Fix: “Blender Render Crashes or Freezes”

If Blender crashes or freezes during rendering, follow these troubleshooting steps to fix the issue.

Solution 1: Increase Virtual Memory

Rendering in Blender requires significant RAM. Increasing virtual memory can prevent crashes.

1. Press Windows + R, type sysdm.cpl, and press Enter.
2. Go to the Advanced tab and click Settings under Performance.
3. Switch to the Advanced tab and click Change under Virtual Memory.
4. Uncheck Automatically manage paging file size.
5. Select Custom size and set the Initial size to at least 1.5x your RAM and the Maximum size to 3x your RAM.
6. Click OK and restart your PC.

Solution 2: Reduce Render Tile Size

Large tile sizes can overload your GPU or CPU, causing crashes.

1. Open Blender and go to Render Properties.
2. Under Performance, adjust the Tile Size:
   • For CPU rendering, set it to 32×32 or 64×64.
   • For GPU rendering, set it to 128×128 or 256×256.
3. Restart Blender and try rendering again.

Solution 3: Lower Sample Count

High sample counts increase RAM and GPU usage, leading to crashes.

1. Go to Render Properties.
2. Reduce the Render Samples value.
3. Enable Denoising under Sampling to compensate for lower samples.

Solution 4: Disable GPU Rendering (If Unstable)

Some GPUs may not handle rendering well, causing Blender to crash.

1. Go to Edit → Preferences → System.
2. Under Cycles Render Devices, switch from GPU Compute to CPU.
3. Restart Blender and try rendering again.

Solution 5: Update Graphics Drivers

Outdated or corrupted GPU drivers can cause crashes during rendering.

1. Press Windows + X and select Device Manager.
2. Expand Display adapters and right-click your GPU.
3. Select Update driver and choose Search automatically for updated driver software.
4. Restart your PC and test Blender again.

Solution 6: Use Simplified Shaders

Heavy shaders and complex materials can overload your GPU.

1. Switch to Solid View before rendering.
2. Reduce the number of reflective and high-poly materials.
3. Use Simple Shader mode in Viewport Display.

Solution 7: Render in Smaller Segments

If Blender crashes when rendering large frames, render in smaller sections.

1. Go to Output Properties.
2. Under Dimensions, reduce the resolution and render smaller regions.
3. Use the Border Render option to render parts of the image separately.

For more “Blender” solutions, please check our Blender.

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