Fallout 4 Won’t Start? Here’s The Quick Fix [2023 Update]

Fallout 4 is an action RPG developed by Bethesda Game Studios. Since its launch in 2015, the game has had massive success. It is the 4th entry in the main ‘Fallout’ series. Players and critics have given Fallout 4 positive feedback overall. However, the game has faced criticism due to its technical problems.

One of those problems includes the “Fallout 4 won’t launch” issue on PC. This is due in part to the game not being optimized properly as well as other technical issues. Players have given feedback that the game doesn’t start at all. Sometimes, the game would quit on its own after making it to the main menu.

In this tutorial, we’ve listed some of the most effective methods to solve this problem. Using these methods will ensure that Fallout 4 is stable enough to launch and be playable on Windows 11/10.

Check your computer specs first

Before moving to fixes, you should make sure your PC is up for the task of running Fallout 4. If it doesn’t meet the requirement, then maybe it’s time for you to upgrade your hardware.

Fallout 4 Minimum Requirements:

Fallout 4 Recommended Requirements:

Similar Types of Fallout 4 Not Launching Error

• Fallout 4 not loading
• Fallout 4 not responding
• Fallout 4 VR not launching
• Fallout 4 can’t start new game
• Fallout 4 not working
• Why won’t Fallout 4 launch?
• Fallout 4 launcher not working
• Fallout 4 issues

Methods to Fix Fallout 4 Won’t Launch PC Issue

So, you’ve been super excited to play Fallout 4 on your computer, but it just won’t start up? Well, don’t worry, we’ve got some tricks up our sleeve to help you out!

1. Restart your game
2. Verify integrity of game files
3. Update your graphics card driver
4. Run Game in Windowed Mode
5. Run Game in Compatibility Mode
6. Temporarily uninstall your antivirus
7. Remove mods
8. Repair the Visual C++ Redistributable
9. Reinstall your game

Fix 1 – Restart your game

If Fallout 4 is not opening, the first thing you should try is to restart your game completely. To do this:

Step 1: Exit your Fallout 4 game and your Steam client.

Step 2: Press Ctrl-Shift-Esc keys simultaneously to open Task Manager.

Step 3: On the Processes tab, locate all Fallout 4 and Steam processes, right-click each of them and select End task to close them.

Now try running the game and see if the Fallout 4 not launching issue is resolved.

Fix 2 – Verify integrity of game files

If Fallout 4 won’t load, then there might be files missing or corrupted. Fortunately, this can be fixed by verifying the integrity of the files on Steam. To verify the game files, follow the steps provided.

Step 1: Open the Steam client, and navigate to the Library section.

Step 2: In the list of games, right-click on Fallout 4 and select Properties.

Step 3: In the Properties window, go to the Local Files tab, then click Verify Integrity of Game Files.

Wait for a few minutes until the verification process completes. Any missing files will be downloaded automatically by Steam. Once the verification process finishes, launch the game.

Fix 3 – Update your graphics card driver

As mentioned before, Fallout 4 is a very demanding game. Therefore, in addition to the minimum requirement, the graphics drivers need to be updated as well. To update the graphics drivers to their latest versions, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Press Windows+X and select the Device Manager option from the menu.

Step 2: Under the Display adapters section, right-click and select the Update driver option for each driver.

Step 3: Select the Search automatically for drivers option. Follow the on-screen instructions to update the graphics drivers.

Fix 4 – Run Game in Windowed Mode

Certain games are known to cause issues when being launched at fullscreen, and Fallout 4 is no exception to this. Windowed mode also tends to be handled better by the system. To implement the windowed mode for Fallout 4, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the Steam app and go to the Library section.

Step 2: In the list of games, right-click on Fallout 4 and select Properties.

Step 3: Under the General tab, select Set Launch Options.

Step 4: In the ‘Launch Options’ window, type in ‘-windowed –noborder’ in the text field provided.

Step 5: Click ‘OK’ to save changes, then launch Fallout 4.

Fix 5 – Run Game in Compatibility Mode

If Fallout 4 still won’t start, then there might be a compatibility issue. Reportedly, the issue was fixed for many players using the ‘Compatibility Mode’ feature. To run the game in compatibility mode:

Step 1: Right-click on the Fallout 4 shortcut on the desktop and select Properties.

Step 2: In the Compatibility tab, under the Compatibility mode section, checkmark the Run this program in compatibility mode for box. From the drop-down menu provided, select Windows 8.

Step 3: Click Apply and OK to save changes.

Step 4: Launch the game and see if this solves your problem.

Fix 6 – Temporarily uninstall your antivirus

The Fallout 4 won’t start issue may be related to your antivirus software falsely blocking part of the game feature and causing problem. You can uninstall your antivirus temporarily to verify that the game launches without it. If the game otherwise starts, proceed to add its installation folder to the exception list. Instructions on how to do so can usually be found in the antivirus documentation or the developer’s website.

Fix 7 – Remove mods

Excessive modding can interfere with the core game files and change the way your game functions. It is recommended that you disable all mods and enable them one by one to see which mod is causing trouble. Once you have identified the faulty mod, delete it and try to launch the game again and see if the Fallout 4 not loading issue has been resolved.

Fix 8 – Repair the Visual C++ Redistributable

In some cases, the game Fallout 4 may fail to load due to corrupted C++ Redistributable files on your system. You can fix the problem simply by repairing these redistributable files. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Open the Steam client, and navigate to the Library section.

Step 2: Right-click on Fallout 4 and select Properties.

Step 3: Select the Local Files tab.

Step 4: Click Browse Local Files to open the Fallout 4 Steam folder in File Explorer.

Step 5: Open the CommonRedist folder followed by vcredist2012 folder.

Step 6: Now double-click the vc_redist.x64 file and choose Repair from the menu that appeared on the screen.

Step 7: Similarly, navigate to the following path in your directory:

C:\Program Files(x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 4_CommonRedist\directx\redist

Step 8: Double-click DXSetup.exe to repair it.

Step 9: Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the repair process.

Step 10: Finally, restart your computer and launch Fallout 4 to check.

Fix 9 – Reinstall your game

You may run into this issue when the game program is not installed correctly on your PC. To fix it, you’ll need to reinstall Fallout 4 by following the steps below:

Step 1: Open the Steam client and click Library.

Step 2: Right-click on Fallout 4 and select Uninstall.

Step 3: When the uninstall process is completed, press Ctrl-Shift-Esc to open the Task Manager.

Step 4: Under the Details tab, right-click on any process related to Steam and select the End process tree.

Step 5: Now launch Steam again, and download and re-install Fallout on your computer.

Step 6: Once installed, launch the game and see if you still encounter that problem.

We hope this article helped solve the “Fallout 4 not starting” issue. Though the game can still decide to give problems at times, it’ll be playable at the very least.

We look forward to the players’ feedback. Comment down below and let us know what worked for you in solving the issue.

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