3ds Max 2026 "Application Error" when transforming objects by lmb-dragging

[Stealth4Health]

Hello! Since upgrading to 3ds Max 2026 about two weeks ago, I am experiencing very frequent crashes. When left mouse dragging anything in the viewport or the UI, 3ds Max frequently crashes with an empty "Application Error". I have been using every Max version since 2013 and never encountered this issue before. When it crashes it is always during lmb-dragging to transform an object by either moving, rotating or scaling. The same happens on the subobject level with vertices, polygons... Even in the most basic contexts with an empty modifier stack. I also get the same crash if I drag to increase/decrease a parameter value in the UI such as the width or length of a primitive.

Some things I have tried to fix it:

- Updated my graphics driver and also switched between different driver versions, without success. Using a 4090, Ryzen 7 9800X3D, 192 GB DDR5 RAM, Windows 11.

- Re-installed Max, and tried version 2026.2 as well as 2026.3.

- Reseted user settings and used factory settings instead.

Has anyone encountered this issue before and was able to fix it? If I go back to my 2025 install, it still works perfectly. However I can not open any 2026 files with it. So currently just autosaving every time before using lmb to transform and mostly typing in values instead of dragging. That is obviously not ideal so I'd appreciate any ideas!

[Stealth4Health]

Any fix for this? I am still getting the same empty "Application Error" crashes, randomly and very frequently. I have now reinstalled 3ds Max 2026 multiple times. I have also tried different GPU drivers, resetting the enu folder, installing different VS Redistributables and made sure that one of the more recent Windows updates that - as mentioned in another forum post - apparently caused issues, wasn't installed. It seems to happen a lot more often, while the snaps toggle is activated. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions!

[wernienst]

Never observed this (as far as I remember).

Have you tried a different driver setting (via Customize/Preferences/Viewport)?

[Stealth4Health]

Thank you for the suggestion. Giving this a try now!

[ads_delesdr]

This sounds suspiciously like the recent issue we've had with a specific MS VS2026 Redistributable update, but you've stated that you've tried different versions.

Are you getting a CER dialog and sending in a report with comments? If you could provide one of the CER numbers, we can take a look.

Thanks

-Rick

[Stealth4Health]

Thank you both. Appreciate the help!! @wernienst: Switching from Nitrous Direct3D 11 to 9 unfortunately did not resolve the issue.
@ads_delesdr: The article you linked was exactly where I got the VC Redistributable (14.50.35719) from that I have tried before. There are no CER dialogs popping up after the crashes. I have had one pop up recently, but now I don't recall 100% whether this was after the Application Error crash or due to something else. This is the Report ID nevertheless: 874085686 

I have just had an Application Error crash when scaling a simple uv island in the UV Editor. The issue seems to be tied to transform operations + lmb-dragging (at the object level, sub-object level, within the UV editor or when dragging parameter values on the UI. Entering parameter values manually does not appear to trigger the error.

The crashes happen unpredictably and not on every transform action. Sometimes everything works for a while before a very basic operation suddenly causes the application error. And sometimes the crash occurs within just a few minutes of use. Also no recover file gets saved. 

I have attached two screenshots of the empty Application Error message. I will try to record a video and capture the crash this way. Thanks for taking the time to read!

[lauri_barnhart]

Hi @Stealth4Health,

I wanted to check in and see if you still needed assistance, or if you found a solution to your question already? Let us know if you need further assistance by providing an update or if you have found a solution, please share it with the community so other members who may have the same question could learn from your experience.

All the best,

Lauri | Community Manager

[Stealth4Health]

Hi @lauri_barnhart, thank you for checking. The same problem persists and I still haven't found a solution unfortunately.

[Wikouš]

This problem started to appear out of nowhere in all my work and especially in an empty scene when I create a simple model and click the mouse to move the vertex to the mesh, the application reports an error and crashes to the desktop. Even a complete uninstall did not help. If it is not a problem with the graphics engine or Windows. For the application to constantly fail when there is nothing there, is that strange?

I set it to be possible to stick to vertex, then I clicked "S" and the application froze. When I set this, the application crashes.

[Stealth4Health]

Yes, same. I have now re-installed 3ds Max 2026 for a fourth time (also deleted ENU and plugins folders). My 3ds Max 2025 installation works perfectly fine, but I can't open the files that have been created with 2026 - which I have to work with. My Windows event viewer says the application errors have something to do with Qt6Core.dll. Which apparently means it comes down to an issue with the UI. More specifically the code I get is: 0xc0000409.

[Wikouš]

Yes, I thought I had corrupted files, but it's the 3ds max application that does it. When it does it in a scene where there's a box and I just want to move the vertices, it throws an error. I think some Windows update was released that powers the graphics element or something, otherwise I can't explain why it's happening to me with version 2022.

[MartinBeh]

Sounds a bit like this: https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/3ds-Max-crashes-af... ?

Never mind, just noticed this has been linked to above already...

[Wikouš]

Thank you for your post, this problem is really caused by a Windows update that cannot be removed. Therefore, it is necessary to install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable (version 14.50.35719).

Everything is WORKING again! 😊👍

[Stealth4Health]

This was one the first things I tried, back in January, but unfortunately it hasn't fixed the issue for me. I think your error might be a slightly different one. Anyway, happy to hear it's working for you again! 

[Wikouš]

😞 Well, I tested it until I found out that it was doing vectors. I was also working on it the day before yesterday, so I didn't understand how it was possible that the next day it wouldn't work. I was about to reinstall the entire computer to see if there was a problem somewhere in the registry of some file that has nothing to do with 3ds max. I also reinstalled the graphics driver, deleted the latest updates, but it can be seen that some updates are installed silently without the user being informed.

[Stealth4Health]

I have now identified a way to reproduce the Application Error with 100% consistency. As mentioned before in this thread, the application error occurs randomly and very frequently regardless of the the type of work I am doing, making it pretty much impossible to do any work. However, unlike these inconsistent triggers, clicking the Play Animation button triggers the Application Error every single time (even in an empty scene). All it takes is a few seconds.

Since I don't do any animation work in 3ds max it took me a few months to find. I hope this will make it easier to narrow down and find the root cause of the issue. Seems like the UI and how often it refreshes might have something to do with it? Any ideas? The Windows Event Viewer shows me error code 0xc0000409, related to Qt6Core.dll. Scrennshot and Video are attached.

I have just found another forum post from an user with 3ds Max 2026 and a 4090 who described the exact same behavior. Maybe it's an issue specific to 3ds Max 2026 and 4090s?

Windows 11
ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 OC (Studio Driver 591.74 but older drivers didn't help either)
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
192 GB DDR5 RAM
Microsoft VS Redistributable Version 14.50.35719.0