How to Update NVIDIA Drivers

To update NVIDIA drivers, open the NVIDIA app, go to the Drivers tab, and click Download when a new version appears. Choose Express installation and restart. No app? Pick your GPU at nvidia.com/drivers and run the installer. GeForce Experience, which most older guides still describe, has been retired

The newest release as of September 19, 2026 is 616.92, for both Game Ready and Studio, dated September 9. If you’re on Windows 10, NVIDIA’s regular driver releases for it stop after this October

Last updated: September 19, 2026

• Update with the NVIDIA app
• Update manually (no app)
• Check which driver you have
• What an update means for your GPU and Windows version
• How often to update
• Linux (Ubuntu)
• Local AI: Ollama and the CUDA number
• If an update fails or breaks something

Update NVIDIA drivers with the NVIDIA app

The NVIDIA app is the route NVIDIA wants you on now, and it’s the least fiddly. The download is close to 1 GB (TechSpot lists 616.92 at 945 MB), so start it before you need the PC for something else. Tom’s HardwareTechSpot

1. Open the NVIDIA app from the Start menu. If it isn’t installed, download it from NVIDIA’s site, or tick “NVIDIA Graphics Driver and NVIDIA App” when you run a manual driver installer (covered below). GIGAZINE
2. Click Drivers. The app checks for updates by itself, and the refresh button in the top right forces a check. trackmangolfSlurpTech
3. Pick your driver type. NVIDIA’s support page describes a toggle behind the three-dot menu in the top-right corner that switches between Game Ready and Studio. NVIDIA
4. Click Download. If Windows asks for permission, say yes. trackmangolf
5. Choose Express installation. Pick Custom only if you want a clean install (see the last section). yahoo
6. Restart when the installer offers. The screen can flicker or go dark for a few seconds mid-install. That’s normal.

Game Ready or Studio?

Either one runs games and creative apps. Game Ready drivers arrive around big game launches. Studio drivers are tested against creative software such as Premiere and Blender, and NVIDIA describes their schedule as slower, roughly monthly. Only one can be installed at a time, and switching is quick. NVIDIA Studio FAQs | NVIDIA +2

Play new releases? Game Ready. Spend your week in an editor or a 3D package, and care more about stability than launch-day tweaks? Studio.

What happened to GeForce Experience and the Control Panel?

NVIDIA retired GeForce Experience in late 2024, when driver 566.36 shipped with the NVIDIA app in its place. The classic NVIDIA Control Panel followed on May 26, 2026 (driver 610.47). It no longer comes bundled with GeForce Game Ready or Studio drivers. If it’s already on your PC, it stays until you do a clean install, and it’s still a free download from the Microsoft Store, though NVIDIA won’t add features or fixes. RTX PRO cards are the exception for now. Nvidia bids goodbye to GeForce Experience — Nvidia App officially replaces it in the latest driver update | Tom’s Hardware +4

Looking for your old settings? Manage 3D Settings became Program Settings under Graphics in the NVIDIA app, and display options moved to the System tab. OnMSFT.com

Twenty years is a decent run for a gray settings window.

Update NVIDIA drivers manually (no app)

Use this when the app won’t install, keeps failing, or you’d rather not run another background program. Same driver, different delivery.

1. Find your GPU. Right-click Start, open Device Manager, and expand Display adapters. On a laptop you’ll often see an Intel or AMD entry too. You want the one that says NVIDIA. tomsguide
2. Go to nvidia.com/drivers, choose your product type, series, product, and operating system, then click Search. Pick Game Ready or Studio if the page asks. theseniorlistsalad
3. Download the installer and run it. It offers the driver alone or the driver plus the NVIDIA app. GIGAZINE
4. Choose Express, or Custom if you want a clean install, then restart.

Laptop owners get one extra step. NVIDIA’s release notes tell notebook users to check the laptop maker’s website for certified drivers. The generic driver works on plenty of laptops, but some makers ship customized versions, so a quick look at your model’s support page is worth two minutes. Back2Gaming

You’ll also see “Update driver” in Device Manager recommended elsewhere. It only searches what Windows already has, which makes it fine for reviving a blank screen and a poor way to get the current release.

How to check which NVIDIA driver you have

The NVIDIA app’s Drivers page lists the installed version. Without the app, open Device Manager, right-click your GPU under Display adapters, choose Properties, and read the Driver tab. The last five digits of the long number Windows shows are NVIDIA’s version, so 31.0.15.5222 is 552.22. New on Yahoo +2

In a terminal, on Windows or Linux:

nvidia-smi

It prints the driver version and a CUDA number near the top. For only the version: Windows 10 Forums

nvidia-smi --query-gpu=driver_version --format=csv

On Linux, cat /proc/driver/nvidia/version works too.

[AUTHOR ADD: your own nvidia-smi output (GPU, driver version, CUDA version) with the date, ideally from the machine you run local models on.]

What an update actually means for your GPU and Windows version

Not every card gets the same updates anymore.

Your setup	What updating gets you
RTX 50, 40, 30 or 20 series, or GTX 16 series, on Windows 11	Regular Game Ready and Studio releases
The same cards on Windows 10	Regular releases through October 2026, then quarterly security updates until October 2029
GTX 900 series, GTX 10 series, Titan V	Security updates only, through October 2028

NVIDIA says the last regular Game Ready and Studio driver that supports Windows 10 ships in October 2026, and new releases from November need Windows 11. Nothing stops working overnight and the security updates keep coming. What you lose is the regular game profiles and optimizations for new titles. The sensible move is to install the October release when it lands and start planning the Windows 11 upgrade. NVIDIA Ends Windows 10 Game Ready Driver Support in October 2026 +3

Game Ready support for Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta cards ended in October 2025, which covers the GTX 900 and 10 series and the Titan V. Turing (GTX 16 and RTX 20), Ampere, Ada, and Blackwell still get full releases. If you’re on a GTX 1060 or 1080, you aren’t cut off. You’re in maintenance mode. NVIDIA’s support-plan page has the details and links to a separate page on NVIDIA app support for these architectures. Nvidia confirms End-Of-Life plans for Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta – OC3D +3

How often should you update NVIDIA drivers?

When there’s a reason, not on every release. NVIDIA ships Game Ready drivers every few weeks, sometimes closer together: 616.64 landed September 3 and 616.92 followed six days later. Good reasons to install one are a game you’re about to play listing it, release notes naming a bug you actually have, a tool that wants a newer version, or a security update. If none of that applies and everything runs fine, skip it. Back2GamingBack2Gaming

Reading the notes first is cheap and sometimes pays off. Driver 616.56 shipped with problems. Virtual displays couldn’t be created for some people, and Remote Desktop sessions could show a black screen. NVIDIA lists both as fixed in 616.92. DSOGaming

[AUTHOR ADD: how often you actually update, and one time a driver update helped or broke something, with driver numbers and dates.]

Update NVIDIA drivers on Linux (Ubuntu)

On Ubuntu, use Ubuntu’s driver packages rather than NVIDIA’s downloadable installer. Canonical’s docs warn that drivers from other sources can overwrite Ubuntu’s and break Secure Boot, and its own tools install only signed drivers known to work with it. Other distros differ, so check yours. Ubuntu

Apply system updates and reboot first, then list what’s available and install:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
sudo reboot
sudo ubuntu-drivers list
sudo ubuntu-drivers install

The install command picks the best match for your hardware, and if an older driver conflicts, the tool removes it first. To choose one yourself, pass a version from the list output, like sudo ubuntu-drivers install nvidia:<version>. Reboot when it finishes.

Prefer clicking? The Additional Drivers app does the same job. Pick the newest “proprietary, tested” NVIDIA driver and avoid the Server ones.

Check the result with nvidia-smi. If it says it can’t talk to the driver, reboot first, then see Ubuntu’s NVIDIA troubleshooting page. A missing reboot, a kernel mismatch, and Secure Boot blocking the module are the classic causes. TechBloat

Updating drivers for local AI: Ollama and the CUDA number

If you’re updating because a local model won’t use your GPU, check your driver against your runtime’s minimum before anything else. Ollama’s hardware docs currently ask for NVIDIA driver 550 or newer, and 570 or newer for cards with compute capability 5.0 to 6.2, roughly the GTX 900 and 10 series. Check that page, because minimums like these move. Ollama

Then look at the CUDA number nvidia-smi prints. It’s the newest CUDA version your driver supports, not something installed on your machine, per a reply on NVIDIA’s developer forums. A low number means an old driver. It says nothing about whether the CUDA Toolkit is installed. nvidia

[AUTHOR ADD: your GPU, the driver before and after, and what changed in your local runtime (tool and version, tokens per second if you measured it), with the date.]

If an update fails or breaks something

Close everything that touches the GPU and retry. If it still fails, do a clean install. If the new driver is the problem, roll back.

• Retry properly. NVIDIA’s support page says to close all open apps first, including GPU monitoring and tuning tools such as MSI Afterburner or Corsair iCUE, video players, browsers, and anything 3D-accelerated. Aggressive antivirus scanning and a Windows Update running in the background can also interfere. Microsoft Defender is fine. NVIDIA
• Clean install. Run the installer manually, choose Custom (Advanced), tick “Perform a clean installation”, and restart. It resets your driver settings, so expect to redo them. You don’t need it for a normal update; it’s for crashes, a swapped GPU, or a failed install. It also removes the classic Control Panel if you still had it. Installing NVIDIA Video Drivers with the Clean Installation Option | Dell US +3
• Roll back. In the NVIDIA app, open Drivers, scroll to the bottom, pick an older driver, and choose Reinstall. Or use Device Manager: expand Display adapters, open your GPU’s Properties, and click Roll Back Driver on the Driver tab. tomsguide
• Last resort. Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) is a free third-party tool that removes your existing driver completely. It’s more involved and aimed at advanced users or stubborn crashes, so follow its own instructions. tomsguide

Use the NVIDIA app, leave Express selected, and update when there’s a reason. On Windows 10, October’s release is the last regular one, so install it and plan your move to Windows 11.

DDR4 RAM