How to Check Your DirectX Version

Q: What DirectX version does Windows 11 use?

Windows 11 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which is the most advanced DirectX version available. DirectX 12 Ultimate adds hardware ray tracing, mesh shaders, variable rate shading, and sampler feedback on top of the base DirectX 12 feature set. Not all Windows 11 GPUs support DirectX 12 Ultimate — an NVIDIA RTX or AMD RDNA2 or newer GPU is required for the full feature set.

Q: What DirectX version does Windows 10 use?

Windows 10 includes DirectX 12 as a core component. Whether you can use DirectX 12 in games depends on your GPU — older GPUs only support DirectX 11 or DirectX 10 even when running Windows 10. The System tab in DXDiag shows the system's DirectX version. The Display tab's DDI Version field shows what DirectX feature level your specific GPU supports.

Q: My DirectX version says DirectX 12 but games say DirectX 11 required — is that a problem?

No. DirectX 12 is backward compatible with DirectX 11. A game that requires DirectX 11 runs on a system with DirectX 12. The requirement means the game needs at least that version — having a newer version always satisfies the requirement. Only games requiring a newer DirectX than you have would be a problem.

Q: Why does the DXDiag Display tab show a different DirectX version than the System tab?

The DirectX Version on the System tab shows the version included in your Windows installation. The DDI Version on the Display tab shows the highest DirectX feature level that your specific GPU's driver supports. A newer GPU may show Feature Level 12_1 (DirectX 12) while an older GPU might show Feature Level 11_0 (DirectX 11) even though Windows itself has DirectX 12 installed.

Press Windows + R, type dxdiag, press Enter. On the System tab, scroll to the DirectX Version field. On Windows 10 or 11, this shows DirectX 12. To see what DirectX level your GPU supports, click the Display tab and check DDI Version.

Check DirectX Version Using DXDiag

Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog.
Type dxdiag and press Enter.
If prompted about checking digitally signed drivers, click Yes or No — either is fine for this purpose.
The System tab opens by default. Find the DirectX Version field near the bottom of the field list.

System Tab vs. Display Tab DirectX Version

DXDiag shows DirectX information in two places with different meanings:

Location	Field	What It Means
System tab	DirectX Version	DirectX version in your Windows installation
Display tab	DDI Version	DirectX feature level your GPU driver supports

A PC running Windows 11 with an old GPU might show DirectX 12 on the System tab but Feature Level 11_0 on the Display tab. Games that require DirectX 12 GPU features would not run correctly on that GPU even though the System tab shows DirectX 12.

DirectX Versions and Requirements

Game Requirement	What You Need
DirectX 9.0c	Install DirectX End-User Runtime (old games)
DirectX 11	Windows 10 / 11 with any modern GPU
DirectX 12	Windows 10 / 11 + GPU with DX12 support
DirectX 12 Ultimate	Windows 11 + NVIDIA RTX or AMD RDNA2+

Frequently Asked Questions

What DirectX version does Windows 11 use?+

What DirectX version does Windows 10 use?+

My DirectX version says DirectX 12 but games say DirectX 11 required — is that a problem?+

Why does the DXDiag Display tab show a different DirectX version than the System tab?+

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