How to Reset Graphics Driver: 7 Easy Methods (2024)

You may experience issues like visual artifacts, screen flickers, or a frozen screen If your graphics card drivers are corrupted on your Windows PC or not functioning properly. However, it is possible to resolve these issues by resetting the graphics card drivers on your computer.

Type of Issues that you will Face When Your Graphics Cards Drivers Malfunctions

Here are some issues you might face:

Computer Freezing: Graphics cards’ main purpose is to render graphics. Without a graphics card, your computer won’t even boot up. Your computer will struggle to render visual graphics and function properly if the graphics card drivers are corrupt.

It may cause your PC to freeze or perform poorly with tasks that require graphic rendering, such as playing a game or watching a video.

Loud Noise: A malfunctioning graphics card draws more power, generating a lot of heat. Your computer fans will also dissipate heat by running at their maximum speed, which will make your PC sound uncomfortably loud.

So, when you find that your PC fans are running at their maximum speed, it could be because of your corrupted graphics card drivers, or maybe there’s dust around it.

Artifacting: Visual artifacts are another sign of corrupted drivers. Sometimes you will experience strange visual artifacts if your GPU drivers are corrupted. It happens because your GPU cannot render graphics. Resetting the graphics card drivers will remove the visual artifacts and allow the GPU to render the graphics properly.

App Crashes: You will often face app crash issues when you try to launch a game or play a video on your browser. The reason for this is that the graphics card is not performing properly and is unable to render the graphics of the game or the codec of the video.

Why and When Should You Reset Your Graphic Card Drivers?

There are various reasons why you should consider resetting your graphics card drivers.

• Upgrading to a New Graphics Card: If you’re upgrading to the latest model of graphics card or switching to a different manufacturer, your previous graphics card’s drivers should be reset and you should install the latest graphics drivers. Installing the latest graphics drivers ensures your graphics card communicates and performs optimally.
• Clear Cache and Faulty GPU Settings: Resetting GPU drivers also remove the previous drivers’ cache files and any faulty settings you might have accidentally configured. However, resetting the GPU drivers undoes everything.
• Troubleshooting GPU Issues: The GPU drivers may become corrupted if they haven’t been updated in a while for a variety of reasons. Resetting the drivers resolves any issues that are preventing your GPU from running properly because of faulty GPU drivers.
• GPU Performing Abnormally Poorly: When you notice that your GPU is suddenly performing poorly, reset the graphics card drivers. This can happen with GPUs whose drivers haven’t been updated in a long time.
• Corrupted Drivers from Automatic Windows Updates: Windows’ updates automatically reinstall drivers for your internal components. If it installed buggy drivers for the GPU or another internal component, your GPU may suffer from not performing properly. You can improve the performance of your GPU by resetting the GPU drivers.
• To Improve the Performance: Resetting the graphics card drivers helps the graphics card perform better. Manufacturers of graphics cards release new driver updates to enhance GPU performance and fix bugs. Additionally, it also helps clear cache and junk files, improves performance, and removes bugs if there are any. This is why you should often reset your graphics card drivers.

How to Reset Graphics Card Drivers

Here are the best methods to reset graphics card drivers:

Method 1: Update Graphics Card Drivers

Step 1) Press the “Windows” key on the keyboard and then search for “Device Manager.”

Step 2) Expand “Display adapters” and right-click on your graphics card, then select “Properties”.

Step 3) Open the “Drivers” tab and then select “Update driver.”

Step 4) Click on “Search automatically for updated driver software” and allow a few seconds for new drivers to be located.

Step 5) After Windows detects new drivers that are available for your GPU, install the drivers by clicking on “Next.”

Step 6) After installing the latest drivers for your GPU, restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

Method 2: Use Display Driver Uninstaller

Step 1) Using this website, download Display Driver Uninstaller.

Step 2) Click the ZIP folder with the right mouse button, then choose “Extract All.”

Step 3) Now, open the extracted folder. You will see an application icon. Open it, and then again select the location where you want to extract the files for Display Driver Uninstaller. Select the default location.

Step 4) Boot your PC into “safe mode”. Press and hold down on the “Shift” button, and then click on “Restart.”

Step 5) In the next screen, Under the “Advanced Options” window, click on “Troubleshoot,” followed by “Advanced” options, and finally select “Startup settings.”

Step 6) Under “Startup Settings,” click on “Restart” and allow your computer to restart.

Step 7) Now press the number that corresponds with booting up your computer in “Safe Mode.”

Step 8) Your computer will restart again in “safe mode.” Log in to your user account by entering your password.

Step 9) Open the location where you extracted the Display Driver Uninstaller and run it.

Step 10) In the right-side drop-down menu, select “GPU” and then select the GPU manufacturer.

Step 11) Once done, click on “Clean and restart.”

Step 12) Allow a few seconds for Display Driver Uninstaller to uninstall the drivers and restart your computer normally.

Step 13) Once the drivers have been uninstalled, install ne wthe drivers. Go to the manufacturer’s website and then open the driver download page.

Step 14) Select the driver model, series, and model, and then search for the drivers.

Step 15) Download the GPU drivers launcher and double-click it to run it. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the graphics drivers manually on your computer.

Method 3: Reset your Graphics Driver Using the Keyboard Shortcut

When your PC is freezing or stuttering, reset your graphics card by pressing the keyboard shortcut keys "Win+Ctrl+Shift+B."

During the reset, you will see a black screen for a moment, then the screen will reappear.

Method 4: Reset the Graphics Card Driver Using PowerShell

Here’s how to reset graphics drivers using PowerShell:

Step 1) Press the “Start” button and then search for “PowerShell.”

Step 2) Click on “Run as administrator.”

Step 3) Enter the command pnputil /enum-devices /class Display and press the “Enter” key to find the display adapters’ details.

Step 4) You will see your display adapters’ details. Copy the instance ID of the display adapters and use this command pnputil /restart-device (Instance ID) For example, “pnputil /restart-device ACPI\PRL4005\0”

Method 5: Reset the Graphics Card Driver Using Task Manager

Step 1) Press the CTRL+ALT+DEL keys on your keyboard simultaneously.

Step 2) In the “Processes” section, locate your graphics card and select it.

Step 3) Right-click on the graphics card and then select “End task.”

Step 4) If there is more than one process, select all of them and click on “End task.”

Method 6: Use the Graphic Card Settings Window to Reset the Drivers

Nvidia Graphics Card:

Step 1) Right-click on the taskbar or the desktop and click on the “NVIDIA Control Panel.”

1. Click on “Manage 3D Settings.
2. Select Golbal settings.
3. On the right-side window, click on “Restore” under the “Global Settings” preferences tab.

Step 2) Restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

Intel Graphics Card:

Step 1) Open Intel’s control panel by right-clicking on your desktop and selecting “Graphics Settings.”

Step 2) Select “3D” and open that window.

Step 3) Now, click on “Restore Defaults.”

Step 4) After you are done, restart your computer.

AMD Graphics Card

Step 1) Open AMD’s control panel by right-clicking on your desktop and selecting “AMD Radeon Settings.”

Step 2) In the top right corner, click the cog icon.

Step 3) Under the “System” tab, click on “Perform Reset.”

Step 4) Now restart your PC.

Method 7: Using the Device Manager to reset Graphics Driver

Here are the steps to reset the graphics card drivers using the device manager:

Step 1) Press Win+R and then type “devmgmt.msc.”

Step 2) Right-click on your graphics card drivers and select “Disable device,” and then click on “Yes.”

Step 3) Now, again, right-click on the drivers and select “Enable.”

What to Do if Resetting the Graphics Card Drivers Didn’t Help?

If resetting graphics didn’t work, try these tricks:

• Clean the Dust off the Graphics Card and the PC: Dust is an enemy of electronics, and if you don’t clean your PC and the internal components occasionally, dust is going to penetrate and cause performance issues. As dust buildups occur, the PC will start drawing more power, become hotter, and eventually ruin its components.
• Connect the Cables Properly: Another reason you could find your GPU is not performing optimally or creating artifacts is because of a loose connection.

You may have given your computer little pushes here and there over time, which has caused the cable connecting the GPU to the motherboard to become loose. So, turn off your computer and then connect both ends properly.

• Update Windows: Microsoft constantly pushes security and bug-fix updates to keep your PC running efficiently. Therefore, if resetting the graphics card drivers did not help, we recommend you update Windows with the most recent patch.
• Update BIOS/UEFI: BIOS and UEFI help PC components communicate with the operating system. They can get corrupted like any other software if they haven’t been updated in a while. Update your BIOS/UEFI with the most recent available update for your motherboard. This will help the graphics card communicate properly with the computer.
• Install New Version: Try updating the graphics card drivers to the previous version if the GPU is experiencing problems after updating new drivers. Sometimes the newer version can be unstable, resulting in your graphics card malfunctioning. Downgrading the drivers to an older version will ensure a more stable experience.

Precautions To Take While Resetting Graphics Card

There are a few precautions that you need to take when/after resetting your graphics card. They are:

• Close All Open Apps and Files Before Resetting the Graphics Card: You need to close open apps or files because you may lose your progress and changes. So before resetting your graphics card, save your progress and close all your apps and files.
• Disable and Enable Other Drivers if They Are Frozen: When resetting the graphics card, other drivers can stop working randomly. Disable and enable them, and this should help them start working properly again.
• Pause Windows Updates: If Windows detects that you are trying to reset your GPU drivers, it will push its outdated drivers that it has stored in its database as an update. Pause the Windows updates so you can reset your graphics card and install the latest stable drivers available from the manufacturer.

Summary

• You need to manually install the graphics card drivers if you are experiencing issues with your graphics card.
• If you are facing graphics card issues, you will experience display artifacts, games, and other apps crashing, or your PC will freeze.
• We also advise you to clean the dust off your computer, check the cables, and update Windows, BIOS, and UEFI if resetting new drivers didn’t help.
• To reset the graphics card quickly, use the keyboard shortcut keys “Win+Ctrl+Shift+B.”
• If you started experiencing problems with the GPU after upgrading your drivers, in that case, downgrade to older drivers again.