[Bug]: ComfyUI desktop app does not open, GPU process crashes

[AnecaW]

App Version

v0.8.16

Expected Behavior

The ComfyUI desktop application should open normally and display the interface when I launch the .exe file.

Actual Behavior

When I launch the ComfyUI desktop app, the icon briefly appears in the taskbar and then disappears.
The app runs for a moment as a background process in Task Manager but no window opens.

When launching from the command prompt I get this error:

GPU process exited unexpectedly: exit_code=-1073741515
FATAL: GPU process isn't usable. Goodbye.

log.txt

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install the ComfyUI Desktop app.
2. Launch ComfyUI.exe.
3. The app briefly appears in the taskbar.
4. The window never opens and the process closes shortly after.
5. When launched from Command Prompt, the following error appears:
   "GPU process exited unexpectedly: exit_code=-1073741515"

Debug Logs

[2026-03-07 15:28:01.938] [info]  Starting app v0.8.16

Terminal output:

C:\Users\wanne\AppData\Local\Programs\ComfyUI>
15:28:01.938 > Starting app v0.8.16
15:28:01.947 > Initializing Sentry
15:28:02.433 > App ready
15:28:02.434 > Queueing event desktop:app_ready with properties null
15:28:02.437 > Getting config: hasGeneratedSuccessfully
15:28:02.438 > Getting config: windowStyle
15:28:02.438 > Getting config: installState
[20936:0307/152802.614:ERROR:gpu_process_host.cc(1002)] GPU process exited unexpectedly: exit_code=-1073741515
[20936:0307/152803.590:ERROR:gpu_process_host.cc(1002)] GPU process exited unexpectedly: exit_code=-1073741515
[20936:0307/152803.727:ERROR:gpu_process_host.cc(1002)] GPU process exited unexpectedly: exit_code=-1073741515
[20936:0307/152803.941:ERROR:gpu_process_host.cc(1002)] GPU process exited unexpectedly: exit_code=-1073741515
[20936:0307/152804.721:ERROR:gpu_process_host.cc(1002)] GPU process exited unexpectedly: exit_code=-1073741515
[20936:0307/152805.172:ERROR:gpu_process_host.cc(1002)] GPU process exited unexpectedly: exit_code=-1073741515
[20936:0307/152805.422:ERROR:gpu_process_host.cc(1002)] GPU process exited unexpectedly: exit_code=-1073741515
[20936:0307/152805.645:ERROR:gpu_process_host.cc(1002)] GPU process exited unexpectedly: exit_code=-1073741515
[20936:0307/152805.823:ERROR:gpu_process_host.cc(1002)] GPU process exited unexpectedly: exit_code=-1073741515
[20936:0307/152805.823:FATAL:gpu_data_manager_impl_private.cc(449)] GPU process isn't usable. Goodbye.

Browser Logs

app doesn't start so i don't have them

Settings JSON

app doesn't start so i don't have them

Other

it worked before, i installed the latest GPU drivers, reinstalled the app 3 times, removed any possible left over parts of the app but the problem still occurs.

┆Issue is synchronized with this Notion page by Unito

[JiwaniZakir]

The exit code -1073741515 maps to Windows STATUS_DLL_NOT_FOUND (0xC0000135), meaning the Electron GPU process subprocess is failing to load a required DLL at startup — most commonly a missing or incompatible graphics driver component (e.g., a DirectX/Vulkan/D3D runtime DLL). The repeated crash loop in gpu_process_host.cc exhausts Electron's retry limit before the main window ever gets a chance to render. The most likely fix is updating or reinstalling GPU drivers, or running the app with --disable-gpu / --use-gl=swiftshader flags to bypass hardware acceleration and confirm this is the root cause.

[pc9795]

Using --in-process-gpu worked for me