How to fix League of Legends DirectX error

It has been over a decade since Riot Games developed and published their multiplayer battle area game League of Legends. Over the years, this game rose to global popularity, even going has high as having 7.5 million concurrent players. League of Legends paved the way for numerous budding content creators to achieve worldwide fame through their content as well as esports athletes through various tournaments. Even after 10 years, it is still one of the most played multiplayer games and one of the biggest esports titles. However, many players have reported that they’ve been facing a DirectX error while trying to launch League of Legends.

In many instances, players have reported that whenever they try to run League of Legends, an error message pops up saying – “An unknown DirectX error has occurred and League of Legends cannot start. Please make sure your video card is using the latest video drivers from the manufacturer.” As stated in the error message, this typically occurs if your graphics drivers or any related softwares are outdated or corrupted.

Here are some solutions that will let you play League of Legends without having to worry about any DirectX error –

• Update your graphics driver

          The first step you should take is directly follow the solution stated in the error message. It asks you to have the latest graphics drivers installed on your computer. You need to do just that.

1.  Depending on whether you have an Nvidia or AMD graphics card, launch the respective graphics driver software. For Nvidia graphics cards, launch GeForce Experience. For AMD graphics cards, launch AMD Radeon Software.
2.  If your drivers are not up to date, you will find the Update feature prompting you to download the latest drivers. You can also manually search for updates. The exact location of the Update option depends on your software.
3.  Update your drivers and restart your PC.
4.  If updating your graphics drivers does not work, you can try manually uninstalling your driver software and reinstall it from your graphics card manufacturer’s website.

• Reinstall DirectX and .NET Framework

   In some occasions, it has been observed that DirectX error in League of Legends occur due to corrupted DirectX software or .NET Framework. The solution to this is reinstalling these softwares.

1. Open up the Start menu and click on the Settings icon.
2. Go to Apps and Features.
3. Search for any and all versions of DirectX and .NET Framework and uninstall them.
4. Now go to Microsoft’s official website and download these softwares.
5. Install them and restart your PC.

• Repair League of Legends files

      Even though the error message says that something is wrong with your graphics drivers, it might not be the actual case. Sometimes, the problem lies with the League of Legends game files themselves resulting in a DirectX error. Repair your game files by following the steps below.

1. Right-click on League of Legends icon on your desktop. Select Properties.
2. Click on Open file location. You’ll have access to the game’s installation directory.
3. Delete some of the files in the directory. You can go for the files in the config and the RAD subfolder.
4. Open the League of Legends launch Window. Select the ? (Help) option and click on Repair.
5. After the file repair and restoration is complete, launch the game to check whether everything has been fixed.

These solutions helped many players overcome the DirectX error while trying to launch League of Legends. Hopefully, it will work for you too.

Cover Image Credits: Two Hat