topic Re: Fusion 360 freezes on startup and continuously increases memory usage in Fusion Support Forum

Fusion 360 freezes on startup and continuously increases memory usage

altergmai1 — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 17:21:57 GMT

Fresh installation of Fusion 360 on Windows 11.

Fusion 360 successfully signs in, initializes graphics (Intel UHD Graphics 620), detects the Fusion Hub and reaches the Home screen. The application window appears, but then becomes unresponsive.

Memory usage of Fusion360.exe continuously increases from approximately 1.7 GB to over 5 GB within a few minutes and can eventually consume nearly all available system memory (16 GB). Other related processes remain stable:

Fusion360.exe: 1.7 GB → 5.0 GB
QtWebEngineProcess.exe: ~107 MB (stable)
msedgewebview2.exe: ~125 MB (stable)
node.exe: ~150 MB (stable)

The issue occurs on multiple Windows user profiles and persists after reinstalling Fusion 360. The Fusion Hub has been created successfully and login issues have been resolved.

System information

Laptop model: Toshiba Tecra C40-E-133
CPU: Intel Core i7
RAM: 16 GB
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 620 (integrated graphics only)
Operating System: Windows 11 Version 25H2
Display scaling tested at both 150% and 100% (no change in behavior)

Fusion 360 version

Fusion 360 version: 2703.1.11.0

Graphics driver

The system uses Intel UHD Graphics 620 with driver version:

Driver version: 27.20.100.9416
Driver date: March 24, 2021

Windows reports that this is the latest available graphics driver. I also ran Intel Driver & Support Assistant, which only suggested Wi-Fi and Bluetooth driver updates and did not offer any graphics driver updates.

Fusion 360 successfully initializes DirectX 11 and detects the Intel UHD Graphics 620. The issue does not appear to be a graphics initialization failure. The application reaches the Home screen, but then becomes unresponsive and starts consuming increasing amounts of memory.

Re: Fusion 360 freezes on startup and continuously increases memory usage

Jamie.Scherer — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 21:29:26 GMT

@altergmai1 - Hello! I was curious to evaluate this in our Product Help MCP and generated some suggestions against our knowledge bases / help etc. Driver looks like the first thing to test, I am curious of this list helps? Please let me know!

-Jamie

This is a well-documented pattern. Your symptoms — memory climbing from ~1.7 GB to 5 GB+ and eventual freeze — point strongly to a graphics driver issue combined with the limitations of integrated graphics. Here's a structured troubleshooting plan.

🎯 Root Cause Analysis

Factor	Your System	Assessment
GPU	Intel UHD Graphics 620 (integrated)	⚠️ Minimum-tier for Fusion — no dedicated VRAM
Driver version	27.20.100.9416 (March 2021)	🔴 Over 5 years old — this is very likely the primary issue
RAM	16 GB	⚠️ Meets minimum but leaves no headroom when Fusion leaks memory
OS	Windows 11 25H2	✅ Supported
Fusion version	2703.1.11.0	✅ Current

🔴 Your graphics driver (March 2021) is the #1 suspect. Fusion 360 interacts heavily with the GPU even on the Home screen, and outdated Intel drivers are a known cause of memory leaks and freezes.

🛠️ Step-by-Step Fix Plan

1️⃣ Update the Intel Graphics Driver (Critical)

Windows Update and Intel Driver & Support Assistant often do not offer the latest driver for OEM laptops like your Toshiba Tecra. You need to get the driver manually:

Method	Steps
Option A: Intel Download Center	Go to intel.com/download-center → search for Intel UHD Graphics 620 → download the latest `.exe` installer → run it manually
Option B: Toshiba/Dynabook support	Go to the Dynabook (Toshiba) support page → search for your Tecra C40-E → download the latest Intel graphics driver they provide
Option C: Force install via Device Manager	Download the driver `.zip` from Intel → open Device Manager → right-click your display adapter → Update driver → Browse my computer → point to the extracted folder

⚠️ Intel provides generic software and drivers, but your computer manufacturer may have customized these with specific features or modifications. For OEM devices, contacting your manufacturer's support for optimal driver compatibility is recommended.
1

2️⃣ Enable Software Renderer (Immediate Workaround)

If Fusion is responsive enough to reach the menu briefly:

On the Fusion Application Bar, click Help → Support and Diagnostics → Graphics Diagnostic. In the Hardware Information section, review GPU details. Check (Optional) Use Software Renderer (Windows only).

If you can't reach the menu because it freezes too quickly, you can force this via a configuration file:

Close Fusion completely
Navigate to %localappdata%\Autodesk\webdeploy\production\<version>\
Look for the graphics config or launch Fusion with the command-line flag to disable GPU acceleration

3️⃣ Change the Graphics Driver Mode

Go to the preferences → Go to General → Select the graphics driver option → Test between the available options (DirectX 9, DirectX 11, OpenGL).

Try switching to DirectX 9 — it's less demanding on older Intel integrated GPUs and may prevent the memory leak.

4️⃣ Reduce Graphics Load

Optimize Fusion for performance by setting the Graphics Preset to Performance.

Also:

Disable Anti Aliasing, Ambient Occlusion, Object Shadow, Ground Shadow, and Ground Reflection in graphics preferences
Set display scaling to 100% (you've tried this — good)

5️⃣ Clear Cache and Reset Fusion

Update Autodesk Fusion: How to update Autodesk Fusion
Clear cache data: How to clear the local user cache in Autodesk Fusion
Reset Autodesk Fusion: Overview of Reset Autodesk Fusion Command from Fusion Service Utility. Leave the following deselected: "Keep offline user cache".
Repair Autodesk Fusion: Overview of Repair Autodesk Fusion Command from Fusion Service Utility 3

6️⃣ Check Power Settings

Check the power options in both the control panel and settings to verify that there isn't a low-power, energy-saving, or eco mode turned on. Check the power mode in the control panel first (if the eco mode is selected here it can limit the power options shown in the 'Settings' menu).

On a laptop with Intel integrated graphics, power throttling can compound memory issues.

7️⃣ Disable Add-ins

If there are any add-ins installed, deactivate or update them, and restart Autodesk Fusion.

Even on a fresh install, some default add-ins may auto-load. Disable all non-essential add-ins via Utilities → Add-Ins.

📊 Troubleshooting Priority Order

Priority	Action	Expected Impact
🥇	Update Intel GPU driver to latest available (2024+)	High — likely resolves the memory leak
🥈	Switch to DirectX 9 in Fusion preferences	High — reduces GPU memory demands
🥉	Enable Software Renderer	Medium — bypasses GPU entirely (slower but stable)
4	Set Graphics Preset → Performance and disable all effects	Medium — reduces rendering overhead
5	Clear cache + Reset Fusion	Medium — eliminates corrupt local data
6	Set Power Plan → High Performance	Low-Medium — prevents throttling
7	Disable all add-ins	Low — eliminates background memory consumers

⚠️ If Nothing Works — Hardware Limitation

Your Intel UHD 620 shares system RAM for VRAM. When Fusion's rendering pipeline misbehaves with this GPU, it can spiral into consuming all available memory. If updating the driver doesn't resolve it:

Long-Term Option	Details
Use Fusion in a browser	Access fusion.autodesk.com via Chrome/Edge — offloads some rendering to the browser engine
External GPU (eGPU)	If your Tecra has Thunderbolt 3, an eGPU enclosure with a discrete NVIDIA card would fully resolve the issue
Consider a machine upgrade	A dedicated GPU (even entry-level NVIDIA T-series or GeForce GTX/RTX) would eliminate this class of problem entirely

📌 Start with the driver update. A March 2021 Intel driver on Windows 11 25H2 is the most likely cause. Intel has released numerous driver updates since then that specifically address memory management and DirectX 11 stability for UHD 620.

Re: Fusion 360 freezes on startup and continuously increases memory usage

altergmai1 — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 22:57:00 GMT

Thank you for your reply. I attempted to install Intel Graphics Driver 31.0.101.2141, but installation failed with Error Code 1. The installer log reports: "attempt to install 2ID DCH driver on 4ID legacy driver" for Intel UHD Graphics 620.

Re: Fusion 360 freezes on startup and continuously increases memory usage

altergmai1 — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 15:53:11 GMT

I manually extracted the Intel package and successfully installed Intel Graphics Driver version 31.0.101.2141 through Device Manager using the iigd_dch.inf driver file.

After rebooting the system, the graphics driver version was confirmed as 31.0.101.2141. Unfortunately, this did not change the behavior of Fusion 360. Application becomes unresponsive after first click.

Re: Fusion 360 freezes on startup and continuously increases memory usage

Jamie.Scherer — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 19:40:30 GMT

Nice work getting to that driver. I asked my friend Claude for some advice here if you haven't already. Here's some thoughts to test and single out the cause.

31.0.101.2141 is the final branch Intel shipped for 6th–10th gen, so the graphics stack is now as current as that hardware will ever get. That's a genuinely useful result even though it didn't fix it: you've eliminated the driver, and the failure profile (all user profiles, survives reinstall, persists across two driver generations) now points away from graphics entirely and toward something hooking or starving the main process at the data/identity layer.

What makes me say that: the Home screen is where Fusion gets cloud-chatty — hub/project enumeration, identity token refresh, webdeploy integrity checks. A main process that hangs on first interaction while steadily allocating memory smells like a blocked or endlessly retrying loop, not a rendering fault. And there's a recent, closely matching report: a February 2026 Autodesk forum thread describes Fusion completing login then freezing before a usable UI, where Process Monitor showed AdskIdentityManager.exe repeatedly issuing the same file query against the %LOCALAPPDATA%\Autodesk\webdeploy path with STATUS_BUFFER_OVERFLOW, looping without progressing — surviving clean reinstalls and cache clears, with the behavior consistent unless software rendering was forced. The thread is marked solved but the forum blocked my fetch of the resolution — worth pulling up internally since you'll have better access to the case history than I do. Autodesk Community

Where I'd take the customer next, cheapest discriminators first:

Different network. Tether to a phone hotspot and launch. If the laptop normally sits behind a corporate proxy or SSL-inspecting firewall, a blocked Autodesk endpoint can produce exactly this retry-loop behavior. Firewall and proxy settings are among the documented causes of Fusion freezing or crashing around startup. Two-minute test, high information value. Autodesk
Clean boot. msconfig → disable all non-Microsoft services and startup items, reboot, launch Fusion. This rules security/endpoint software in or out — third-party antivirus flagging Fusion is a known cause of freezes on Windows 11, and a Tecra is a business machine that may carry EDR doing per-file scanning of webdeploy's thousands of small files. If clean boot fixes it, add exclusions for %LOCALAPPDATA%\Autodesk\webdeploy and re-enable services in halves to find the culprit. Windows Report
Force software/alternate rendering without reaching Preferences. Since the UI dies on first click, the in-app graphics override isn't reachable, but the graphics mode can be set in NMachineSpecificOptions.xml under %APPDATA%\Autodesk\Neutron Platform\Options. Given the forum reporter's note that software rendering avoided the freeze, this is worth a try as both a workaround and a diagnostic data point — though verify the current XML key against the internal KB since I'm not certain the option names are unchanged in 2703.
Capture evidence while it's hanging. Run Process Monitor filtered to Fusion360.exe and AdskIdentityManager.exe during the hang and look for a tight repeating file or network operation (that's what cracked the forum case). Also grab a dump via Task Manager → right-click Fusion360.exe → Create dump file at ~3GB and again at ~5GB; two dumps let your diagnostics team diff the growing allocations. The logs under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Autodesk\Autodesk Fusion 360\ plus those dumps make a strong escalation package if steps 1–3 come back clean.

My honest ranking: proxy/network first given the fresh-install-on-first-run timing, EDR second. If the hotspot test changes the behavior, you've found your answer and it's a firewall allowlist conversation, not a Fusion bug.

Re: Fusion 360 freezes on startup and continuously increases memory usage

altergmai1 — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 10:07:28 GMT

Thank you for your suggestions. I wanted to summarize the troubleshooting steps already performed and the current findings.

System information:

Laptop: Toshiba Dynabook Tecra C40-E-133
CPU: Intel Core i7
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 620 (integrated only, no dedicated GPU)
RAM: 16 GB
Operating System: Windows 11 Pro 25H2
Fusion version: 2703.1.11

Problem description:
Fusion 360 launches successfully, signs in correctly, recognizes the Fusion Hub, and reaches the Home screen. The Autodesk Assistant panel is visible on the right side. However, before any interaction is possible, the application becomes unresponsive. The UI freezes completely and remains frozen indefinitely.

Troubleshooting already performed:

Created and configured a Fusion Hub successfully.
Performed a clean reinstall of Fusion 360.
Tested on a newly created Windows user profile.
Confirmed that the issue occurs on both Windows profiles.
Updated Intel UHD Graphics 620 driver from version 27.20.100.9416 (2021) to Intel driver 31.0.101.2141 using manual INF installation through Device Manager.
Rebooted after driver installation.
Tested using a mobile hotspot instead of the normal network connection.
Confirmed that changing networks does not resolve the issue.
Verified that Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime is installed.
Verified that Fusion no longer hangs on the login or hub creation stage.

Observed behavior:

Fusion360.exe starts around 1.7 GB RAM usage.
Memory usage continuously increases over time and exceeds 5 GB.
During one extended test, Fusion eventually consumed nearly all available system memory.
A memory dump captured during the hang reached approximately 15.6 GB before being deleted due to disk space limitations.

Process Monitor findings:

Process Monitor shows heavy activity inside:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Autodesk\webdeploy\production\09c0b27154daf1d1e28796415439b91cda785e24\Neutron\UI\Commands\Resources...
The trace contains many SUCCESS, BUFFER OVERFLOW, FILE LOCKED WITH ONLY READERS, NAME COLLISION and NO MORE FILES results.
The activity does not appear to be stuck on a single file, but instead continues across many different resource directories and files within the Neutron UI resources tree.

At this point, the issue appears unrelated to graphics drivers, user profiles, reinstallations or network configuration.

In your previous message, software rendering was mentioned as a possible workaround or diagnostic step through NMachineSpecificOptions.xml or related configuration files.

Could you please provide the exact configuration key and value required to force software rendering in Fusion 360 version 2703.1.11, or alternatively provide the current internal procedure for enabling software rendering without accessing Preferences?

Additionally, if Autodesk engineering would benefit from Process Monitor traces or memory dumps, please let me know the preferred format and upload method.

Re: Fusion 360 freezes on startup and continuously increases memory usage

pkomatlapalli — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 11:08:42 GMT

Hi @altergmai1 ,

Hope you are doing well!

We wanted to check if you are still experiencing this issue. If the issue persists, please provide error details, so we can further investigate and assist you.

If you have already found a solution, could you please share it with us? Your feedback may help others facing the same situation.