Accidentally deleted Graphics card driver in Windows 11

If you have accidentally deleted the graphics card driver on your Windows 11/10 PC, the solutions provided in this article will help you. When a graphics card driver is deleted, either the screen goes black, or you lose some of your display’s functionality. The latter case is possible with computers that have integrated and dedicated graphics cards. Windows reinstalls the missing driver automatically after a restart. However, this did not happen with some users.

Accidentally deleted Graphics card driver in Windows 11/10

If you accidentally uninstalled the Graphics driver and now see a black screen in Windows 11/10, take these steps to fix the issue.

Run Windows Update
Download the Graphics driver
Check the driver status in the Device Manager
Restore your system or reset your PC
Perform an In-place Upgrade

All these fixes are explained in detail below:

1] Run Windows Update

If your display is visible, this means that the graphics card driver has not been deleted properly and may be corrupted. Run Windows Update. If an update is available, download and install it. A Windows Update will automatically fix all the corrupted drivers.

2] Download the Graphics driver

Windows will normally automatically reinstall the missing driver on a restart. If the driver is not reinstalled after restarting your PC, you can download it from the official manufacturer’s website and install it manually.

Visit the official website of your computer manufacturer and download the latest version of your graphics card driver. Now, run the installer file to install the driver manually. If you get any error while installing the driver, boot in Safe Mode and try installing the driver there.

If your display is black, you must download the correct graphics card driver using another working computer. Copy the file to your USB flash drive. Now, go back to the non-working computer and start it in Safe Mode. You can boot into Safe Mode through Windows Recovery Environment. If the screen is visible, connect the USB flash drive and run the installer file to install the driver.

3] Check the driver status in the Device Manager

If the display is visible, but you are experiencing some graphics issues, there may be a chance of graphics card driver corruption. In such a case, you will see a yellow warning sign on the GPU driver in the Device Manager. Open the Device Manager and expand the Display adapters branch. See the status of your graphics card driver. If it is corrupted, you need to remove it completely from your system.

Download the latest version of your GPU driver from the official website of your computer’s manufacturer. Now, download and install the Display Driver Uninstaller software. Launch the utility and completely remove the graphics card driver from your system. After removing the driver, run the installer file to reinstall the driver.

4] Restore your system or reset your PC

You can restore your system to the previous working state, provided the restore points exist on your computer. This step will also reinstall the graphics card driver. If the display is visible, you can easily run the System Restore tool. However, if the display is black, you have to boot into Windows Recovery Environment to restore your system.

To enter Windows Recovery Environment, you have to interrupt the normal boot process of Windows. Force shut down your computer and wait for a few seconds. Now, turn it on. Press and hold the power button immediately when you see the manufacturer’s logo or the Windows logo to force shut down your PC again. Repeat this step until your computer enters automatic repair mode. When you see the Preparing Automatic Repair message on your screen, you are in WinRE. Now, select Advanced options > Troubleshoot > Advanced options > System Restore.

If you cannot restore your system, reset your PC. Again, you can do this through the Windows Recovery Environment. While performing this action, select the Keep my files option to reset your PC without deleting your data.

5] Perform an In-place Upgrade

If the issue persists, perform an In-place upgrade. For this, you have to create a bootable USB flash drive with the Windows 11 ISO file. Use another working computer to create a USB flash drive with Windows 11 installation media. This method reinstalls the Windows OS without deleting your data.

That’s it.

How do I restore my graphics driver in Windows 11?

If you have deleted your graphics card driver, you can restore it by installing it manually. Download its latest version from the official manufacturer’s website and run the installer file. If your display is not visible, you can install it in Safe Mode. If you cannot install the GPU driver, restore your system via the Windows Recovery Environment.

How do I restore deleted drivers in Windows 11?

To restore deleted drivers on Windows 11, open the Device Manager and scan for hardware changes. If this does not work, restart your system. Windows 11 will automatically install the missing driver on restart. Alternatively, you can also download the required driver from the official website of your computer manufacturer and install it manually.