Fix Fortnite keeps crashing or freezing on Windows PC

Does Fortnite keep crashing or freezing on your Windows 11/1 PC? If so, the suggestions mentioned in this post may help you fix it. Many gamers have experienced this problem while launching or playing Fortnite. Before purchasing or installing a game, it is suggested to check hardware requirements. If your computer does not fulfill the hardware requirements of the Fortnite game, you will not be able to play the game.

Fix Fortnite keeps crashing or freezing on Windows 11/10

If your system is capable of running Fortnite but still Fortnite keeps crashing or freezing on your Windows 11/10 computer, try the fixes listed below.

Run Epic Games Launcher as an administrator
Verify your game files
Check for Windows update
Close all running programs
Update or reinstall your graphics card driver
Uninstall the problematic software
Turn off High Resolution Textures in Fortnite
Switch to DirectX11
Repair Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables
Reinstall Fortnite

Let’s see all these troubleshooting methods in detail.

1] Run Epic Games Launcher as an administrator

Sometimes, issues occur in games or other applications due to administrative rights. If Fortnite is crashing on your Windows PC due to permission issues, running the Epic Games Launcher as an administrator will fix the problem. To do so, right-click on the Epic Games Launcher desktop shortcut and then select Run as administrator.

If this fixes your problem, you can make Epic Games Launcher always run as an administrator.

2] Verify your game files

If any game files are missing or corrupted, Fortnite will crash. You can check this by verifying the game files. If the Epic Games launcher finds any game files missing or corrupted, it will download them again to fix the problem. The steps to do so are as follows:

Open Epic Games Launcher.
Go to Library.
Now click on the three horizontal dots next to Fortnite and select Verify.

3] Check for Windows update

For some gamers, installing the Windows update has fixed the problem. Check if the Windows update is pending or not. If yes, update your system. To do so, open the Windows update page in Windows 11/10 Settings and click on the Check for update button.

4] Close all running programs

Sometimes, other programs conflict with games and cause them to crash or freeze. Therefore, if you have opened any program along with Fortnite, close it and check if it helps. According to some gamers, the following background applications were causing Fortnite to crash:

JAVA Update Checker
JAVA Update Scheduler
Microsoft Office Click-to-Run (SxS)

Open the Task Manager and check if any of the above processes are running in the background. If so, right-click on them and select End Task. After that, launch Fortnite and check if it crashes this time or not.

5] Update or reinstall your graphics card driver

Corrupted or outdated graphics card drivers can cause various issues on a Windows computer. If you are experiencing a problem due to corrupted or outdated graphics card drivers, updating them will fix the issue. You can update your graphics card driver by any of the following methods:

6] Uninstall the problematic software

If the issue has started occurring after installing some software on your system, that software might be causing Fortnite to crash. To check this, uninstall the recently installed programs. According to some users, CCleaner was causing the problem. Fortnite stopped crashing when they uninstalled CCleaner.

Read: Best Free Game Launcher for Windows PC.

7] Turn off High Resolution Textures in Fortnite

If you have enabled high-texture resolution in Fortnite, you might be experiencing the problem due to it. To confirm this, turn off the High Resolution textures in Fortnite and check if it stops crashing. If this fixes your problem, do not turn the High Resolution textures on again.

The following steps will help you disable High Resolution textures in Fortnite:

Launch Epic Games Launcher.
Click Library and locate Fortnite.
Once you find Fortnite, click on the three horizontal dots next to it and select Options.
Now, clear the checkbox next to High Resolution Textures.

8] Switch to DirectX 11

If your computer has DirectX 12, you may experience some issues while playing Fortnite. Switch to DirectX 11 and check if this fixes the problem. The steps to switch from DirectX 12 to DirectX 11 are explained below:

Launch Epic Games Launcher.
Click Settings.
Scroll down and expand Fortnite.
Enable the Additional Command Line Arguments checkbox.
Type d3d11 and relaunch Fortnite.

This should fix the issue. If not, try the next solution.

9] Repair Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables

Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable is a runtime library that is required by some programs or games to run properly. If these libraries get corrupted, the games or programs that depend on them will not work properly. Fortnite requires Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables to run properly. If Fortnite is crashing due to the corruption in Visual C++ Redistributables, repairing them will fix the issue.

The steps to repair Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables in Windows 11 and Windows 10 PCs are different:

Windows 11

Open Settings.
Go to “Apps > Installed apps.”
Scroll down and locate Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable packages.
Click on the three vertical dots next to them and select Modify. Click Yes in the UAC prompt.
Now, click Repair and follow the on-screen instructions.

Windows 10

Open Settings.
Go to “Apps > Apps & Features.”
Scroll down and select Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable packages.
Click Modify.
Click Yes in the UAC prompt.
Now, click Repair and follow the on-screen instructions.

Similarly, repair all the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable packages that are installed on your computer.

10] Reinstall Fortnite

If none of the above solutions fixed your problem, uninstall and reinstall Fortnite.

Fortnite System Requirements

Video Card: Nvidia GTX 960, AMD R9 280, or equivalent DX11 GPU
Video Memory: 2 GB VRAM
Processor: Core i5-7300U 3.5 GHz, AMD Ryzen 3 3300U, or equivalent
Memory: 8 GB RAM or higher
OS: Windows 10 64-bit or later

Why does Fortnite keep crashing on Windows 11/10?

There could be many reasons why Fortnite keeps crashing on your Windows 11/10 computer, like unsupported hardware, corrupted Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable libraries, conflicting software, incorrect Fortnite settings, corrupted game files, etc.

Is Fortnite Windows 11 compatible?

Fortnite is compatible with Windows 11. But before you download the game, you have to read the minimum hardware requirements from the official website of Epic Games. If your hardware is incompatible with Fortnite, you will not be able to run Fortnite on Windows 11.

Hope this helps.