Carter began the season in less than auspicious form as he lost in the first round of both the Wuxi Classic and Australian Goldfields Open.&lt;ref name="2012/13"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; He won his first match in a ranking event of the season by beating Robert Milkins 5–4 in the Shanghai Masters and then whitewashed Stephen Maguire 5–0 to advance to the quarter-finals. He played John Higgins and at 1–4 down threatened a comeback by winning two frames, but lost the next to exit the tournament, losing 3–5. A first round defeat in the International Championship followed before he saw off Steve Davis and Mark Joyce in the UK Championship both by 6–2 scorelines and Stuart Bingham 6–4 to make the semi-finals for the first time since 2008. Carter was the victim of a stunning fightback against Shaun Murphy in the semi-finals as he led 8–4 but Murphy levelled at 8–8 and when Carter broke down on a break of 32 in the deciding frame, Murphy stepped in to win 9–8. Carter was beaten 3–6 by Higgins in the first round of the Masters.