5 Ways to Fix Diablo 4 Stuttering Issues on a Windows PC

Diablo 4 is a game for which many players report stuttering issues that seriously impact the gameplay. This stuttering can sometimes happen because of frequent and big frame rate (FPS) drops. However, in other cases it can be frame stuttering when GPUs process frames too slowly, causing hanging effects. Such stuttering can make Diablo 4 quite unplayable in the worst cases and usually spoils the gameplay. This is how you can fix Diablo 4 stuttering issues on Windows 11/10 PCs.

Read also: 7 Ways to Fix Diablo 4 Not Launching on a Windows PC

Reduce Graphical Settings for Diablo 4

To start, I recommend players lower in-game graphical settings for Diablo 4. Overlay high graphical settings affect frame rates, causing FPS drops and stuttering to arise. Try lowering the graphics settings in Diablo 4 like this.

1. Start the Diablo 4 game.
2. Next, select Options on the game menu.
3. Select the Graphics tab.
4. If your PC has a couple of GPUs, select your dedicated NVIDIA/AMD graphics card on the Adapter drop-down menu.
5. Unselect the Vertical Sync option to disable it.
6. Select a lower Texture Quality option than the one currently set. This can be Medium or Low depending on preference, but it must be less than what’s currently selected.
   
   

   The Texture Quality setting

7. Next, select a lower Quality Preset option to lower graphical settings.
8. Click Save Changes to apply the new graphical settings.
9. Try playing Diablo 4 again. Reduce the Graphical Preset setting even further if Diablo 4 stuttering persists.

Turn off the Use Browser Hardware Acceleration Option

Many D4 players confirm disabling the Use browser hardware acceleration setting in Blizzard can fix Diablo 4 stuttering. This is a more widely confirmed way to fix frame stuttering for Diablo 4. You can turn off the Use browser hardware acceleration option like this.

1. Start the Blizzard gaming client.
2. Click the Blizzard logo at the top-left corner of Battle.net.
3. Select Settings to access the App tab.
   
   

   The Settings menu option

4. Uncheck the checkbox for the Use browser hardware acceleration option.
   
   

   The Use browser hardware acceleration option

5. Click Done to apply the Blizzard settings.

Disable Microsoft Device Association Root Enumerator

Disabling the Microsoft Device Association Root Enumerator is a rather curious potential fix for Diablo 4 stuttering that some players say has worked for them. I can’t explain why the Microsoft Device Association Root Enumerator causes stuttering, but players also say they’ve fixed stuttering in other Windows games by disabling it. This is how you can disable the enumerator.

1. Press the Start button by right-clicking it to bring up a menu from which you can select Device Manager.
2. Next, double-click Software devices.
3. Right-click Microsoft Device Association Root Enumerator to select its Disable device option.
   
   

   The Disable device option

4. Select Yes when prompted to confirm you want to disable that device.
5. Exit Device Manager and restart Windows.

Close Superfluous Background Apps Before Playing

Closing unneeded background apps before playing Diablo 4 is a standard optimization method for Windows PC gaming. Doing this will free up more system memory and resources for playing Diablo 4, which might enhance performance by reducing stuttering to some extent. You can close unneeded background programs and processes like this.

1. Start Task Manager (press Ctrl + Shift + Esc) to access its Processes tab.
2. Select unneeded third-party program processes and click End task to close them. However, don’t disable anything listed under Windows processes.
   
   

   The Processes tab in Task Manager

3. Go to the Startup tab in Task Manager.
   
   

   The Startup tab in Task Manager

4. Select programs you don’t need to start with Windows and click Disable. This will prevent programs from automatically running in the background after restarting your PC.

You can also try applying the clean-boot troubleshooting method. This is a more thorough way to disable startup items with third-party services included. Microsoft’s clean boot help page provides detailed instructions for applying this troubleshooting method.

Update the Graphical Driver for Your GPU

Updating graphics drivers can sometimes enhance the performance and stability of Windows PC games. In this case, a fresh new driver for your graphics card might enhance performance by reducing Diablo 4 stuttering. Applying this potential fix will more likely have an impact if your current graphics driver is many months old. This is the manual way to update an NVIDIA/AMD graphics driver.

1. Click the Start menu with the right button to select Run, input dxdiag, and press Return. Select Display to view details for your graphics card in the DirectX Diagnostic Tool that opens.
2. Run a browser and open the NVIDIA or AMD page for downloading graphics drivers.
3. Select your graphics card and Windows platform on the selection page and click Submit/Search.
   
   

   The AMD graphics driver download selection page

4. Next, select Download to obtain the file for your graphics card’s latest driver.
   
   

   An AMD driver download page

5. Click File Explorer and navigate to the download folder that includes the graphics driver file.
6. Double-click the driver file to access its installer and select to install from there.

Although there isn’t a surefire way to fix Diablo 4 stuttering, the potential resolutions above have worked for players. Applying those potential fixes can at least reduce the stuttering to make your Diablo 4 game more playable.