Valheim won’t Launch or Open on Windows 11/10

Here is a complete guide that will help you if you are unable to launch or open Valheim on your Windows PC. Valheim is a popular survival multiplayer video game. While the game works fine for most, some users have complained that Valheim won’t launch or open on their PC.

If you are one of the users unable to play the Valheim game as it won’t open, this post is for you. In this post, we will be discussing the fixes that will help you resolve the problem. So, let us check out.

Why Valheim is not launching on PC?

Here are the potential causes why Valheim might not open on your PC:

One of the primary causes of the issue at hand is that your PC might not meet the minimum system requirements to play the game. Hence, ensure that your PC meets the minimum requirements.
Missing admin rights can be another reason for the game to not launch. So, run the game with admin rights and check if the problem is resolved.
Another reason for the game launch issues with Valheim could be corrupted or missing game files. In that case, you can try verifying the integrity of your game files to fix the problem.
It could also be caused due to outdated or corrupted graphics drivers. Hence, if the scenario is applicable, try updating your graphic driver to fix the problem.
Launching the game in fullscreen mode can also cause the problem at hand. So, try using the windowed mode to run the game to fix the issue.
If you have enabled the in-game overlay feature on Steam, it can also cause the issue at hand. If the scenario is applicable, disable Steam overlay.
Your antivirus might be blocking Valheim and thus, it might not open. So, disable your antivirus and see if the problem is gone.

Valheim won’t Launch or Open on Windows 11/10

If Valheim won’t Launch or Open after update on startup in Windows 11/10, here are some working suggestions to help you.

Ensure that your PC meets Valheim’s minimum requirements.
Try launching Valheim as an administrator.
Verify integrity of game files.
Update your graphics driver.
Try launching the game in windowed mode.
Disable in-game overlay on Steam.
Turn off your antivirus.

1] Ensure that your PC meets Valheim’s minimum requirements.

Before getting into advanced troubleshooting, make sure your PC meets the minimum requirements to play the Valheim game. If not, it is likely that the game won’t open or launch on your system.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

OS: Windows 7 or later, Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
Processor: 2.6 GHz Quad Core or similar
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: GeForce GTX 950 or Radeon HD 7970
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 1 GB available space

RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTS:

OS: Windows 7 or later, Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
Processor: i5 3GHz or Ryzen 5 3GHz
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: GeForce GTX 1060 or Radeon RX 580
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 1 GB available space

If the above system requirements are fulfilled and still Valheim won’t open, try the next potential fix to resolve the problem.

2] Try launching Valheim as an administrator

If the Valheim game is not launching, you can try running it with administrator privileges to fix the issue. In most cases, this method works as the problem is usually caused due to missing admin rights to run an application. So, run the game launcher as well as the game with administrator rights and see if the issue is fixed. Here are the steps to do so:

Firstly, open Task Manager and close all the running Steam processes.
Next, right-click on the Steam shortcut on the desktop and click on the Properties option.
Now, go to the Compatibility tab and checkmark the Run this program as administrator option.
After that, save changes by pressing the Apply > OK button.
Then, go to the location where the Valheim game is installed. It will be most likely at the C: > Program Files (x86) > Steam > steamapps location.
Next, repeat steps 2, 3, and 4 for the Valheim executable.
Finally, relaunch Steam and try running Valheim to see if the problem is resolved.

If the game still refuses to launch, there might be some other cause triggering the problem at hand. So, you can try some other fix to resolve the issue.

See: Wolcen Lords of Mayhem crashes and not launching on Windows PC.

3] Verify integrity of game files

If your game files are infected, corrupted, or there are some game files missing, the game won’t open. Hence, make sure your game files are not broken. You can do that by performing an integrity check on your game files on Steam. Let’s check out how.

First, open the Steam desktop client and press the LIBRARY option to open your games list.
Now, right-click on the Valheim game and press the Properties option from the context menu.
Next, move to the LOCAL FILES tab and click on the VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME FILES button.
After that, let Steam verify and repair your game files.
When the verification is finished, try reopening the game and check if the issue is resolved or not.

If Valheim still not opening, try the next potential fix.

4] Update your graphics driver

One of the significant causes of game launch issues is your outdated graphics driver. If you have an out-of-date graphics driver on your PC, you might experience the problem at hand. So, make sure you have up-to-date GPU card drivers.

For updating graphics drivers, you can use the Optional Updates feature which is available in the Settings app. You can launch Settings using Win+I and go to Windows Update > Advanced options > Optional updates to download and install driver updates. Or, you can use Device Manager to update your graphics drivers.

Another good idea to download the latest graphics drivers is to visit the official website of the device manufacturer. You can even try a free third-party driver updater to automatically update the graphics driver.

Once your graphics driver is updated, reboot your PC and try launching the game to see if the problem is fixed. If the scenario is not applicable, you can move on to the next potential fix.

Read: Ground Branch won’t launch or start on PC.

5] Try launching the game in windowed mode

As per some user reports and analyses, Valheim might not launch in fullscreen or borderless mode. Hence, you can try launching it in windowed mode and see if the problem is fixed. This workaround has proven to be effective for many affected users and might just work for you as well. Here’s how to do that:

Firstly, go to your Steam client and click on LIBRARY.
Now, right-click the Valheim game title and choose the Properties option.
Next, in the Properties window, scroll down to the LAUNCH OPTIONS section under the GENERAL tab.
Inside the box, type -windowed -noborder and exit the Properties window.
Finally, try opening the game and see if it launches or not.

6] Disable in-game overlay on Steam

The in-game overlay feature can cause the issue at hand. So, you can try disabling the feature to fix the problem. You can try turning off in-game overlays on Steam using the below steps:

Firstly, open the Steam client.
Now, press the Steam menu and click on the Settings/Preferences option.
After that, move to the In-game tab.
Next, uncheck the Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game option.
Finally, try launching the Valheim game and check if the problem is resolved.

Read: Generation Zero not launching, freezing, or crashing at startup on PC.

7] Turn off your antivirus

In many instances, the problem is caused if your antivirus is blocking the game from opening. It happens due to a false positive alarm. If the scenario is applicable, you can try disabling your antivirus for some time and check if the game opens or not.

In case you are able to launch Valheim after disabling your antivirus software, you can be sure it was the main culprit. Now, you might not want to disable your antivirus during the gameplay. So, you can add the game to the Exclusion or Exception list of your antivirus suite.

Why isn t my Valheim working?

If Valheim is not working or keeps crashing, it could be due to missing admin rights to run the game. So, you can try running the game as an administrator. Apart from that, the issue could also be caused due to infected game files, using an outdated game version, antivirus interference, or outdated graphics drivers. It can also occur if your game’s installation is corrupted. Hence, you can try reinstalling the game to fix the problem.

Why is my Valheim server not showing up?

If the servers are not showing up in Valheim, it could be because you have not selected a community server. So, choose a Community Server and play the game on the dedicated server. Besides that, you fix the issue by updating your network driver or temporarily disabling your antivirus.

Now read: Valorant Crashing Mid Game or on Startup.