Want to download drivers for your NVIDIA GeForce GPU without installing the NVIDIA GeForce Experience app? NVIDIA doesn’t make them easy to find, but you can. Here’s how to avoid GeForce Experience on Windows.
It’s your choice
We’re not denigrating GeForce Experience here. It has cool features such as the ability to automatically optimize the graphics settings of your PC games and save your game. It can also automatically check for and install driver updates. You will need to check for and install updates manually if you ignore the GeForce Experience app.
But GeForce Experience is also a heavier app that requires you to sign in with an account. You even have to log in with an account just to get driver updates. If you want to install your drivers the classic way, just the drivers themselves and the NVIDIA Control Panel Tool, you can.
How to Download NVIDIA Drivers Without GeForce Experience
You can download the drivers from the NVIDIA website. Either head to the most recent GeForce Drivers Page and use the section “Manual driver search” or use the classic NVIDIA driver download page.
Whichever page you use, you’ll need to know your graphics card model, whether you’re using a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows, and what type of driver you want. (Not sure which GPU you have or what type of Windows operating system you are using? Scroll down for instructions on how to find out.)
The “Game Ready Driver (GRD)” offers optimizations for the latest games and is aimed at gamers, while the “Studio Driver (SD)” prioritizes stability and is intended for creative professionals.
Use the fields to select your drivers and click “Search”. When you’re done, click the “Download” button to get the drivers.
How to install the drivers without GeForce Experience
Download the driver EXE file and double-click it to install it like any other application. Let the installer extract its files and begin the installation.
After the installer has extracted its files and started, you will be prompted to choose the type of installation you want. By default, it will try to install the “NVIDIA Graphics Driver and GeForce Experience” software.
Be sure to select “NVIDIA Graphics Driver” instead to avoid installing NVIDIA GeForce Experience.
How to see which NVIDIA GPU you have
To check which NVIDIA GPU you have on your Windows 10 PC, open Task Manager. You can do this by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc or by right clicking on the taskbar and selecting “Task Manager”.
Click the “Performance” tab at the top of the Task Manager window. If necessary, click “More Details” at the bottom of Task Manager to expand Task Manager and display tabs.
Select the “GPU” entry in the sidebar here. Look for the name of your GPU in the upper right corner of the Task Manager window.
If you have multiple GPUs in your system, click on each one and examine their names. If you have a gaming laptop, chances are you have both NVIDIA graphics and Intel graphics. Find the name of the NVIDIA GPU.
How to tell if you’re using 64-bit Windows
To check if you’re using a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows, go to Settings> System> About. You can open the Settings window from the Start menu or by pressing Windows + i.
Look for the “Device Specifications” section on this screen. To the right of “System type” you will see if you are using a “64-bit operating system” or a “32-bit operating system”.
Remember that you will have to update them manually
You are now responsible for updating your own NVIDIA drivers. They won’t automatically check for updates or download and install new versions of your GPU drivers for you. This feature requires NVIDIA GeForce Experience software.
How to uninstall GeForce Experience
By the way, if you have already installed NVIDIA GeForce Experience software, you can uninstall it while leaving your drivers installed.
Just go to Control Panel> Uninstall a program, search for “nvidia” and uninstall the “NVIDIA GeForce Experience” application. Leave the other NVIDIA driver entries installed.
Or just use Windows Update
If you don’t play gamers on PC, you can always just get your drivers through Windows Update. Do not install anything from NVIDIA and Windows will automatically install the drivers for your GPU. However, the drivers will not be the most up to date for the latest PC games and you will not get utilities like the NVIDIA Control Panel.
Having the latest drivers is important for gamers, but the average PC user can get away with Windows Update drivers.
