Fortnite Keeps Crashing on PC – What To Do

Fortnite may be one of the biggest games out right now but it has had its fair share of issues. From broken updates and server issues to a whole range of computer problems causing the game to crash. Not all of it is Epic’s fault though. Local crashes are not always the fault of the developer. Not that it matters as all you want to do is get the game working again. This tutorial is going to show you some things to try if Fortnite keeps crashing on your PC.

A prime example of when it is Epic’s fault that Fortnite crashes was update 5.21. When they introduced a bug that kept crashing the game. It was quickly addressed but didn’t endear the developer to the player base.

There are other crashes that aren’t the fault of Epic and those are the ones I’m going to concentrate on here. Issues with your local PC that can be quickly fixed so you can get your game on as quickly as possible.

Stop Fortnite Crashing on PC

There are a few reasons why Fortnite keeps crashing on PC. They could be temperature, power, overclocks, drivers, or something else entirely. The easiest way to find out is to play another game for an hour. Play something graphically intensive for at least an hour in one sitting and see if it also crashes. If it does, it’s likely a computer fault. If it doesn’t crash, it is likely an issue with Fortnite.

You can repeat this for a couple of other games if you like to make sure. The one thing you must do here is trying another game at least once for a significant period of time. Most websites offering ‘advice’ for stopping Fortnite crashing fail to first isolate whether it is the game or the computer at fault. Once you do this you can continue with confidence that you’re not wasting your time.

Assuming it’s Fortnite causing the crashes:

Run Fortnite as an administrator

A simple test will see if your Windows account has sufficient privileges to play the game. Right-click the Fortnite launcher and select Run as Administrator. If the game works fine you need to take control of the Fortnite folder on your drive.

1. Right-click the Fortnite folder and select Properties.
2. Select the Security tab and Edit.
3. Select your account and check to see if you have Full Control in the bottom window.
4. Add Full Control if you need to and close the windows once done.
5. Select Advanced in the original window.
6. Check to see the Owner at the top of the new window.
7. Select Change and select your user account in the next window.
8. Select OK and let the system make the change.
9. Retry Fortnite.

File permissions issues are mainly for new installations of games but if you have made other changes to your system, it could cause it to crash.

Check for updates

The next step is to check both Windows and Fortnite for updates.

1. Right-click the Windows Start button and select Settings.
2. Select Update & Security and select Check for Updates.
3. Visit the AMD or Nvidia website and check for graphics driver updates.
4. Check Fortnite for game updates.

If you hear any audio issues before the crash, you may like to update your audio drivers too. Use Device Manager for that.

Switch to or from Fullscreen mode in Fortnite

In some situations, having Fortnite run in Windowed Fullscreen or Windowed mode can cause crashes. Trying a different mode might fix your issue.

1. Open Fortnite and select Game Settings.
2. Select Video and change the Window Mode to something different.
3. Save your change and try the game.

If the game remains stable, leave it in the current mode. If it still crashes you can turn it to the previous mode if you like.

Change graphics settings in Fortnite

If changing screen mode doesn’t work, reducing graphics might.

1. Open Fortnite and select Game Settings.
2. Select Video and reduce Quality by one setting.
3. Save and retry.

It isn’t advisable to go lower than the Medium setting as the game can become unstable then too. If that doesn’t work, try a different video resolution by repeating the above but changing where you see Resolution set under Quality. Save and retry.

Turn off Timeout Detection

My final fix for when Fortnite keeps crashing on PC is to turn off Timeout Detection and Recovery in Windows. This setting can cause crashes when it thinks the graphics card has locked out or is taking too long. The GPU may actually be fine but is a common fix for Fortnite crashes.

1. Create a Windows Restore Point
2. Press the Windows key and R.
3. Type regedit and hit Enter.
4. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlGraphicsDrivers.
5. Look for TdrLevel in the right pane. Select it and skip to Step 7 if it’s there.
6. Right-click in the right pane and select New, QWORD (64-bit) Value of TdrLevel isn’t there.
7. Double click TdrLevel, give it a value of ‘0’ and select OK.
8. Shut down the registry editor and reboot your computer.
9. Retest Fortnite.

That’s the limit of my Fortnite fixes. Do you have any others to share? Tell us about them below if you do!