How to Fix: Your Graphics Card Or Driver Doesn’t Support OpenGL 4.3

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You get the error “Your graphics card or driver doesn’t support OpenGL 4.3” when trying to launch Blender or Minecraft. You will either see the program crashing or it won’t open at all. The error means that your GPU or the driver doesn’t meet Blender’s OpenGL 4.3 requirements. So, the lack of support stops you from accessing the Blender interface or the 3D area. That means you install the latest graphics card drivers on your system. This usually happens due to having old graphics card drivers, but sometimes your GPU may be old and cannot support OpenGL 4.3. It is also possible that your computer is selecting the wrong GPU, which is an issue for machines like laptops with more than one GPU.

Your Graphics Card Or Driver Doesn’t Support OpenGL 4.3. This guide will help you find and fix the OpenGL 4.3 error in Blender.

 

Your Graphics Card Or Driver Doesn’t Support OpenGL 4.3
Your Graphics Card Or Driver Doesn’t Support OpenGL 4.3

1. Check If Your Graphics Card Supports OpenGL 4.3

It’s important to see if your graphics card supports OpenGL 4.3 before trying to use it much. Some old cards made before 2012 might not work with OpenGL 4.3. Once you’ve checked, you will know if your graphics card is compatible with the newest version of OpenGL 4.3. In this case, updating the GPU drivers will not fix the problem, so you might have to get a newer graphics card.

Note: You can use GPU-Z or OpenGL Extensions Viewer to see what extensions your graphics card supports. Even if you get the latest drivers, it won’t work if your card can’t handle it. You’ll have to get a more modern GPU.

  1. Open the installer file and install OpenGL Extensions Viewer.
  2. Run the file. Look at the top summary or Report tab and view the OpenGL version.
  3. If it is 4.3 or greater, then you’re certain, as it supports it. If it is less than 4.3, your GPU will not function.

    Check If Your Graphics Card Supports OpenGL 4.3
    Check If Your Graphics Card Supports OpenGL 4.3
  4. You can optionally check your GPU model and see the OpenGL support under it.

    Contact the OpenGL support
    Contact the OpenGL support

2. Update System Graphics Drivers

Updating GPU drivers is the most common way of solving this problem. A possible reason might be an old graphics card/drivers that do not support OpenGL 4.3. Hence, the old GPU drivers could be updated to make them compatible with OpenGL 4.3. It is a quick one, which corrects the error in no time. Therefore, update drivers manually, or get official driver updater utilities, i.e., NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel.

Windows 10/11:

  1. First, press two keys at the same time – Windows and X from the keyboard. Click Device Manager.
  2. In here, seek the display adaptor and expand. Then you have to click the option Update driver. After that, right-click on your GPU (for example, NVIDIA, AMD or Intel).
  3. Choose Search automatically for drivers.
  4. If a new version is installed, then install it. Otherwise, you have the right to go to the next step.
  5. It is easy to come across its update on the manufacturer’s website. Either do it manually.

    Update System Graphics Drivers Windows 10/11
    Update System Graphics Drivers Windows 10/11

For NVIDIA

  1. Go to the driver’s website and first download GeForce Experience.
  2. Open, click the Drivers tab. Then, click on Check for updates.
  3. When available, it will have to be installed.
NVIDIA GD Updates
NVIDIA GD Updates

AMD

  1. Download the AMD software from their official site.
  2. Let it recognize your GPU, run it → Install the driver that is recommended.

    AMD GD updates
    AMD GD updates

Intel (for built-in GPUs)

  1. You will have to go to Intel Driver & Support Assistant.
  2. It’ll display an option to download the proposed updates to install.

    Intel (for built-in GPUs)
    Intel (for built-in GPUs)

3. DirectX and Visual C++ Redistributables to install

 

Some apps, based on OpenGL, i.e., Minecraft or Blender, can utilize other system files, such as DirectX or Visual C++ Redistributable. These can cause OpenGL errors if you are missing or out of date with these. Your system may not put things in order again, but downloading and installing the latest versions of Microsoft may work. So, you can simply fix the GPU compatibility issues by installing the latest version or updating the current drivers. Thus, it will launch OpenGL-based apps without errors.

  1. If you haven’t, download and install the DirectX End-User Runtime.
  2. Download (latest versions) of Visual C++ Redistributables ( included in Mac getSupportFragmentManager method HashMap ).
  3. Go x64 if you have a 64-bit Win (install both if unsure). 32-bit apps need the x86 version.
  4. Run and install, then restart your computer.
DirectX and Visual C++ Redistributables to install
DirectX and Visual C++ Redistributables to install

4. Manually Set Preferred GPU for Blender

Blender works improperly or crashes on startup when using several graphics cards and monitors. Particularly, if every monitor is tied to a different GPU, then the Blender startup file opens a window for every monitor. In the NVIDIA Control Panel, it is possible to ask Blender to use NVIDIA’s OpenGL 4.3-capable hardware. It will eventually win over all startup/rendering problems of the software.

  1. Launch NVIDIA Control Panel by right-clicking your desktop, or you can search for it in the Start menu.
  2. Then go and choose Manage 3D Settings in the menu on the left.
  3. Press Predefined Programs, then click Program Settings.
  4. Now go to the List and add Blender by selecting ‘Select a program to customize’.
  5. Choose ‘Blender (blender.exe)’.
Manually Set Preferred GPU for Blender
Manually Set Preferred GPU for Blender

 

  1. If Blender is not included, then browse to the Blender installation path and add it manually by clicking Add.
  2. Now go to the setting “OpenGL rendering GPU” and choose the Preferred GPU
  3. Then change auto select from your main GPU, i.e., ‘NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090’.
  4. Then click Apply in the bottom-right corner.
  5. Save this and restart Blender to implement the new settings.

5. Upgrade Your Graphics Card

If the above don’t, it may just be that your card is too old. OpenGL 4.3 is not available at all on some older GPUs. The problem is solved by upgrading to a newer graphics card, which also increases your overall performance. So, this method will check the current GPU with OpenGL 4.3 requirements. If it does not meet the requirements, you should replace it with a newer, fully compatible model to eliminate repeating the error;

  1. Open the Start menu and type “dxdiag” in the search bar, then press Enter. You can either press Win + R and type the same command.
  2. First of all, enter the Display tab → Note your GPU name.
  3. Check your GPU for the OpenGL support → Check OpenGL support.
  4. If it doesn’t support 4.3:

For desktops: Upgrade to a new GPU like:

– NVIDIA GTX 750 or newer.

– AMD Radeon R7 260 or newer.

For laptops: If your laptop supports an external GPU (eGPU), use that; or you can simply upgrade your laptop.

So,  we hope it will fix the: “Your graphics card or driver doesn’t support OpenGL 4.3” error.

 

 

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