Skip to main content

Enabling WebGPU: Troubleshooting Guide

Updated this week

Our rendering engine uses WebGPU for hardware-accelerated graphics. If you're experiencing performance issues or seeing a fallback to WebGL, this guide will help you enable WebGPU on your device.

Quick Checklist

  • Using a supported browser (Chrome or Firefox)

  • Hardware acceleration enabled in browser

  • Chrome added to Windows Graphics settings as "High performance" (per-app setting)

  • Dedicated GPU enabled and selected (for laptops with dual GPUs)

  • GPU drivers up to date

Step 1: Check Your Browser

⚠️ Unsupported Browsers

The following browsers do not fully support WebGPU:

  • Opera — Limited or no WebGPU support

  • Microsoft Edge — Inconsistent support, may require flags

  • Safari on Intel Macs — WebGPU is only available on Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3)

Recommended: Use Google Chrome (version 113+) or Firefox (version 121+) for the best WebGPU experience.

Step 2: Verify WebGPU Status in Chrome

Open a new tab and navigate to:

chrome://gpu

Look for the Graphics Feature Status section. You should see:

What a healthy configuration looks like:

  • Canvas: Hardware accelerated

  • Compositing: Hardware accelerated

  • OpenGL: Enabled

  • Rasterization: Hardware accelerated

  • Video Decode: Hardware accelerated

  • Video Encode: Hardware accelerated

  • WebGL: Hardware accelerated

  • WebGPU: Hardware accelerated ← This is the critical one!

If WebGPU shows as Disabled or Software only, continue to the next steps.

Step 3: Enable Hardware Acceleration in Chrome

  1. Open Chrome and go to chrome://settings/?search=acceleration

  2. Toggle ON: Use graphics acceleration when available

  3. Click Relaunch to restart Chrome

💡After relaunching, go back to chrome://gpu and verify that WebGPU now shows as Hardware accelerated.

Step 4: Configure Windows Graphics Settings for Chrome

⚠️Important: Windows requires you to configure GPU preferences on a per-app basis. Simply enabling global settings isn't enough — you must specifically add Chrome and set it to use your high-performance GPU.

Part A: Add Chrome to High Performance GPU

  1. Open Windows Settings (Win + I)

  2. Go to System → Display

  3. Scroll down and click Graphics

  4. Under "Add an app", select Desktop app and click Browse

  5. Navigate to Chrome's installation folder:

    • Typical path: C:\\Program Files\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe

  6. Select chrome.exe and click Add

  7. Find Google Chrome in the list and click Options

  8. Select High performance (this forces Chrome to use your dedicated GPU)

  9. Click Save

  10. Restart Chrome (close all Chrome windows completely and reopen)

  11. Check chrome://gpu — if WebGPU still isn't working, restart your computer

⚠️If Chrome restart doesn't work: Some systems require a full PC restart for the GPU preference to take effect. If you still see WebGPU as disabled after restarting Chrome, restart your computer.

💡Tip: The three options are:

  • Let Windows decide — May use integrated GPU for browsers (not recommended)

  • Power saving — Uses integrated GPU (slower)

  • High performance — Uses dedicated GPU (recommended for WebGPU)

Part B: Enable Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling (Optional)

This global setting can improve performance but is separate from the per-app GPU selection:

  1. In the same Graphics settings page

  2. Click Change default graphics settings

  3. Toggle ON: Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling

  4. Restart your computer (required only for this setting, not for Part A)

💡Quick summary:

  • Part A (per-app GPU): Just restart Chrome

  • Part B (GPU scheduling): Requires full computer restart </aside>

Step 5: Configure NVIDIA Control Panel (For NVIDIA GPUs)

Note: Windows Graphics settings (Step 4) take precedence over NVIDIA Control Panel settings. However, configuring both ensures maximum compatibility.

Common Problem: On laptops with both integrated and dedicated GPUs, Chrome may be using the weaker integrated GPU instead of your NVIDIA GPU. This is especially common when Chrome isn't explicitly added to the Windows Graphics settings.

To configure NVIDIA Control Panel as a backup:

  1. Right-click on your desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel

  2. Go to Manage 3D settings → Program Settings

  3. Click Add and select Google Chrome (or browse to chrome.exe)

  4. Under Select the preferred graphics processor, choose: High-performance NVIDIA processor

  5. Click Apply

  6. Restart Chrome

✅Verification: After configuring both Windows and NVIDIA settings, open chrome://gpu and check the "GPU0" section. It should show your NVIDIA GPU as the active graphics adapter.

Step 6: BIOS Settings (Advanced)

For Gaming Laptops with MUX Switch (e.g., Acer Predator, ASUS ROG)

youtube video for how to do it for predator

Some gaming laptops have a MUX switch that controls GPU routing. If your dedicated GPU isn't being detected:

  1. Restart your laptop and enter BIOS (usually F2, Del, or F12 during boot)

  2. Look for Graphics Mode, GPU Mode, or MUX Switch settings

  3. Change from MSHybrid (or Optimus) to Discrete GPU or dGPU Only

  4. Save and exit BIOS

  5. Your laptop will restart with the dedicated GPU enabled </aside>

Step 7: Update GPU Drivers

Outdated drivers can cause WebGPU to be disabled.

For NVIDIA:

  1. Download GeForce Experience or visit NVIDIA Drivers

  2. Check for and install the latest driver

For AMD:

  1. Download AMD Software

  2. Check for and install the latest driver

For Intel:

  1. Use Intel Driver & Support Assistant

Still Having Issues?

If WebGPU is still not working after following all steps:

  1. Take a screenshot of your chrome://gpu page

  2. Note your hardware: GPU model, laptop/desktop model, Windows version

  3. Contact support with these details

Useful diagnostic info to include:

  • Browser version (found in chrome://settings/help)

  • Windows version (Settings → System → About)

  • Screenshot of Graphics Feature Status section </aside>

FAQ

  • Why does WebGPU matter?

    WebGPU provides significantly better rendering performance compared to WebGL. It enables features like GPU compute shaders and more efficient rendering pipelines, resulting in smoother performance especially for complex 3D scenes.

  • Can I use WebGL instead?

    Yes, the application will automatically fall back to WebGL if WebGPU is unavailable. However, you may experience reduced performance, especially with large or complex projects.

  • I'm on a Mac with Intel processor. What are my options?

    Unfortunately, WebGPU on Safari requires Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3). You can try using Chrome on Intel Mac, which may have better WebGPU support than Safari.

  • My laptop has both Intel and NVIDIA GPUs. Which one is being used?

    Check chrome://gpu — under "GPU0" and "GPU1" you'll see which GPUs are available. The "active" GPU is the one Chrome is using. Follow Step 5 above to ensure Chrome uses your NVIDIA GPU.

Related Articles
System Requirements
How to Boost Performance with GPU Access?
Did this answer your question?