What Happens When You Uninstall Graphics Drivers on Windows

Quick Tips

• Without graphics drivers, your PC will rely on primary Windows drivers, which can lead to poor game performance, video editing, and other graphics-intensive tasks.
• Windows Update often includes updated graphics drivers. Check for updates before seeking them from the manufacturer’s website.
• If the driver doesn’t uninstall normally, booting into Safe Mode can help remove it altogether.

Consequence of Uninstalling Graphics Drivers on Windows

• Uninstalling graphics drivers can result in washed-out colors and incorrect resolution if the system relies on native graphics drivers.
• Games may not start up or perform poorly without the dedicated graphics card drivers.
• Without proper graphics drivers, video playback might be affected, leading to a less smooth experience.
• Running graphic-intensive software like Photoshop or any video editing app without proper graphics drivers will be sluggish and inefficient.

Identify and Download the Latest Drivers for GPU

You need to first identify the correct model number of your GPU and download the latest drivers for it. Here’s how to identify the graphics chip on your computer. Let’s take NVIDIA as an example.

Step 1: Right-click on the Windows key and open Task Manager.

Step 2: Select Performance from the sidebar.

Step 3: Select GPU and note down the exact GPU model for your PC.

Step 4: Press the Windows + I keys to open the Settings app.

Step 5: Select System and go to the About menu.

Step 6: Check the system type under the Device specifications menu.

Step 7: Head to the NVIDIA Driver’s download page.

Step 8: Select relevant options such as product type, product series, product, OS, language, and hit Search.

Step 9: Click on Download from the following menu.

You are all set to uninstall graphics drivers from your Windows PC. You can repeat similar steps for the AMD drivers or Intel Arc drivers.

How to Uninstall Graphics Drivers

Step 1: Right-click on the Windows key and open the Device Manager menu.

Step 2: Expand Display adapters and right-click on the integrated graphics. Select Uninstall device.

Step 3: Confirm the same from the pop-up menu.

You can restart the PC, and the system downloads the required drivers during the reboot process. We have shown uninstalling AMD graphics in the screenshots above. You can read our dedicated post to completely uninstall existing GPU drivers (including NVIDIA) correctly.

You can reinstall the drivers from the same Device Manager menu by right-clicking on the graphic drivers and selecting Update drivers.

You can ask the system to check and install the latest drivers on your PC. It detects your downloaded drivers and updates them. The entire process will take a little time.

Your Windows PC’s graphics drivers acting up can leave you with a below-average experience. While you can perform basic web browsing and draft Word documents, the glitches appear in demanding tasks like video editing, gaming, 3D work, and RAW editing.