P: (Windows) Photoshop v27.9.1 Crashes at launch: OpenCLOn12.dll exception 0xc0000409 (possible Windows/NVIDIA driver conflict)

See here: Photoshop will not open | Adobe DME

PRODUCT & VERSION
- Photoshop 2026, version 27.9.1.1
- Photoshop (Beta), version 27.11.0.3640 (auto-updated 8/19/2026, same day the crash started)

OPERATING SYSTEM
Windows 11, version 25H2 (build 26200.9168, after KB5121003 installed 8/12/2026)

HARDWARE
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, Studio driver 610.88 (installed 7/28/2026 via NVIDIA app, currently the latest available version)

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Double-click the Photoshop (or Photoshop Beta) icon.
2. The splash screen appears and reaches the "Measuring Memory" stage.
3. The application crashes/closes within 1-2 seconds, before the workspace loads.

EXPECTED RESULT
Photoshop opens normally to the workspace.

ACTUAL RESULT
The application crashes silently every single time, in both the stable and Beta builds, with an identical crash signature.

CRASH DETAILS (from Windows Event Viewer, Event ID 1000, Application Error)
- Faulting module: OpenCLOn12.dll (version 0.0.0.0)
- Module path: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.D3DMappingLayers_1.2608.1.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\x64\OpenCLOn12.dll
- Exception code: 0xc0000409 (stack buffer overrun)
- Fault offset: 0x00000000000eb625 (identical in both stable and Beta crash logs)
- Stable Photoshop.exe crash logged: 8/19/2026 10:06:49 AM
- Photoshop (Beta).exe crash logged: 8/19/2026 9:57:30 AM

TROUBLESHOOTING ALREADY PERFORMED
- Confirmed no custom ICC color profile is assigned to the display (rules out a wide-gamut/Display P3 OpenCL initialization issue).
- Confirmed the Microsoft "OpenCL, OpenGL and Vulkan Compatibility Pack" (which contains the faulting DLL) is fully up to date (v1.2608.1.0, last updated 8/17/2026) — no pending Microsoft Store updates.
- Confirmed the NVIDIA Studio driver is the latest available (610.88). "Roll Back Driver" is available in Device Manager, but this same driver was working without issue as recently as a few days ago.
- Found in Windows Update's driver history that a separate NVIDIA display driver package (version 31.0.15.2892, dated 8/12/2026) was installed automatically by Windows Update, alongside the manually-installed NVIDIA Studio driver — this may have left the graphics driver stack in a mixed/inconsistent state.
- Windows 11 update KB5121003 (installed 8/12/2026) is independently and widely reported by other users/outlets to cause graphics-driver-related instability (black screens, HDR issues, refresh rate problems) in unrelated apps and games, suggesting a possible system-level regression rather than an Adobe-specific bug.
- Both the stable and Beta builds crash with the exact same fault offset, which suggests the issue lies in the shared OpenCL-on-DirectX12 system component rather than in Photoshop's own code.

Attaching Event Viewer screenshots for both crashes below.

I had same issues different versions of photoshop, none of them working, window opened and started to load an then nothing…. tried first all the reset, reinstalling and other stuff, and finally it was simply my nvidia driver that needed to be updated, installed the latest driver of nvidia studio driver and now it works fine again.

I dont really understand why a driver, a stable version of phoshop, with no changes at all stopped working, why did my graphic card or photoshop needed a new driver to make it work while it was working fine yesterday...but anyway update nvidia studio driver worked for me.

I can confirm that this issue is still present in Photoshop 27.9.1.

Photoshop 2026 (27.9.1) closes immediately after displaying the splash screen and cannot be launched.

Windows Event Viewer records the same crash on every attempt:

Faulting application: Photoshop.exe
Application version: 27.9.1.1
Faulting module: OpenCLOn12.dll
Module path: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.D3DMappingLayers_1.2608.1.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\x64\OpenCLOn12.dll
Exception code: 0xc0000409
Fault offset: 0x00000000000eb625

System information:

• Windows 11
• Hybrid GPU system with an NVIDIA RTX Laptop GPU and Intel Iris Xe Graphics
• Intel driver updated to the latest official Intel release (Microsoft-signed, device status OK)
• Microsoft.D3DMappingLayers: 1.2608.1.0
• Active display color profile: sRGB Color Space Profile.icm

Troubleshooting already completed:

• Reset Photoshop preferences
• Launched while holding Shift to skip optional and third-party plug-ins
• Restarted Windows
• Checked and updated both NVIDIA and Intel GPU drivers
• Ran the sniffer.exe included with Photoshop

sniffer.exe enumerates the native NVIDIA and Intel OpenCL implementations as well as Microsoft OpenCLOn12. The Intel device exposed by Microsoft OpenCLOn12 is marked as "Preferred." Both sniffer.exe and Photoshop.exe then terminate with exception 0xc0000409.

Photoshop launches normally when I add GPUDeny 1 to PSUserConfig.txt using Adobe's documented option. However, this completely disables the GPU and is not an acceptable permanent solution. This result strongly indicates that GPU/OpenCL enumeration during startup triggers the crash.

The DLL name, exception code, and fault offset exactly match the Photoshop 27.7 report in this thread. The problem is still present in Photoshop 27.9.1.

Please update Photoshop so that it does not crash when a faulty OpenCL implementation is detected and can fall back to the native NVIDIA or Intel implementation. Please also add this issue to the official Known Issues page and provide a fix status or supported workaround.

Try resetting the preferences.

To restore preferences quickly using a keyboard shortcut:

Press and hold Alt+Control+Shift (Windows) or Option+Command+Shift (Mac OS) as you start Photoshop. You are prompted to delete the current settings. The new preferences files are created the next time you start Photoshop.

Note: Using the keyboard shortcut, preference files for custom shortcuts, workspaces, and color settings will also be reset to default.

What error do you get?

Ik gebruik CCD de nieuwste versie van Photoshop is geïnstalleerd, Illustrator, Lightroom InDesign geen problemen.
Iemand een idee?

I feel your pain and I’m equally irritated. Nothing works. Drivers? Nope. Running as an administrator? Nope. Firewall? Nope. Settings? Nope. And now there is no error reporting either. It suggested  OpenCLOn12.dll problem earlier but after reinstalling it’s just pure magic. And it worked perfectly yesterday. 

Try resetting Photoshop’s preferences and make sure your GPU drivers are up to date. If it still won’t open, launching Photoshop while holding Ctrl + Alt + Shift can help reset the settings.

Photoshop auto updated on me 1 day ago and now does not open. I use it daily and need it for work…. Unistalled and reinstalled and same issue. ADOBE???? V27.9.1 was working yesterday.

Update, rolled back a version and still not opening. Restarted system and have not installed anything new other than the creative cloud suite that updated yeaterday. 

I’m now currently unistalling evereything Adobe. Then I’m going to only install the previous version of Photoshop that was working yesterday. 

I’m desperate Have work for client due now.

Unfortunetly that didn’t work. I’m out of options. 😓