Game CrashesSome troubleshooting suggestions are applicable to any type of crash, while other are more specific, so they have been grouped accordingly.
Crashes on startup or during gameplayAre you shutting down all non-essential programs (especially anti-virus) before starting the game?
There is a known issue with the ASUS Sonic Studio Virtual Mixer that can cause a crash on startup; if applicable, try disabling or uninstalling the program.
Try verifying local files: in the Steam library, right click on the game and select Properties, switch to the Local Files tab and then click on the 'Verify Integrity of Game Files...' button.
With the GOG version, in the (optional) Galaxy client, select the game, then the settings icon at the top right (beside the Play button) and under Manage Installation select 'Verify / Repair'.
In the launcher, try switching between DirectX 11 and Vulkan, as applicable, to see if that makes a difference.
Try exiting out of the Steam client, or Galaxy for the GOG version, and starting the game directly from the '..\SteamApps\common\Baldurs Gate 3\bin' folder, by right clicking the executable (bg3.exe for Vulkan, or bg3_dx11.exe) and running as administrator.
Try right clicking the executable, select Properties, switch to the Compatibility tab and check off the 'Override high DPI scaling behavior' option (set it to Application), run as administrator and disable fullscreen optimization, and maybe set a Win 7 or 8 compatibility mode. In Windows 7, check off the option to 'Disable display scaling on high DPI settings', disable desktop composition and run as administrator.
Check for updated graphics drivers, and Windows updates in general.
Try updating the Vulkan Runtime. Normally this is included with graphics drivers, but manual updates have been reported to fix a couple of crashing issues. The Runtime installer can be downloaded from
this site, or the
direct download link (the latest as of Dec 14, 2022).
Mods designed for previous patches can cause crashes, as described above.
Try browsing to the 'C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\Larian Studios\Baldur's Gate 3\LevelCache' folder and delete the contents. A corrupt file there can cause problems, usually when saving or loading. The easiest way to get there would be to copy
%LocalAppData%\Larian Studios\Baldur's Gate 3\LevelCache into the location bar in Explorer and hit Enter.
If you check the Event Viewer, does that give an error code or 'Faulting Module' file name that might help identify the cause of the crash?
- click Start (or WinKey-R), then type "event viewer" into the search box. in Windows 10 or 11, 'event' should bring up 'View event logs'.
- after starting the Event Viewer, expand 'Windows Logs' in the left column and select 'Application'
- in the center column, look for a recent error for the game (maybe sort by Date and Time, or search for 'bg3')
- check the information under the 'General' tab below the list of events, starting with "Faulting application name..."
Try doing a clean boot and then test the game. Click Start, or hit WinKey-R, type in msconfig and hit enter; in the General tab, click Selective Startup, uncheck Load startup items (if required) and leave Load system services and Use original boot configuration options checked. Next, click on the Services tab, check the box to Hide all Microsoft services, then click the Disable All button (maybe make a note of which are currently enabled/disabled), then click OK and reboot the computer.
Run msconfig again to switch back to the normal boot configuration.
Crashes on startupTry right clicking and holding on the bg3_dx11.exe / bg3.exe executable, then hold Shift down, release the right mouse button and select Run as administrator, continuing to hold Shift until the splash screen comes up. Holding Shift prevents the game from taking focus when loading, and can avoid certain resolution or DirectX/Vulkan issues. Holding Shift when starting the game from the launcher may do the same thing.
If you are using a program such as Process Lasso to adjust the core affinity for games (for example to have games and system processes run on different cores), try disabling it to restore the default (all cores).
One person reported a conflict with Process Lasso's 'core engine' being on, even with the settings for the game restored to default.
If the game gives a VC related dll error when starting from the executable, try installing the 2019 Visual C++ redistributable (64bit), or the latest 2022 release. In the Control Panel, Programs and Features, try right clicking the MS VC++ 2015-2019/2022 redistributable entries (32 bit and 64) and select Uninstall and then Repair. If that does not help, repeat the process but continue with the uninstall, reboot and then try installing from the redistributable installer.
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Steamworks Shared\_CommonRedist\
C:\Program Files (x86)\GalaxyClient\Dependencies\__redist
or
https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloadsCrashes during gameplayIs there any pattern to when the crashes happen (in combat, when interacting with items or starting dialogues, etc)?
If time is the only pattern, does it matter what you are doing in-game, or if you just leave it sitting at the main menu or options? (if it crashes frequently enough for that to be feasible to test) After loading a save does leaving the character idle still result in a crash, or does there need to be some kind of input, or character/camera movement/interaction?
For a crash in character creation, can you get through if you just accept the defaults?
What about creating a new profile first and then trying to start a new game?
Try lowering the graphics settings and resolution, and switch to Windowed or Fake Fullscreen display mode, to see if that will make a difference. If the monitor refresh rate is higher than 60, try setting an FPS cap in the game options for 60.
Try creating a new Windows administrator user account, switch to that account and try starting the game from there, directly from the executable. If the game doesn't crash frequently enough to make it feasible to test in a new game, you may need to copy your latest save over from your current user account.
Each save is a folder in the 'C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\Larian Studios\Baldur's Gate 3\PlayerProfiles\Public\Savegames\Story'. The fastest way to get there would probably be to copy
%LocalAppData%\Larian Studios\Baldur's Gate 3\PlayerProfiles\Public\Savegames\Story into the location bar in Explorer and hit Enter.
Crashes on startup or in character creationIf applicable, disable Steam cloud support either globally (in the client click on the Steam menu and select Settings, and then Cloud) or just for this game (in the library right click BG3 and select Properties, then switch to the General tab and check the Steam Cloud section).
Alternately, exit out of the Steam client, or Galaxy for the GOG version, and just start the game directly from the executable when required.
Next, try browsing to the 'C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\Larian Studios' folder and rename the 'Baldur's Gate 3' subfolder. The easiest way to get there would be to copy
%LocalAppData%\Larian Studios into the location bar in Explorer and hit Enter.
This folder contains the saved games, configuration files and a level cache folder. Deleting or renaming it will get the game to recreate it on startup; playing the game from a different Windows user account would effectively do the same thing. With Steam/Galaxy running and cloud support enabled, the client would just download the cloud copy of your existing profile.
If you played in patch 6 or earlier and still have those profiles and saves, also browse to the '..\Documents\Larian Studios' folder and rename the 'Baldur's Gate 3' subfolder there (or delete it if you don't want to keep the saves), so patch 9 does not copy the game's earlier Documents folder to the local AppData folder (as part of the startup procedure if there is no existing local AppData folder).
After that, see if you can start the game. If so, if that was an issue check if you can start a new game and get through character creation. If that works and you have any existing patch 9 saves, exit and copy a couple saves from the renamed folder into the ..\PlayerProfiles\Public\Savegames\Story folder. If that continues to let you start the game and load the saves, move the rest of the saves over.
If not, delete the new BG3 folder and extract the replacement folder from
this download into your '..\Local\Larian Studios' folder, to see if that will let you start the game and get through character creation.
The graphicSettings.lsx file is set to 1280x720 Windowed mode and Very Low quality preset, which you can change in the options (manually, or hit autodetect) if this gets the game working.
If the game still crashes, delete the replacement BG3 folder and (if you have any saves that you wish to keep) rename the original back again (as well as in the Documents folder, if applicable).
Crash after tutorial, at the end of the nautiloidThis is occasionally reported, but except for a couple of known issues, fixed in previous updates, it has not been reproducible by QA.
Try dropping the graphics settings to very low, lower the resolution as much as possible and switch to Windowed display mode, to see if you can get past that transition. That helped a handful of people on Mac with a crash there, in an earlier version of the game (generally caused by memory issues, especially if the system or video memory were below the minimum requirement), and usually helps in Windows.
A couple people had a crash here with Virtual Memory disabled, fixed by enabling it (set to automatic / system managed). To check or change virtual memory settings, see these guides for
Win 7/8 or
Win 10One person reported a crash here with a secondary monitor enabled, but it worked when they temporarily disabled it.
A couple of people have reported that repeatedly hitting the spacebar to skip the cutscenes helped.
If that doesn't help, please contact support with a dxdiag report (WinKey-R, type in dxdiag and hit enter, then when it finishes loading click on the 'Save All Information...' button and save the report somewhere handy). Also check the '..\Baldurs Gate 3\bin' install folder for the gold.log file, and if there are any CrashDump files being created there (or in '..\bin\db\attachments'), zip a few together to include.
If the crash is at a consistent place in-game, or there is a save in a situation where it the crash is reasonably reproducible, please provide a latest save at or before that point (or a Dropbox or Google drive link, etc).
In Explorer you can zip a file or folder by right clicking on it/them and selecting 'Send To | Compressed (zipped) Folder'.
Each save is a folder in the 'C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\Larian Studios\Baldur's Gate 3\PlayerProfiles\Public\Savegames\Story'. The fastest way to get there would probably be to copy
%LocalAppData%\Larian Studios\Baldur's Gate 3\PlayerProfiles\Public\Savegames\Story into the location bar in Explorer and hit Enter.
Other than browsing there manually (would need to have Explorer set to show hidden files and folders) or using the location path, if you open the launcher settings (gear icon in the bottom left of the launcher window) and scroll down, there is an 'Open Profile Folder' button there to open an Explorer Window at the BG3 folder where the profiles and saves are, and you could browse down to the Story folder from there.