How to Fix Baldur’s Gate 3 Crashing on PC?

Baldur’s Gate 3 has been an immediate hit among fans, but the constant crashing of the game has made their gaming experience much worse than expected. Ever since the launch of BG3, players have been complaining that the game doesn’t go past the tutorial screen or specific in-game locations.

There are multiple reasons why this happens. These can include the presence of corrupted files, unverified game files, high graphics on lower-end PCs, and more. There are many fixes available for this issue; however, only a few of them work.

Below, I’ll list the fixes along with the steps that have worked for other players.

How Do I Stop Baldur’s Gate 3 From Crashing?

You can do multiple things, like verifying game files, lowering down the graphic settings, running the SFC scan, changing BG3’s launch option in Steam, and more. All of the following are guaranteed fixes, and at least one of them will work on your end.

1. Delete App Data and Verify Game Files: The game files can be corrupted or there can be a glitch that is causing the problem. Once you delete the app data and re-verify your game files, the game won’t crash. However, you will lose your game progression.
2. Turn off VSync and Lock FPS to 60: It’s better to turn off VSync to get rid of input lag, and doing this has resulted in the game not crashing as often. Moreover, don’t run the game at higher frame rates at the moment and just stick to 60 FPS.
3. Change Nvidia 3D Settings for Baldur’s Gate 3: The issue can be that you’re running very high graphic settings, which the PC or GPU might not support. In this case, lower the 3D settings and run the game again.
4. Run the SFC Scan: SFC Scan will fix any corrupted files that might be a reason for Baldur’s Gate 3’s crashing issue. It doesn’t require any manual input and fixes the files automatically.
5. Disable Smart Access Memory (AMD) or Resizable Bar (Nvidia): Although SAM and Resizable Bar are great ways to utilize the full potential of your graphics card, the same isn’t the case with Baldur’s Gate 3. Contrarily, disabling these options makes the game run better.
6. Disable XMP/EXPO: XMP and EXPO are memory profiles that are used to overclock RAM. But similarly to SAM and Resizable Bar, disabling XMP/EXPO seems to make BG3 run without any crashes.

1. Delete App Data and Verify Game Files

1. Open Run with Win + R.
2. Type %LocalAppData%.

3. Go to the Larian Studios folder.

4. Now select Baldur’s Gate 3 > Player Profiles.
5. Delete everything in this folder.

6. Now go through the Mods folder in Baldur’s Gate 3 and delete everything there as well.

Afterward, verify the game files as follows:

1. Launch Steam and go to the game library.
2. Right-click on BG3 and select Properties.

3. Go to the Installed Files tab.
4. Click Verify Integrity of Game Files.

5. The process can take several minutes.
6. Once done, launch Baldur’s Gate 3 now.

2. Turn off VSync and Lock FPS to 60

1. Launch Baldur’s Gate 3 and go to Settings.
2. Click on the Video tab.
3. Now change the VSync option to Disable.

4. Set the Maximum Frame rate to 60.

5. Restart the game now and see if it crashes.
6. You can also try lowering the resolution and setting the High preset with a balanced DLSS if the game still doesn’t run smoothly.

3. Change Nvidia 3D Settings for Baldur’s Gate 3

1. Reinstall GeForce Experience first.
2. Once done, right-click on your desktop and select Nvidia Control Panel.

3. Select Manage 3D Settings under 3D Settings.

4. Select the Program Settings tab.
5. Click the list arrow under Select a Program to Customize and select Baldur’s Gate 3.

Note: If BG3 isn’t listed, then click on Add, browse the game folder, and Open it.

6. Now lower the settings under the Specify the Settings box.
7. Once done, click Apply and launch Baldur’s Gate 3 to see if it’s crashing now or not.

4. Run the SFC Scan

1. Click on Start and type cmd.
2. Select Run as Administrator.
3. Type the following command:

   sfc /scannow

4. Wait for the scan to complete.
5. After it completes and fixes potentially corrupted files, open BG3 again.

5. Uncheck the Run as Administrator Option on BG3 Files

1. Go to the Baldur’s Gate 3 folder and go to the bin folder.
2. Look for bg3 and bg3_dx11 exe files.

3. Right-click on the bg3_dx11 exe file and go to Properties.
4. Go to the Compatibility tab.
5. Uncheck Run as an administrator and apply the settings.

6. Do the same for bg3.exe.
7. Open the game normally now, and it shouldn’t crash anymore.

6. Change Baldur’s Gate 3 Launch Option

1. Launch Steam and go to your game library.
2. Right-click on Baldur’s Gate 3 and select Properties.

3. In the Launch Options section under the General tab, type –skip-launcher.

If this doesn’t work, do the following:

1. Right-click on BG3 > Manage > Browse local files.

2. Go to the bin folder and copy the location path.

3. Again, right-click on the game in Steam and select Properties.

4. Remove –skip-launcher from the Launch options.
5. Paste the location path.
6. Now put an inverted comma before the Drive name and forward slash “\” after bin.
7. Now, after the slash, type bg3.exe or bg3_dx11.exe, depending on how you want to launch the game.
8. Place inverted commas after the file name and give one space afterward.
9. Type %COMMAND% now.

10. Close the settings tab and launch the game now.

7. Disable Smart Access Memory (AMD) or Resizable Bar (Nvidia)

1. Turn off your PC and power it up again.
2. While it’s starting, press F12 or Del to enter BIOS settings.
3. Go to Advanced Menu/Settings > PCI Settings.

4. Disable Above 4G Decoding and Re-size BAR Support.

5. Now turn on the PC and launch AMD Radeon software.
6. Go to the Performance tab and make sure Smart Access Memory has been disabled.

7. If you are using Nvidia GPU, then launch Nvidia Control Panel and click on System Information in the bottom left.
8. Make sure No is written next to the Resizable bar.

8. Disable XMP/EXPO

1. Enter BIOS by pressing F12 or DEL key while the PC is powering up.
2. Go through your motherboard’s manual to check where the option for XMP/EXPO is located.

Note: For “Easy Mode” BIOS, XMP/EXPO option locations are different for different motherboards. However, the location is the same for the “Advanced Mode” BIOS. You can press F1 in the BIOS to open the Help screen and see the key to switch between the two modes. Secondly, you’ll see the XMP option if you’re using the Intel platform and the EXPO option for AMD platforms.

3. Once you’re in the Advanced menu, go to the AI Tweaker tab (Intel Platform) and disable XMP.

4. If you have an AMD platform, then go to the Extreme Tweaker tab and disable EXPO.

Note: These settings are for ASUS motherboards. The tabs and settings will be different for other motherboards.

If the game still crashes, then wait for a hotfix to be released by Larian Studios. They already released one, but it hasn’t solved the problem completely, so the next patch will be dropped soon.