PC not detecting GPU [Technician Fix]

by Tashreef Shareef

Windows & Software Expert

Last update:February 2, 2021

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At times, your computer may refuse to recognize the GPU. It can happen if you have freshly installed a new graphics card or updated your Windows OS to a newer version.

One user described the problem on Microsoft’s official forum.

After I updated my laptop recently, my 980M graphics card seems to “disappear.” It is not in the device manager (only shows my intel 530) and Nvidia software can not detect my graphics card either. Please help!

As troublesome as it may seem, this is not actually an uncommon situation. So, if you’re stuck with a PC not detecting GPU, fix the problem with the solutions below.

How do I get my computer to recognize my GPU?

1. Install Graphic Card Driver

This is an obvious but common mistake. After installing the graphics card, Windows will automatically install the required graphics card driver that came pre-built into the graphics card.

However, most of the time, you need to update the drivers and download additional files to make it run properly.

You can download the latest version of the graphics driver from the GPU manufacturer’s website.

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2. Check if the Graphic Card is disabled

1. Press Windows Key + R to open Run.
2. Type devmgmt.msc and press OK to open the Device Manager.
3. In the Device Manager, go to Display Adapter and expand it.
4. Check if your graphics card is listed. Right-click on the Graphics card and select Properties.
   
   
5. Go to the Driver tab and check if the Enable button is available. If the Graphic card driver is enabled, you should see a Disable button. If not, click on the Enable button.
6. Reboot the system and check for any improvements.

Second GPU not detected on the computer? Here’s how to fix it.

3. Enable the Discrete GPU in BIOS

1. Boot into BIOS after shutdown. To boot into BIOS, you need to keep pressing F2 or Del button on your keyboard after pressing the power button to boot the computer.
2. In the BIOS, go to Chipset > GPU Configuration. find GPU function and set it to enabled.
3. This option is also called switchable graphics at times, so the terms may vary.

If your PC has both Intel integrated and dedicated GPU, you may need to enable the dedicated graphics card from the BIOS. At times, Windows OS may not be able to detect the GPU without manual intervention.

Several users have reported that enabling GPU in BIOS has completely fixed the issue and the computer was able to detect the graphics card after the restart.

4. Enable NVIDIA Graphic Card using Command Prompt

Note: This is recommended for the NVIDIA graphic cards only.

1. Type cmd in the search bar.
2. Right-click on Command Prompt from the search result and select Run as Administrator.
3. In the command prompt window, type the following command press enter: bcdedit /set pciexpress forcedisable
4. Once the command is executed without any errors, close the command prompt.
   
5. Now try to install the graphics card driver again and check for any improvements.

There you go, you should be able to fix your PC not detecting graphics card issues with one of these solutions. Do let us know if you used other workarounds.

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