How to Fix The Witcher 3 Remastered Crashing on PC (7 Solutions)

Mira63

If you are experiencing crashes in the Next-Gen Remastered update of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt—whether it happens right when you click "Play," during loading screens, or randomly mid-game—you are not alone.

Before diving into the fixes below, always back up your local save files. You can find them at this directory:
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\The Witcher 3\gamesaves
Simply copy this folder and paste it into a safe backup location. Also, make sure your game is fully updated to the latest patch.

Here are 7 community-tested solutions to resolve crashing issues on PC. Work your way down the list until the game runs stably.

Fix 1: Disable Mods

Older manually installed mods or script mods may be incompatible with the Remastered build, leading to instant crashes on startup.

If using the in-game Mods menu:
1. Launch the game and go to the Mods menu.
2. Select Installed.
3. Disable recently installed or suspicious mods, then restart the game.
If you installed mods manually:
1. Navigate to your game's installation folder (e.g., ...\Steam\steamapps\common\The Witcher 3\).
2. Locate the manually installed mods folder and temporarily move it outside the game directory. Test if the game launches without it.

Fix 2: Verify Game Files

Corrupted or missing files can prevent the game from running properly. Use your launcher's repair feature to fix them:

Steam:
1. Open your Library, right-click The Witcher 3, and select Properties.
2. Go to the Installed Files tab.
3. Click Verify integrity of game files.
Epic Games Launcher:
1. Open your Library.
2. Click the three dots (...) under the game tile and select Manage.
3. Click Verify.
GOG Galaxy:
1. Open your Library and select the game.
2. Click the settings icon next to the Play button.
3. Go to Manage installation > Verify / Repair.

Fix 3: Turn Off NVIDIA HairWorks

An issue with NVIDIA HairWorks can cause significant performance degradation, severe stuttering, and eventual crashes.

Launch the game and open Options > Video > Graphics.
Set NVIDIA HairWorks to Off.
Apply the changes and check if stability improves.

Fix 4: Adjust In-Game Graphics Settings

DirectX 12 graphics features can be heavy on system resources. Try lowering your display and graphics settings to test for conflicts:

Navigate to Options > Video > Graphics.
Turn Ray Tracing and Frame Generation to Off.
Change Display Mode to Full Screen (do not use "Full Screen Windowed").
Set V-Sync to Off.
Cap the Maximum Frames Per Second to your monitor's actual refresh rate (e.g., 60, 144) instead of leaving it on "Unlimited."

If the crashes stop, you can gradually re-enable these options to find the exact setting causing the instability.

Fix 5: Disable Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS)

Windows' built-in GPU scheduling feature can sometimes conflict with DirectX 12 memory management in games.

Press the Windows Logo Key + I to open the Windows Settings menu.
Go to System > Display.
Scroll down and click on Graphics.
Click Default graphics settings (or expand Advanced graphics settings).
Toggle Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling to Off.
Restart your PC to apply changes.

Fix 6: Update or Roll Back Graphics Drivers

Outdated or corrupted drivers are a primary culprit for crash-to-desktop errors in modern DX12 titles.

To Update: Visit the official download page for your GPU manufacturer (NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel) to grab the newest driver package for your specific hardware model.
To Roll Back: If you noticed that the crashes started right after a driver update, some players have reported better stability with older driver releases. Download a previous stable version from your manufacturer's archive and perform a clean installation.

Fix 7: Disable Overlays and Background Programs

Background software that injects overlays or monitors system performance can conflict with the game's rendering pipeline. Try closing the following programs before starting the game:

Discord overlay
NVIDIA App / GeForce Experience overlay
AMD Software overlay
Xbox Game Bar
MSI Afterburner / RivaTuner Statistics Server
Third-party recording and streaming tools
RGB lighting and peripheral monitoring software

If you find the game runs smoothly after closing these applications, you can turn them back on one by one to pinpoint the program causing the conflict.