Fix Zoom Crashes Windows 10 Computer

Zoom may sometimes cause such a high CPU and RAM usage that it crashes your Windows 10 computer. First, your machine gets really slow. It may need 10 seconds or more to process your commands. Then, it completely freezes and crashes. That’s not a pleasant thing to experience, especially if you’re presenting something during a video meeting.

In this guide, we’ll show how you can troubleshoot Zoom if it’s crashing your computer. We’ll also explore how you can prevent this issue in the first place. After all, prevention is always better than cure, isn’t it?

How Do I Stop Zoom From Crashing My Computer?

Close Unnecessary Programs

One of the reasons why Zoom is crashing your PC is that it conflicts with other apps and programs running on your machine. So, close all the other programs that you don’t actively use. It’s a known fact that video meetings put a strain on your bandwidth and computer resources. By closing unnecessary programs, you actually free up more resources for Zoom to use.

There are two quick ways to do that. You can either use the Task Manager or clean boot your computer.

After you launch the Task Manager, click on the Processes tab, and right-click the programs you want to close. Select End task and you’re done.

If you decide to clean boot your computer, you’ll find all the instructions and steps to follow in this guide.

Disable Hardware Acceleration

Zoom has a series of advanced features that can significantly improve the video and audio quality during meetings. But this could turn into a double-edged sword if your hardware is not really up to the task.

For example, hardware acceleration can make the image worse if not used properly. Enabling this option puts additional strain on your hardware and this could lead to system freezes and crashes. Disable hardware acceleration and check if Zoom still crashes your PC.

1. Launch Zoom and click on your profile picture.
2. Then go to Settings and select Video.
3. Click on the Advanced button (lower right-hand corner).
4. Untick the following options:
   • Enable hardware acceleration for video processing.
   • Enable hardware acceleration for sending video.
   • And Enable hardware acceleration for receiving video.
5. Relaunch Zoom and check the results.

Clear the Cache and Junk Files

Every time you launch an app or program, temporary files get created and stored on your computer. Clearing your Zoom cache, as well as all the other junk files from your computer may fix this issue. All the files are bloating your computer.

The quickest way to remove junk and temporary files is to run Disk Cleanup.

1. Launch the tool, select your main drive and wait until the tool has scanned your files.
2. Then select the files you want to remove.
3. Make sure to tick both the checkboxes for your temporary files.
4. Hit OK and let Windows clean the junk files.

Adjust Visual Effects Settings on PC

Windows 10’s Visual Effects feature adds animation and various effects to your videos and UI. But you can speed up your system by disabling this feature.

1. Type ‘adjust performance‘ in the Windows Search bar.
2. Under Performance options, select the Visual Effects tab.
3. Then check the Adjust for the best performance checkbox.
4. Restart your PC and launch Zoom. Check if you notice any improvements.

Increase Pagefile Size

Use this solution if own an SSD computer. The main idea is to manually adjust the Pagefile Size yourself, instead of letting Windows 10 decide on the best settings.

1. Go back to Performance options (you can also type SystemPropertiesAdvanced in the Windows Search bar).
2. Click on the Advanced tab.
3. Then go to Virtual memory, and click on the Change button.
4. Uncheck Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.
5. Tick Custom size. Set up the pagefile size you need. Set it to 16GB.
6. Save the changes. Launch Zoom again. Check if the app still crashes your computer.

Update, Reinstall or Roll Back Your Drivers

Many users managed to fix this issue by updating, reinstalling, or rolling back their camera and display drivers.

1. Launch the Device Manager and click locate your Camera and Display drivers.
2. Click on Cameras and select your camera driver.
3. Right-click on your driver and select Update driver. If that did not work, repeat the steps and select Uninstall device.
4. Then restart your computer. Your machine will automatically reinstall the newest driver version.
5. If the problem persists, right-click again on your driver and select Properties.
6. Then click on the Driver tab and select Roll Back Driver. Check if the problem is gone.
7. Now, if the issue persists, do the same for your display driver.

Override Power Requests From Zoom

Zoom may sometimes send Power Requests to Windows. As result, your computer display turns off randomly and other processes stop working. To check if this the case with your computer, launch Command Prompt as an admin and enter the powercfg -requests command.

If you find any Power Requests coming from Zoom, you can manually add a new request to override Zoom’s power requests. The request pattern to use is this: powercfg -requestsoverride CALLER_TYPE “NAME” REQUEST.

Depending on the requests you find, your commands should look something like this:

• powercfg -requestsoverride PROCESS “Zoom.exe” DISPLAY
• powercfg -requestsoverride PROCESS “Zoom.exe” SYSTEM

Let Zoom Run on Your Most Powerful GPU

If your computer is equipped with an NVIDIA GPU or other powerful external GPU, let Zoom run on it. In other words, specify your preferred GPU for Zoom. Use this solution if your machine is equipped with multiple graphics processors.

1. Navigate to Settings → System → Display.
2. Then click Graphics settings (under Multiple Displays).
3. Select Classic app from the drop-down menu.
4. Hit the Browse button to locate the Zoom.exe file in order to specify the app.
5. Then click on Options and select the graphics preference you want to use for Zoom.
6. Let Zoom run on high performance and use your computer’s most capable GPU.
7. Apply the changes. Launch Zoom again and check if the computer crashing problem is gone.

Disable Google Backup and Sync

Many users who experienced Zoom crashes fixed the issue by turning off Google Backup and Sync. The app automatically backs up all your content to the cloud. Quit Google Backup and Sync and check if Zoom is still crashing.

If you use a different program to back up and sync your data, disable it and check if the issue is gone.

Conclusion

Zoom may sometimes use too much CPU, GPU, and memory power leaving nothing for core Windows 10 processes. This often leads to random computer crashes.

We hope you managed to fix the problem with the help of this guide. Drop us a comment below and let us know how the troubleshooting process went for you.