Minecraft is one of the most popular Windows PC games for which numerous technical hiccups can arise. Many players report Minecraft crashes a lot when playing it. For example, this is what one player had to say, “I’ve been constantly having crashes with my Minecraft installation… I try to run the game, and after a few minutes (it may vary between 30 seconds and half an hour), the game crashes and returns to the Launcher.” This is how you can fix regular in-game Minecraft crashing on Windows PCs.
Set Minecraft to Use a Dedicated NVIDIA Graphics Card
If your PC has two GPUs, try setting it to use the dedicated GPU. Some players say they’ve fixed Minecraft crashing by setting their games to use their NVIDIA graphics cards. You can set a PC to use a dedicated NVIDIA GPU for all games like this:
- Right-click any part of the desktop to select NVIDIA Control Panel.
- Select Manage 3D Settings > Global Settings in the NVIDIA Control Panel.
- Then, select the High-performance NVIDIA processor option on the Preferred graphics processor drop-down menu.
The NVIDIA Control Panel window
- Click Apply to save the preferred GPU setting.
Disable Minecraft Add-ons
Incompatible or outmoded mods can often cause Minecraft crashing issues to occur. If you’re a Bedrock player, you can disable mods as covered on this Minecraft support page. Alternatively, try clearing out the mods folder for Minecraft like this:
- Open the User > Appdata > Roaming > .minecraft > mods folder in File Explorer.
- Select all mods in the folder by holding the Ctrl key and clicking on them.
The mods folder for Minecraft
- Then, press Explorer’s Delete button.
Select to Repair and Reset the Minecraft MS Store App
If you’ve installed Minecraft from the MS Store, try repairing and resetting that app. Settings include two troubleshooting options you can select to fix apps that aren’t working right (crashing a lot or not starting at all). This page on Microsoft’s site tells you how users can select those app troubleshooting options.
The Reset option
Optimize Minecraft Game Settings
Generally, lowering in-game graphical settings will usually make games more stable. So, try adjusting the graphical settings in Minecraft. This Minecraft Help Center page provides a good guide for optimizing the Minecraft: Bedrock graphical settings. If you play Minecraft: Java, try adjusting the settings as instructed on this help page.
The video settings in Minecraft
Update Graphical Drivers
Updating graphics drivers is a troubleshooting method that doesn’t necessarily always fix games crashing. Yet, applying this possible fix might reduce Minecraft crashing on your PC if the graphics driver on it is outdated, which can cause game compatibility issues. We have a guide for updating graphics drivers that tells you how to apply this possible resolution in different ways.
The NVIDIA graphics driver page
Install the Latest Java Version
If you’re a Minecraft: Java player, try installing the latest Java version. I would also recommend uninstalling any existing Minecraft version from your PC first. This is how you can uninstall Java and install the latest version:
- To start, right-click Start and select the shortcut for opening that accessory.
- Next, open the uninstaller utility in the Control Panel by inputting appwiz.cpl and selecting OK.
- Select the Java entry in Programs and Features.
- Click Uninstall and Yes to confirm.
The Programs and Features control panel applet
- Then, install Java as covered on this Java help page.
Other Possible Ways to Fix In-Game Minecraft Crashing
If your Minecraft game keeps crashing, there might be more ways to fix it. These additional potential fixes for regular in-game Minecraft crashing might be worth trying:
- Reinstall your Minecraft game, which will also update it.
- Close unnecessary programs running in the background via Task Manager.
- Don’t overclock your PC’s CPU. If you’ve done that, restore your processor’s settings to default.
- Delete the Minecraft data subfolder in the C:\Users\[user folder]\AppData.
So, try applying those potential resolutions to fix regular in-game Minecraft crashing on your Windows PC. They’re troubleshooting methods that can potentially resolve a wide variety of in-game crashing issues. If your Minecraft game still crashes too much, you can ask the official help service for more possible fixes from this help center page.
