overlays and monitoring tools hook into Baldur’s Gate 3’s renderer, and Larian names them as a known cause of crashes. Larian’s list includes anti-virus, firewalls, overlays from graphics-tweaking or monitoring programs, and chat programs. It also calls out two specific culprits: the ASUS Sonic Studio Virtual Mixer and Process Lasso.

• Turn off the Steam, Discord, NVIDIA App and Xbox Game Bar overlays.
• Close RivaTuner/MSI Afterburner, RGB and fan-control software while testing.
• Disable or uninstall ASUS Sonic Studio Virtual Mixer if you have it, and quit Process Lasso.

If the game is stable with everything closed, a clean boot (msconfig → Services → hide Microsoft services → Disable all) is Larian’s last step to find which program was responsible.

If Baldur’s Gate 3 still crashes

Larian’s support team asks for a DxDiag report and the game’s crash dumps when you contact them, so collect both before writing in. If the game runs but Act 3 drops frames or hitches rather than crashing, that’s a performance problem, not a crash — see the Baldur’s Gate 3 stuttering fix and the best Baldur’s Gate 3 settings for FPS.

Related guides

• Baldur’s Gate 3 stuttering fix (Act 3 lag spikes)
• Best Baldur’s Gate 3 settings for FPS
• DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG fix
• Out of video memory error fix
• How to clean install GPU drivers with DDU