[Solved] World of Warcraft was unable to start up 3D acceleration

If you see this error message when launching World of Warcraft: World of Warcraft was unable to start up 3D acceleration, don’t worry. This is a common error and you can fix the issue of being unable to start up 3D acceleration in your World of Warcraft.

Why is WoW unable to start up 3D acceleration?

Why does the error message pop up on my computer? Generally, this error pertains to your graphics card or DirectX feature, and the incorrect game settings can also cause the error “World of Warcraft was unable to start up 3D acceleration“.

But don’t worry if your 3d acceleration is not supported by WOW. Many people resolved the issue with the solutions below, so read on and get your game up and running in no time.

Try these fixes

1. Make sure your video card is supported by WoW
2. Run your game as an administrator
3. Update your Windows
4. Update your video card driver
5. Disable overlays
6. Ensure that your monitor is plugged into the correct output

Fix 1: Make sure your video card is supported by WoW

When you see the unable to start up 3D acceleration in WoW, the first thing you should do is to make sure that your video card is supported by World of Warcraft. Here’s the list for your reference: https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/31372

If your video card is not on the list, it’s probably that your video card doesn’t even meet the minimum system requirements for WoW to run. In that case, you’ll need to upgrade your hardware device for the game to run properly.

If your computer meets the system requirements, but the unable to start up 3D acceleration error remains, please move on.

Fix 2: Run your game as an administrator

Running WoW as admin has been working well for many WOW players who have the unable to start up 3D acceleration error. To see if this does the trick for you:

1. Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\, right-click the World of Warcraft
2. File Explorer opens. Right click on your game.exe file, and click Properties.
   
3. Click the Compatibility tab, and check the box next to Run this program as an administrator, then click Apply and OK to save your changes.
   
4. Relaunch World of Warcraft again to see if it works.

If this method doesn’t work for you, don’t worry. We have something else to try.

Fix 3: Update Windows

If your system isn’t updated regularly, there could be compatibility issues that can cause problems like 3d acceleration is not supported by WOW. To make sure that you have the latest available updates installed:

1. On your keyboard, hit the Windows key, then type check for updates, then click Check for updates.
   
   
2. Click Check for updates, and Windows will scan for any available updates.
   
3. If there are available updates, Windows will automatically download them for you. Restart your computer for the update to take effect if needed.
4. If there are no available updates, you’ll see You’re up to date like this.

Then try your World of Warcraft again to see if it the error persists. If the problem remains, please move on to the next fix.

Fix 4: Update your video card driver

The missing or outdated graphics card driver can lead to the error message “World of Warcraft was unable to start up 3D acceleration” and failing to play the game. So you should verify that your graphics card driver is up to date.

There are two ways to update the graphics card driver: manually and automatically.

Manually: you can go to your graphics card manufacturer and find the latest correct driver that is compatible with your Windows operating system. This requires time and computer skills.

Automatically: if you don’t have time or patience, you can do it automatically with Driver Easy.

Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for it. You don’t need to know exactly what system your computer is running, you don’t need to risk downloading and installing the wrong driver, and you don’t need to worry about making a mistake when installing.

You can update your drivers automatically with either the 7 days free trial or the Pro version of Driver Easy. It takes just 2 clicks, and you get full support and a 30-day money-back guarantee with the Pro version:

1. Download and install Driver Easy.
2. Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.
   
3. Click the Activate & Update button next to the flagged device to automatically download and install the correct version of this driver.
   
   Or click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system (You’ll need the Pro version for this – when you select Update All, you’ll get a prompt to upgrade. If you’re not prepared to purchase the Pro version yet, Driver Easy provides a 7-day trial at no cost, granting access to all Pro features like fast downloads and easy installation. No charges will occur until after your 7-day trial period ends.)
   
4. After updating, restart your computer to take effect.

Open your game again and see if it works now. If the 3d acceleration is not supported by WOW error remains, please move on.

Fix 5: Disable overlays

Overlay incompatibility could also cause problems like 3d acceleration is not supported in World of Warcraft. To see if this is the cause for your problem, you can disable overlays in programs that may have them enabled, like Discord, Nvidia GeForce Experience, MSI Afterburner, RadeonPro, and EVGA Precision.

Here are the instructions on how to disable overlays on Discord and GeForce Experience for you reference:

On Discord

1. Run Discord.
2. Click the cogwheel icon at the bottom of the left pane.
   
3. Click the Overlay tab and toggle off Enable in-game overlay.
   

On GeForce Experience

1. Run GeForce Experience.
2. Click the cogwheel icon at the upper right corner.
   
3. Scroll to toggle off In-Game Overlay.
   

If you’re not sure how to disable overlays in other programs, please refer to the support manual for further instructions.

Fix 6: Ensure that your monitor is plugged into the correct output

This is actually not uncommon, plugging your monitor into the wrong video output could also lead to the 3d acceleration is not supported error in WoW. If you have an external monitor for your laptop, or if you have more than one monitor, always make sure that the cables and the video outputs are all setup correctly.

That’s it. Hope this post comes in handy and helps fix the error message “World of Warcraft was unable to start up 3D acceleration”. If you have any questions, feel free to add a comment below.

• games
• Windows