Adobe · Windows

How To Fix Photoshop Not Detecting Graphics Processor on Windows

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Answer

This problem is usually caused by an outdated graphics driver, because your graphics processor is turned off to your preferences, or because your graphics card is incompatible with Photoshop on your PC. First of all, open up Photoshop and navigate to Help, and select GPU Compatibility.

Photoshop GPU Compatibility Check

This problem is usually caused by an outdated graphics driver, because your graphics processor is turned off to your preferences, or because your graphics card is incompatible with Photoshop on your PC. First of all, open up Photoshop and navigate to Help, and select GPU Compatibility.

Photoshop > Help > GPU Compatibility
Photoshop > Help > GPU Compatibility

A new window will open up, where you can preview if your graphics card is turned…

A new window will open up, where you can preview if your graphics card is turned on or off, if it’s compatible or not being recognized by the application.

Graphics Processor Compatibility Check
Graphics Processor Compatibility Check

Check if your GPU is Enabled in Photoshop

To see if your graphics card is enabled and usable by Photoshop, navigate to the Help menu and select System Info. You can preview all of your hardware and OS-related information on this window, including your GPU.

Photoshop > Help > System Info
Photoshop > Help > System Info

Disable Hardware Acceleration

When running resource-intensive applications on your PC, you might want to disable hardware acceleration for Photoshop. This will prevent the application from strictly using your GPU to render images. To do so, navigate to Edit > Preferences > Performance. Uncheck the Use Graphics Processor option before saving your changes. You will be required to restart Photoshop for these changes to apply.

Photoshop Preferences > Performance > Graphics Processor Settings
Photoshop Preferences > Performance > Graphics Processor Settings

Close Background Apps & Update Graphics Driver

When this is done, prevent other applications from running in the background before relaunching Photoshop to ensure that this issue is not software-related. You might also want to update your graphics driver, especially when running into graphics errors. I suggest using the GeForce Experience application for NVIDIA GPU users and the AMD Radeon software for AMD users. In the Drivers section, click on Download. The application will automatically download and install the latest graphics driver.

GeForce Experience > Drivers
GeForce Experience > Drivers

Re-Enable Hardware Acceleration

Lastly, reopen your Photoshop app and head back to your Preferences. In the Performance section enable the Use Graphics Processor option again before opening one of your Photoshop files.

Photoshop Preferences > Performance > Use Graphics Processor
Photoshop Preferences > Performance > Use Graphics Processor

Video walkthrough

If it does not work

  • How do I know if my graphics card supports GPU processing?. You can check the specifications of your graphics card in the device manager. Photoshop requires a graphics card with at least 1 GB of VRAM to run efficiently.
  • What do I do if my graphics card does not meet the minimum requirements for GPU processing?. If your graphics card does not meet the minimum requirements, you can either upgrade your hardware or use Photoshop with the CPU only.
  • What should I do if updating my graphics driver does not fix the issue?. If updating your graphics driver does not resolve the problem, try disabling GPU performance in the Photoshop preferences or resetting the Photoshop preferences.