Baldur’s Gate 3 crashing on startup on PC (Windows 11/10)? Larian’s official fixes: Vulkan or DirectX 11, mods, AppData folder, Visual C++

Baldur’s Gate 3 can close as soon as you launch it on PC, crash before the main menu, or stop with a Visual C++ (VC) DLL error. Larian Studios keeps an official support page for exactly this, “Crashing upon startup (PC)”. Here are its steps, in a sensible order, as read on November 11, 2026. Larian’s page is written for Windows (it mentions Windows 10 and older versions; the same menus exist on Windows 11). TricknFix did not test these steps; they are Larian’s instructions, not a guarantee.

• Larian asks you to shut down all non-essential programs before launching: anti-virus, firewalls, overlays from graphics tweaking or monitoring tools, and chat programs “have all been known to cause issues”.

• Known issue: the ASUS Sonic Studio Virtual Mixer can cause a crash on startup. If you have it, disable or uninstall it.

• If you use Process Lasso (or a similar tool) to change CPU core affinity, disable it so the game uses all cores again. Larian notes one report of a conflict with Process Lasso’s “core engine” even with the game set back to default.

• Steam: right-click Baldur’s Gate 3 in your library > Properties > Local Files (Installed Files) > Verify integrity of game files.

• GOG: in Galaxy, select the game, click the settings icon next to Play > Manage installation > Verify / Repair.

• In the Larian launcher, switch between DirectX 11 and Vulkan to see if the game starts. Larian’s FAQ notes Vulkan can be faster but “may be slightly less stable”.

• You can also close Steam or Galaxy and start the game directly from the ..\SteamApps\common\Baldurs Gate 3\bin folder: bg3.exe is the Vulkan version, bg3_dx11.exe the DirectX 11 version. Right-click > Run as administrator.

• Larian’s trick for resolution or DirectX/Vulkan problems: right-click and hold on the executable, hold Shift, release the mouse button, choose Run as administrator and keep Shift held until the splash screen appears. This stops the game from taking focus while loading.

• Still crashing? In the executable’s Properties > Compatibility, Larian suggests overriding high DPI scaling (set to Application), running as administrator and disabling fullscreen optimizations.

• If launching the executable gives a VC-related DLL error, install the 64-bit Visual C++ 2015-2022 redistributable from Microsoft, or repair the existing entries in Control Panel > Programs and Features (Larian’s order: Repair first, then a full uninstall, reboot and reinstall). Installers are also in Steam’s Steamworks Shared\_CommonRedist folder.

• Update your graphics drivers and Windows.

• Larian adds that manually updating the Vulkan Runtime (normally included with graphics drivers) has been reported to fix some crashes.

• Mods made for older versions, especially UI mods, are a common cause. Larian says the Mods and Public folders in ..\SteamApps\common\Baldurs Gate 3\Data are safe to delete if present.

• Since patch 9, the game uses %LocalAppData%\Larian Studios\Baldur’s Gate 3 and may have copied old mods there from Documents: check %LocalAppData%\Larian Studios\Baldur’s Gate 3\Mods.

• A “data mismatch” error in the launcher writes a log of unexpected files in %LocalAppData%\Larian Studios\Launcher\Cache (a text file ending in _alteredFiles.txt).

• If it is not a new install, delete the contents of %LocalAppData%\Larian Studios\Baldur’s Gate 3\LevelCache: a corrupt file there can cause problems when saving or loading.

• Larian also suggests disabling Steam Cloud for the game (or launching from the executable), then renaming the %LocalAppData%\Larian Studios\Baldur’s Gate 3 folder. It holds your saves and settings, so rename it rather than deleting it if you want to keep them; the game recreates it on startup. If you still have patch 6-era files, rename the Baldur’s Gate 3 folder in Documents\Larian Studios too.

• Clean boot: run msconfig, choose Selective startup, then on the Services tab tick Hide all Microsoft services and click Disable all, reboot and test. Run msconfig again afterwards to return to a normal startup.

• Event Viewer: Windows Logs > Application, look for the latest bg3 error and read “Faulting application name” and “Faulting module” on the General tab. That file name often points to the culprit.

• A DxDiag report (Win+R, dxdiag, Save All Information).

• The gold.log file and any CrashDump files from the ..\Baldurs Gate 3\bin folder (or ..\bin\db\attachments).

• Larian’s page is a general guide: it does not link startup crashes to a specific patch or hotfix, and it does not list affected graphics cards. Its page shows no date of last update.

• If your crashes started after a Windows, driver or game update, say which one in the discussion so other players can compare.

More Windows 11 game fixes: #windows-11 (https://tricknfix.com/tags/windows-11/).

• Larian Studios Support, “Crashing upon startup (PC)”, Baldur’s Gate 3 FAQ, read November 11, 2026 (https://larian.com/support/faqs/crashing-upon-startup-pc_59).

• Larian Studios Support, Baldur’s Gate 3 FAQ “What is Vulkan? The difference between Vulkan and DX11” (summary on the same page), read November 11, 2026 (https://larian.com/support).

• Video “Baldur’s Gate 3: Launch Trailer”, Larian Studios channel, August 3, 2023 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuCfkgaaa08).

• Image: official Baldur’s Gate 3 screenshot from Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1086940/Baldurs_Gate_3/), © Larian Studios / Wizards of the Coast.