Troubleshooting

PixiEditor doesn’t open / stopped opening

Switch to OpenGL

PixiEditor by default uses Vulkan to render graphics, some hardware and software may not properly work with it.

There are a few ways to do it.

If you’re using Standalone PixiEditor version:

Windows:

Right click on PixiEditor shortcut and select “Properties”, in “Target” add -–opengl after PixiEditor.exe and after the closing quote ”, for example “C:\Program Files\PixiEditor\PixiEditor.exe" --opengl)

Linux

Run binary with --opengl flag.

Example with Flatpak: flatpak run net.pixieditor.PixiEditor --opengl

MacOS

MacOS always uses OpenGL

If you’re using Steam PixiEditor version:

1. Right click on PixiEditor in the Library and click “Properties”
2. In the Launch Options under the General tab, type --opengl

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Another way to do it, is to locate local appdata of PixiEditor

Windows: Click Win + R and type %localappdata%/PixiEditor linux: /home/yourusername/.local/share/PixiEditor

and creating a file called render_api.config and setting its contents to OpenGL

Making it pernament

If PixiEditor runs correctly, you can permanently set OpenGL as a default by going to Edit/Settings and set “Preferred Render Api” to “OpenGL”. After that, you won’t need to use —opengl flag anymore.

Check for zombie processes

Sometimes PixiEditor may not close properly and “Zombie” process appears. This only applies to Windows. Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and search for PixiEditor or PixiEditor.Desktop, if it exists, kill it and try opening PixiEditor again.

Run the app in Safe Mode

If you’re using Standalone PixiEditor version:

Windows:

Right click on PixiEditor shortcut and select “Properties”, in “Target” add -–safeMode after PixiEditor.exe and after the closing quote ”, for example “C:\Program Files\PixiEditor\PixiEditor.exe" --safeMode)

Linux

Run binary with --safeMode flag.

Example with Flatpak: flatpak run net.pixieditor.PixiEditor --safeMode

MacOS

PixiEditor is likely installed under /Applications/PixiEditor.app or /Users/yourusername/Applications/PixiEditor.app (make sure to replace yourusername with your actual user name)

Run /Applications/PixiEditor.app/Contents/MacOS/PixiEditor -- --safeMode (make sure to include double --

If you’re using Steam PixiEditor version:

1. Right click on PixiEditor in the Library and click “Properties”
2. In the Launch Options under the General tab, type --safeMode

Clear app data

Installing and uninstalling the app does not remove preferences and local editor data. Sometimes it may cause issues, to fully reset PixiEditor you need to remove the following folders:

Windows

Click Win + R and type

• %localappdata%/PixiEditor then hit enter and remove the folder
• %appdata%/PixiEditor then hit enter and remove the folder
• %tmp%/PixiEditor then hit enter and remove the folder

macOS

Find and remove

• /Users/yourusername/Library/Application Support/PixiEditor
• $TMPDIR/PixiEditor

to find $TMPDIR, check https://superuser.com/questions/581347/where-is-the-temp-folder-in-os-x

Linux

Find and remove

• /home/yourusername/.config/PixiEditor
• /home/yourusername/.local/share/PixiEditor
• /tmp/PixiEditor

In Flatpak version, paths are different, but uninstalling the app should automatically remove all associated files.

UI is shifted and does not match mouse clicks

Go to the Settings -> Appearance and toggle on “Use system title bar” or pass --system-decorations CLI argument

PixiEditor opens but freezes

By default PixiEditor loads last files on startup, some files may cause PixiEditor to freeze.

Follow Run the app in Safe Mode guide under PixiEditor doesn't open / stopped opening above or Clear app data if it doesn’t help.