Borderlands 4 Crashing Fix: Startup, Shader and In-Game Crashes

Borderlands 4 crashes on PC usually trace back to five things: an outdated GPU driver, a broken shader cache, overlays, damaged game files, or — on Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen desktops — CPU instability under load. Gearbox’s own PC troubleshooting guide (updated October 2026) covers each one; this page puts those steps in the order that fixes the most crashes fastest, and adds the VRAM limit that catches 8 GB cards. Match your crash below and start there.

Match your crash to the fix

When Borderlands 4 crashes	Most likely cause	Fix first
During “compiling shaders” or it hangs there	Stale or corrupt shader cache, old driver	Fix the shader compile
On launch, before the menu	Damaged files, antivirus, permissions	Verify files, then antivirus and admin
Randomly in combat or while loading a zone	Overlay hook, VRAM limit	Disable overlays, then lower VRAM load
Any game crashes, Intel Core i7/i9 13th or 14th Gen	CPU instability	Update BIOS microcode
Right after a patch or a settings change	Shaders rebuilding	Let it settle for 15 minutes

Before anything else, update your graphics driver from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel — Gearbox lists it as the first step for every performance or graphics problem.

Fix 1 — Let shaders compile, then clear the cache

Borderlands 4 is an Unreal Engine 5 game that builds its shaders on your PC. Gearbox estimates shader compilation takes about 10 minutes on most PCs, and the shaders rebuild every time you change a graphics setting. Gearbox also says to keep playing for at least 15 minutes after a change before judging performance.

If compilation takes far longer than that, or the game crashes on that screen:

1. Close Borderlands 4 and restart your PC, then launch again.
2. If it still fails, clear the shader cache:
   • NVIDIA: open %LOCALAPPDATA%\NVIDIA\DXCache and delete the large files (over 10 MB). This also clears cached shaders for other games.
   • AMD: open AMD Adrenalin → Gaming → Graphics, scroll to the bottom and choose Reset Shader Cache. This wipes shaders for all programs.
3. Launch the game and let compilation finish without alt-tabbing.

Full walkthrough for every GPU vendor: clear shader cache to fix stuttering.

Fix 2 — Turn off every overlay

Overlays inject into the game’s renderer, and Gearbox lists them as a cause of both crashes and performance problems. Disable them all for a test session:

• Steam overlay: Steam → Settings → In-Game → untick Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game.
• Discord in-game overlay.
• GeForce Experience / NVIDIA app overlay.
• MSI Afterburner and RivaTuner Statistics Server.

If Borderlands 4 is stable without them, bring them back one at a time to find the one that crashes it.

Fix 3 — Verify the game files

Corrupted or missing files can stop Borderlands 4 launching or crash it when a zone loads.

• Steam: right-click Borderlands 4 → Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity of game files.
• Epic Games Store: Library → the three dots next to Borderlands 4 → Manage → Verify.

If verifying doesn’t help, Gearbox’s next step is a full uninstall and reinstall — on an SSD, which the game requires.

Fix 4 — Antivirus exception and run as administrator

Security software can block Borderlands 4’s files. Add the game’s install folder as an exception in your antivirus, or pause real-time protection for one test launch (and turn it back on afterwards).

Gearbox also suggests right-clicking the game’s shortcut or .exe and choosing Run as administrator, and trying Windows 10 compatibility mode on Windows 11 if launch crashes continue.

Fix 5 — Stay under your VRAM limit

Borderlands 4’s minimum spec is a GPU with 8 GB of VRAM, and that tier targets 1080p at 30 FPS on the Low preset. The recommended tier asks for 12 GB or more for 1440p at 60 FPS on Medium. An 8 GB card pushed to High textures and lighting can run out of video memory, and in DirectX 12 games that often ends in a crash or a device removed error rather than a slowdown.

	Minimum	Recommended
Target	1080p, 30 FPS, Low preset	1440p, 60 FPS, Medium preset
CPU	Intel i7-9700 / AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	Intel i7-12700 / AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
RAM	16 GB	32 GB
GPU	RTX 2070 / RX 5700 XT / Arc A580 (8 GB)	RTX 3080 / RX 6800 XT / Arc B580 (12 GB+)
Storage	100 GB, SSD required	100 GB, SSD required

Source: Gearbox’s Borderlands 4 PC system requirements.

If you’re near the minimum, drop texture quality and lighting first, and turn on upscaling (DLSS, FSR, XeSS or TSR) under Options → Visuals → Advanced → Resolution Scaling. On Windows 10, Gearbox says upscaling also needs Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling switched on and a reboot; it’s on by default in Windows 11. The setting-by-setting costs are in best Borderlands 4 settings for FPS, and the memory side is in the out of video memory fix.

Fix 6 — Intel 13th and 14th Gen: update the BIOS

Gearbox’s guide warns that Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen processors may become unstable under load, which shows up as crashes, slowdowns, overheating or CPU spikes while gaming — or while installing the game. If you have an affected i7 or i9 desktop chip:

1. Update the motherboard BIOS to a version with Intel microcode 0x12B or newer.
2. Load the Intel Default Settings power profile instead of the board’s unlimited defaults.
3. If crashes continue on the new microcode, the CPU may already be degraded — contact Intel support, which extended the warranty on affected processors.

A quick tell: if Borderlands 4 and other Unreal Engine games crash, often with an access violation (0xc0000005) or D3D device lost error, the CPU is a stronger suspect than the game.

If Borderlands 4 still crashes

• Clean-install your GPU driver with DDU if crashes began after a driver update.
• Remove GPU, CPU and memory overclocks, including XMP/EXPO, for a test session.
• If the game hangs with a GPU hang message, see DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG fix.
• If the game runs but hitches rather than crashing, that’s a different problem: see the Borderlands 4 stuttering fix.
• Check Gearbox’s Borderlands Issue Tracker for known crash bugs on the current patch, then file a 2K support ticket with a DxDiag and MSInfo file attached.

Related guides

• Borderlands 4 Stuttering Fix
• Best Borderlands 4 Settings for FPS
• Unreal Engine D3D Device Lost Crash Fix
• Out of Video Memory Error Fix
• Cyberpunk 2077 Crashing Fix

Borderlands 4 crashes are rarely random: a fresh driver, a clean shader cache, no overlays and verified files fix most of them, and the BIOS microcode update fixes the rest on affected Intel desktops.