Fix Fallout 4 Won't Start - e-Methods Technologies

Fallout 4 Won’t Start Fallout 4 Won't Start

Is Fallout 4 game is not starting when you click on it? Want to fix this Fallout 4 Won’t Start issue immediately? Don’t worry! There are the best fixes that solve this error easily and quickly.

Fallout 4 is the best action role-playing game that gains a huge number of game lovers. Millions of users all across the world have fans of this video game.

Bethesda Gaming Studio developed this Fallout 4 game for multiple platforms, such as Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox. Anyone can download and launch it on their systems.

Sometimes, the user will see nothing on their screens even after double-clicking its icon. It is a common issue and faced by many users till now.

If you have ever come across this Fallout 4 Won’t Start issue, then go through the following sections to get in touch with the best techniques. In this guide, we offered both basic and advanced methods to resolve the error.

Table of Contents

Problem Overview

Bethesda Gaming Studio is one of the world’s best game designing companies. It developed the award-winning series of Fallout and The Elder Scrolls. Most of the games from this developer won the best game of the year awards.

Fallout 4 is of those award-winning gaming series that owns several game lovers worldwide. It is a solo-player action video game and can be played on Windows PC. Compared to PlayStation 4 and Xbox, the users prefer to play it on PCs.

Fallout 4 is the fourth biggest series and was published in the year 2015. Though it is a wonderful game, it troubles the users while launching it.

When you click on it to open, it won’t start, and sometimes, it crashes at the time of launching. As many requested to provide the solutions to fix this issue, we came up with this post.

First of all, we let you know why this Fallout 4 Won’t Start occurs. The reasons behind this issue are as follows:

Corrupted or missing game files.
Expired Graphics Card Drivers.
Trying to launch it as a normal user (Not as an Administrator).
Conflicting Antivirus Software
Game Overlays
Unconfigured Mods
Missing or Expired DirectX.
Incompatibility Problems.

Want to know what happens when this issue occurs? Nothing will happen on your screen even though you try to launch it continuously. That’s why check-out the workable methods listed in this guide and fix the problem.

Fix Fallout 4 Keeps Crashing [Quick Troubleshooting Guide]

Basic Troubleshooting Steps

In this section, we are listing out the basic troubleshooting techniques that can fix the Fallout 4 Won’t Start issue. Go through those methods and apply them to resolve the error.

Reboot your Windows PC Properly

For fixing the Fallout 4 Won’t Start issue, the first trick we offer is rebooting the Windows PC properly. A quick and correct restart of your computer might make the error disappear.

Before going to reboot, you need to save the applications and files on your PC.

Go to Start Menu and click on it.
Choose the Power icon and select the Restart option from it.
By doing so, the system gets restarted.

Now, try to launch Fallout 4 and see the error is fixed or not.

Close & Relaunch Steam

Due to server down issues, Steam unable to function properly. By this, Fallout 4 will not start when you try to launch it. In such a case, check whether the Steam servers are working correctly or temporarily down.

If there is no issue, then close and relaunch Steam on your Windows PC. After that, open Fallout from Steam and see it starts without any issues or not.

Disable or Uninstall Troublesome Antivirus

Some antivirus applications block other programs to run on the devices. So, it might be due to the PC’s antivirus that causes this Fallout 4 Won’t Start issue.

Whenever you want to launch the game, disable the antivirus or permanently uninstall it from the desktop.

To turn it off, you need to go to the taskbar and select the antivirus icon. Right-click on it and select the Turn-off or Disable the Antivirus Temporarily.

If you want to remove completely, then execute the following steps.

Press Windows + R -> Type appwiz.cpl -> Click the OK button.
Select Uninstall a Program under the Programs section.
Choose the antivirus that you have installed on your PC and click the Uninstall option.
Thus, it starts uninstalling the software completely from the PC.

Now, check the Fallout 4 Won’t Start error is fixed or not. If you still face the problem, then move to the next section.

We recommend the user to install those antivirus apps that contain a Gamer Mode feature, such as BullGuard Antivirus.

By enabling this feature, the antivirus stops its activities completely and allows the user to launch & play the game smoothly.

Steps To Fix Fallout 4 Won’t Start Issue

Still, the Fallout 4 game is not starting on your Windows? That’s why I listed the advanced methods in this section. Use them carefully to fix the issue.

Step-1 : Run Fallout 4 in Compatibility Mode
Step-2 : Verify the Integrity of Game Files
Step-3 : Remove Installed Mods
Step-4 : Run Steam as an Administrator
Step-5 : Launch the Game in Windowed Mode
Step-6 : Disable or Turn Off In-Game Feature in Steam
Step-7 : Update DirectX
Step-8 : Update Graphics Card Drivers
Step-9 : Reinstall the Fallout 4 Game

Step 1

Run Fallout 4 in Compatibility Mode

Due to incompatibility issues, Fallout 4 won’t launch when you keep on clicking its icon. We recommend you run Fallout 4 in Compatibility mode. For that, execute the below guidelines.

Select the desktop shortcut of your game -> Right-click on it -> Choose Properties.
Go to the Compatibility tab in the properties wizard.
Check the checkbox of Run this program in compatibility mode.
Now, choose the Windows version that is older than your current one.
Click the OK button to save the modifications.

Launch the game and see the error still persists or not.

Step 2

Verify the Integrity of Game Files

Are your Fallout 4 game files are corrupted or missing? If so, then it is the major reason for issuing the Fallout 4 Won’t Start error. In order to verify the game files, use the following steps.

Launch Steam on your Windows computer.
Go to the Library and search for the Fallout 4 game.
Right-click on it and click the Properties.
It shows various options that are under the Fallout 4 properties. In that, go to the Local Files tab.
Finally, click the Verify Integrity of Game Cache option.
You have to wait until the verification is completed. After that, launch Fallout 4 and check whether it opens without any issues or not.

Step 3

Remove Installed Mods

For modifying the game in order to enhance the gaming performance, we install several mods. But these mods will turn rogue and cause Fallout 4 Won’t Start.

In order to resolve this issue, we need to remove those mods that stop launching this game. For that, you have to disable all the mods that you have installed and enable one-by-one to know which one is causing the error.

According to our research on this issue, the error gets disappeared by removing the Far Harbor DLC mod. After deleting this mod, start the game and see the issue is fixed.

Step 4

Run Steam as an Administrator

Some games need administrator rights to launch them without any issues. We suggest the user to launch Steam and Fallout as an administrator.

First of all, close all the Steam processes that are running on your Windows PC. For that,

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc buttons.
Now, you can see the Task Manager window on your screen.
Select the Steam process -> Right-click on it -> Click the End Task option.
Repeat the above process until you terminate all those processes.

Now, launch Steam with Admin Rights using the below steps.

Select Steam icon on your desktop -> Right-click on it -> Click Properties.
Open the Compatibility tab.
At the bottom, you will find Run this program as an administrator option. Enable it by checking its box.

After that, you need to follow the same steps provided above to run Fallout 4 as an administrator. Finally, click the OK button to save the changes. Now, launch Fallout 4 and check for any issues.

Step 5

Launch the Game in Windowed Mode

Are you facing this Fallout 4 Won’t Start issue while launching it in the Full-Screen Mode? Then there is a chance to fix it, and that is opening the game in Windowed mode.

Open Steam Right-click the Fallout 4 icon and choose Properties.
It displays the Properties window on your screen. Under the General tab, click the Set Launch Options.
Now, you need to copy and paste the following one in the box to launch the game in windowed mode.
-windowed -noborder.
Hit the OK button and restart the computer.

Launch the Fallout 4 without any crashing or won’t start issues.

Step 6

Disable or Turn Off In-Game Feature in Steam

In some cases, the In-Game features that we are using on our game lead to the occurrence of the Fallout 4 Won’t Start issue. That’s why we suggest the gamers to disable all those In-Game features on Steam.

Launch Steam on your PC and click the Steam icon placed at the top-left corner.
Now, you need to click the Settings.
Once the Settings page opens, select the In-Game section from the left-side pane.
In the next step, find out the In-Game features and disable all of them by unchecking the checkboxes.
Finally, click the OK button to save the changes.
Close Steam. Relaunch it again and run Fallout 4 without any issues.

Step 7

Update DirectX

Outdated DirectX is also one of the reasons for showing Fallout 4 Won’t Start error. But you can’t install the latest updates of DirectX manually. For that, you need to update your Windows OS.

Press Windows + I -> Click Update & Security.
In the left-side pane, select the Windows Update.
Come to the right-side pane, click the Check for Updates button.
It checks for the latest updates and installs them automatically on your PC.

After that, restart the computer and launch Fallout 4 without any errors.

Step 8

Update Graphics Card Drivers

Graphics Card Drivers are very important to play any video game on our PCs. If we are using the older version drivers, then we might encounter many issues.

One such issue that we face due to expired graphics drivers is Fallout 4 Won’t Start. So, check for the latest versions and install them to fix the issue.

Press Windows + R -> Type devmgmt.msc -> Hit Enter.
In the Device Manager window, double-click the Display Adapters.
Choose the Graphics Card Drivers -> Right-click on it -> Click the Update Driver option.
Click the Search automatically for the updated driver software option. Thus, it downloads and updates the graphics drivers with the latest ones.
After completing the entire process, restart the PC and launch the Fallout 4 game. Now, you will not see any issues while launching it.

Simply, you can use IObit Driver Booster to automatically update the expired graphics card drivers.

Step 9

Reinstall the Fallout 4 Game

If the above methods fail to rectify the problem, then the final step is uninstalling and reinstalling it on your PC.

Press the Windows logo and type Control Panel.
Choose the best-matched one and click on it.
The Control Panel window appears on your screen. Click the Uninstall a Program under the Programs section.
Identify Fallout 4 and click the Uninstall option.

After successfully uninstalling Fallout 4, remove all those folders and files related to it.

Now, visit the official website of Steam and download Fallout 4 from it. Complete the installation process and launch it to play without any issues.

Tips To Avoid Fallout 4 Won’t Start

The best tip to avoid the occurrence of this Fallout 4 Won’t Start issue is keeping the video card (graphics card) drivers up-to-date.
If you want to start and play this action role-playing game smoothly without any issues, then don’t use antivirus software. In case if you want to use it, then install the best one that has a Gamer Mode feature.
Know everything about the game before you start, such as the minimum requirements and admin privileges, to escape from these error messages.

Contact Official Support

In the above sections, we already said that it is a common problem that comes across by almost all the users while launching it. The troubleshooting methods I listed are more than enough to come out from this issue.

According to our research, these are the best techniques that can remove this error message. If you still face the problem on your PC, then the reason might be some other else. In such a case, you can go through the Steam and Fallout official forums.

When you didn’t find any perfect solution, the final option is to contact the support center of Bethesda Gaming Studio. They will provide you the method to resolve the issue.

Final Words: Conclusion

On the whole, Fallout 4 gamers can successfully resolve the issue and play the game on their PCs. By using one or more methods, you can fix the Fallout 4 Won’t Start error.

Professionals who cracked this issue with any other method can share it with us through this guide. It will help many users to fix the problem on their devices.

Interested users can subscribe to our blog to browse several technical guides related to games and PC errors.

Finally, if you have any queries on this guide, then feel free to message us in the below comment box.