How to remove AMD and NVIDIA graphics card drivers?

Removing drivers is an important task that many PC users face. The main reason for their removal are various errors that can only be fixed by a complete reinstallation of the drivers. They also need to be reinstalled when replacing a video card, but this situation is much less common. The procedure for proper removal is extremely simple, but has its own subtleties. For example, the removal process will depend on the manufacturer of the video card. In this article, we will detail how to remove video card drivers.

"Programs and components"

First, let's analyze the built-in Windows tools, because they can be used without access to the Internet. One of these tools is the control panel, which contains the “Programs and Features” option. Using this method is easy, so consider it first.

How to remove Nvidia video card drivers using "Programs and Features":

1. Log in to the control panel. You can do this by opening the "Start" menu and clicking on the "Control Panel" button in the right submenu. The launch of the control panel may vary in different operating systems. For example, in Windows 10, there will be a Options button instead.
2. Make sure that the display shows small or large icons in the right corner of the panel.
3. Launch Programs and Features. If you went to the "Options" menu on Windows 10, click on "Applications".
4. In the list that opens, highlight the graphics driver from NVIDIA and click Remove.
5. After that, a window will open with preparations for uninstalling the driver, wait for it to finish and click "Uninstall".
6. Removing will take several minutes, after which the program will offer to restart the computer, which we recommend doing.
7. Now you can install new drivers, since the old ones were completely removed from your computer.

How to remove AMD video card drivers using "Programs and Features":

1. Repeat steps 1-3 from the previous instruction.
2. In the list, select AMD Software and click Uninstall.
3. Confirm the deletion by clicking Yes.
4. Next, the uninstall program opens, which, after the operation is completed, will require you to restart the computer. We recommend doing this by clicking "Restart Now."

device Manager

In addition to the control panel, Windows has a device manager, which will also help to deal with the removal of drivers.

How to remove the video card driver using the device manager:

1. Hold down the Win + R keys, after which the Run window will open, where you need to register devmgmt.msc.
2. In the task manager that opens, find the "Video Adapters" item.
3. Expand it by clicking the arrow on the left, and select the device to which the driver belongs.
4. Now click on this PCM device and click “Properties”.
5. In the new window, go to the “Driver” tab and in the menu below click on the “Delete” button.
6. In the confirmation window, check the box in the only possible place and click "OK."
7. After that, the driver removal program will open, where you need to confirm the removal again and restart the computer after it is complete.

Third party programs

Now you know how to remove the video card drivers using the built-in tools, but do not forget that there are also programs from third-party developers that will allow you to remove the drivers most correctly without harming the system. In this article we will analyze one of the most popular and reliable programs - Display Driver Uninstaller.

Driver Removal:

1. Before removing the video card driver, you need to go to the official website of the developer - https://www.wagnardsoft.com/content/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu-v17055-released and click on the link underlined in the image below.
   
2. On the new page, again click on the link underlined in the picture.
   
3. Run the downloaded file and specify the path to unpack the program.
4. Now go to that folder and run the Display Driver Uninstaller file.
5. In the window that opens, select the normal deletion mode and click the "Run normal mode" button.
   
6. Click "Uninstall and Reboot" in a new window.
7. Under the pop-up message, click “OK” and wait until the PC reboots.

After that, the video card drivers will be deleted.

Conclusion

As you can see, removing drivers is pretty easy. The article did not mention drivers from Intel, as they are rarely used, but you can remove them in a similar way using any of the above methods. In addition to the video card, other components and even PC peripherals have their drivers. They can also be deleted through the "Device Manager" or "Control Panel".