How to Fix Out of Video Memory Error in Games

What Causes This?

An “out of video memory” error usually means the game has run out of available VRAM on your graphics card, or Windows can’t manage graphics memory efficiently enough to keep the game running. This often happens when texture quality, resolution, ray tracing, or other GPU-heavy settings are too high for your hardware. It can also be triggered by outdated graphics drivers, background apps using GPU resources, overclock instability, or a page file that is too small.

Common Symptoms

• A game crashes on launch or shortly after loading
• You see an “Out of video memory” or “Not enough video memory” message
• Severe stuttering, texture pop-in, or black textures before a crash
• Crashes happen more often in demanding areas, cutscenes, or after changing graphics settings
• Other apps may feel slow while the game is running

How to Fix It Manually

1. Lower the game’s graphics settings

   • Open the game’s Settings or Graphics menu.
   • Reduce Texture Quality first, since textures use a lot of VRAM.
   • Lower Resolution, Shadow Quality, View Distance, and Effects Quality.
   • Turn off or reduce Ray Tracing, DLSS Frame Generation, or high-resolution texture packs if enabled.
   • Restart the game after applying changes.

2. Close background apps using GPU or memory

   • Open Task Manager with Ctrl+Shift+Esc.
   • Click Processes and look for apps using high Memory or GPU.
   • Close browsers, game launchers you do not need, screen recorders, RGB software, overlays, and streaming apps.
   • If needed, click Startup apps in Task Manager and disable non-essential apps from launching with Windows.

3. Update or reinstall your graphics driver

   • Right-click Start and select Device Manager.
   • Expand Display adapters, right-click your GPU, and choose Update driver.
   • For a better result, download the latest driver directly from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel.
   • If the problem started after a recent driver update, try a clean reinstall using the latest stable version from your GPU maker.

4. Increase Windows virtual memory

   • Press Windows key, type advanced system settings, and open View advanced system settings.
   • Under Performance, click Settings.
   • Go to the Advanced tab and click Change under Virtual memory.
   • Uncheck Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.
   • Select your system drive, choose System managed size, then click Set.
   • Click OK and restart your PC.

5. Force the game to use the dedicated GPU

   • Open Settings > System > Display > Graphics.
   • Find your game in the list, or click Browse to add its .exe file.
   • Click the game, select Options, then choose High performance.
   • Save the change and relaunch the game.

6. Remove unstable overclocks and verify game files

   • If you overclocked your GPU or VRAM, return it to default settings in your GPU software.
   • Open your game launcher:
     • Steam: Library > right-click game > Properties > Installed Files > Verify integrity of game files
     • Epic Games: Library > three dots next to game > Manage > Verify
   • Corrupted files can cause memory errors that look like VRAM problems.

7. Check for overheating

   • Open your GPU software or a hardware monitor and watch GPU temperatures while gaming.
   • If temperatures are too high, clean dust from fans and vents and make sure airflow is not blocked.
   • Overheating can cause crashes that appear as video memory errors.

Fix It Automatically with Kudu

Kudu can help fix out of video memory errors by identifying background apps, startup clutter, and resource-heavy processes that waste RAM and GPU headroom while you play. It gives you a faster way to reduce system overhead and improve game stability without digging through multiple Windows settings yourself.

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