Quick Summary
The "Pixel format not accelerated" error in Minecraft typically indicates that your computer's graphics card is not properly rendering the game's visuals, usually because your graphics drivers are outdated or there's a configuration issue. This means Minecraft is falling back on slower software rendering, leading to performance problems.
Common Causes
- Outdated Graphics Drivers: The most frequent cause is having outdated, corrupted, or incompatible graphics drivers installed. Older drivers may lack the necessary support for newer Minecraft versions or your specific hardware.
- Dedicated Graphics Card Not Being Used: Minecraft might be defaulting to your integrated graphics card instead of your more powerful dedicated graphics card (if you have one). This commonly happens on laptops with both integrated and dedicated GPUs.
- Driver Conflicts: Conflicting drivers, particularly after driver updates or changes, can cause rendering issues. This is rare but possible if old components from previous installations interfere with the new ones.
- Insufficient System Resources: While rare, insufficient RAM or VRAM can sometimes trigger this error, especially on lower-end systems or when running Minecraft with high settings.
- Corrupted Minecraft Installation: Very rarely, a corrupted Minecraft installation itself can cause graphical glitches, although this usually manifests in other more obvious errors.
Step-by-Step Fixes
Method 1: Update Graphics Drivers
Step 1: Identify your Graphics Card. Press Windows Key + R, type "dxdiag", and press Enter. Under the "Display" tab, note the "Name" of the graphics card.
Step 2: Download the latest drivers. Visit the website of your graphics card manufacturer (NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel). Navigate to the drivers section and download the latest drivers for your specific graphics card model and operating system.
Step 3: Install the drivers. Run the downloaded installer and follow the on-screen instructions. It's recommended to perform a "clean installation" if the option is available to remove any old driver files.
Step 4: Restart your computer. After the installation is complete, restart your computer to apply the changes.
Method 2: Force Minecraft to Use the Dedicated Graphics Card (if applicable)
Step 1: NVIDIA Control Panel (NVIDIA cards). Right-click on your desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel. Go to "Manage 3D settings" and the "Program Settings" tab.
Step 2: Add Minecraft. If Minecraft is not listed, click "Add" and browse to the Minecraft executable (usually located in the Minecraft installation folder or through the Minecraft launcher). Select "javaw.exe".
Step 3: Choose the High-performance processor. Under "Select the preferred graphics processor for this program", choose "High-performance NVIDIA processor". Click "Apply".
Step 4: AMD Radeon Settings (AMD cards). Right-click on your desktop and select AMD Radeon Settings. Go to "System" and "Switchable Graphics".
Step 5: Select High Performance. Find Minecraft (java.exe) in the list. Set its Graphics Setting to "High Performance".
Step 6: Restart Minecraft. Close and relaunch Minecraft to apply changes.
Method 3: Reinstall Graphics Drivers (Clean Install)
Step 1: Download Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU). Search for "DDU" (Display Driver Uninstaller) and download it from a reputable source (e.g., Guru3D).
Step 2: Boot into Safe Mode. Restart your computer in Safe Mode. The method varies depending on your Windows version, but typically involves pressing F8 or Shift+F8 during startup.
Step 3: Run DDU. Run Display Driver Uninstaller and select your graphics card manufacturer. Use the "Clean and restart" option.
Step 4: Reinstall Drivers. After your computer restarts, download and install the latest graphics drivers from the manufacturer's website (as described in Method 1).
Method 4: Allocate More RAM to Minecraft
Step 1: Open the Minecraft Launcher. Open your Minecraft Launcher.
Step 2: Access Installations. Click on the "Installations" tab.
Step 3: Edit your Profile. Select the profile you're using to play Minecraft and click the three dots, then click "Edit".
Step 4: More Options. Click on "More Options".
Step 5: Modify JVM Arguments. Locate the "JVM Arguments" line. You will see something like "-Xmx2G". The "2G" indicates 2 Gigabytes of RAM allocated to Minecraft. Increase this value (e.g., to "-Xmx4G" for 4 GB, or "-Xmx6G" for 6GB). Do not allocate more RAM than your system has available.
Step 6: Save your changes. Click "Save" at the bottom of the screen and launch Minecraft.
Method 5: Reinstall Minecraft
Step 1: Backup your Saves. Locate your Minecraft saves folder (usually in %appdata%\.minecraft\saves) and back it up.
Step 2: Uninstall Minecraft. Uninstall Minecraft through the Windows Control Panel (or Settings -> Apps in Windows 10/11).
Step 3: Delete Minecraft Files. Navigate to %appdata% and delete the ".minecraft" folder. This removes all Minecraft-related files.
Step 4: Reinstall Minecraft. Download and install the latest version of Minecraft from the official Minecraft website.
Step 5: Restore your Saves. Copy your backed-up saves folder back into the new ".minecraft\saves" directory.