Fix Display Driver Stopped Responding and Has Recovered in Games

Problem overview

While playing a game, your screen suddenly freezes or goes completely black for a few seconds. The game then crashes to the desktop, often displaying an error like “Display driver stopped responding and has recovered” or a specific driver timeout (TDR) message.

Common causes

• Corrupted or outdated GPU driver installation
• Windows timing out the GPU process too quickly (TDR timeout)
• Aggressive GPU overclocks or undervolts causing instability
• Thermal throttling due to high GPU temperatures

Solution 1: Clean install the GPU driver with DDU

1. Download Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) and the latest GPU drivers from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel.
2. Restart your PC in Safe Mode by holding Shift while clicking Restart in the Start menu.
3. Open DDU, select your GPU type, and click Clean and restart.
4. Once your PC reboots into normal mode, run the driver installer you downloaded earlier.
5. Select a “Clean Install” or “Factory Reset” option if available during setup.

Solution 2: Increase the TDR delay in the Registry

1. Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers.
3. Right-click an empty space in the right pane and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value (or QWORD if on a 64-bit system).
4. Name the new value TdrDelay.
5. Double-click TdrDelay and set the Value data to 8 (Decimal).
6. Restart your computer.

Solution 3: Disable overclocks and lower power limits

1. Download and install MSI Afterburner.
2. Open the application and look for the Core Clock and Memory Clock sliders.
3. If they are increased, reset them to 0 or click the reset button.
4. Drag the Power Limit slider down slightly (e.g., to 90%) to improve stability.
5. Click the checkmark to apply the settings and test your game.