How to Revert from DX12 to DX11 in Borderlands 3

Borderlands 3’s DirectX 12 implementation is broken right now. There is no other way of putting it. At best you see long initial load times and occasional stuttering, but at worst the game won’t even start. In this instance, the b in Borderlands 3’s “DX12 beta” option strands for broken. 

This is a big problem, as Borderlands 3 can be hugely CPU limited, and this issue can be mitigated using DirectX 12. Sadly, given the current state of DirectX 12 in Borderlands 3, this option cannot be recommended. Worse still is the fact that this issue will prevent a lot of gamers from playing the title.  

For those who can no longer boot up Borderlands 3, we have a method which will allow PC gamers to revert back to DirectX 11 without booting Borderlands 3 in DirectX 12 mode first. Borderlands 3’s DirectX 12 implementation needs some work. 

Reverting to DirectX 11 mode in Borderlands 3

Like most Unreal Engine titles, PC gamers can alter Borderlands 3’s graphical settings using a .ini file. This file is available by heading to “Documents” in Windows 10, then “My Games”, “Borderlands 3”, “Saved”, and the “Config”. After this, PC players will find a file called “GameUserSettings.ini”. 

Open “GameUserSettings.ini” in a word processor like Notepad, and then find the following setting “PreferredGraphicsAPI=DX12PreferredGraphicsAPI=DX12”. Change “DX12” to “DX11” and then save and exit the file. After this, Borderlands 3 should boot in DirectX 11 mode.