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How to Fix Fallout 4 Crashes, Freezes, Black Screen and Other Problems

Fallout 4 is finally here and exploring the Commonwealth has been amazing so far for me – 8 hours straight without a single crash or problem – but unfortunately not everybody is as lucky as I am. There are a lot of gamers – especially those running on PCs – that complain about Fallout 4 crashes, freezes and other problems that make the game unplayable or the experience of playing a drag. But I am here to share with you some tips and tricks on what to do to fix Fallout 4 crashes and freezes and get the most out of the game because it’s really worth it. Try everything listed below – some fixes might be listed for a particular problem, but they could actually solve different ones too. It’s worth trying!

So let’s not waste any time and let’s check out all the possible fixes that we found for Fallout 4 crashes, freezes, black screen issues and other problems!

It’s worth starting by making sure that your computer meets the minimum system requirements and that all your drivers, not just the graphic card drivers, are up to date. For example, nVidia has just launched the Fallout 4 drivers – make sure you download them here.

Unfortunately, these will probably not fix most of the Fallout 4 crashes and problems you’re facing, in which case we’ll have to move a bit more in depth, so let’s get this started and let’s check out solutions below for the most common problems faced by the gamers.

How to fix constant crashes and freezes

As strange as it might sound, restarting your system might fix this problem – many gamers reported that they got rid of the problems after a simple restart.

Also, just like it happened in Fallout 3, the problems might be audio-related. Make sure that you update your audio drivers and disable 5.1 sound settings – go for stereo instead. This should work!

Disable the NVIDIA Streamer Service if you’re using NVIDIA GeForce Experience. Here is how to do it:

Click the Windows Start button and type “Services” in the search box. Right Click the Services icon and select Run as Administrator. In the new window, scroll down until you reach Nvidia Streamer Service -> Right Click -> Properties then stop the service. Also select Startup type: Disabled afterwards so it doesn’t turn on again. It helps with the in-game performance a lot, but also fixes potential crashes of Fallout 4!

Try running the game in windowed mode. Players running the game in borderless window mode reported improvements and crashes stopped from occurring, so it’s worth a try!

How to fix no mouse problems

Again for PC owners, if the game doesn’t give you any mouse controls and you have a gamepad installed, it’s best to simply remove it to regain access to your mouse. It’s also a good idea to remove any wireless devices that you don’t need while running the game, including wireless headphones.

If you don’t have a gamepad, then you will have to edit the fallout4prefs.ini in Documents/My Games/Fallout 4. Find the line bGamepadEnable=1 to bGamepadEnable=0.

In order to fix the mouse acceleration problems, in the same file change the iPresentInterval to 0 and then set bForceIgnoreSmoothness=1.

How to fix Fallout 4 crashes and freezes

If the fixes mentioned above don’t work, try turning off any other programs running in the background. If you’re running any kind of live streaming / video recording program, that is the most likely cause for your problems so turning that off will fix your game.

In the end, if nothing else works, your only option is to start bringing down the game’s visual settings. Lower the resolution, turn Antialising off, as well as Anisotropic filtering. Also click the advanced tab in the options menu and set everything to low, while also making sure to reduce the view distance. The game won’t look as pretty, but you should play for a while and see if the crashes still happen. If they don’t, start bringing up the settings until you find the perfect ones for the game to run without causing any problems.

This would be it for now! We’re keeping our eyes on the forums and trying to find any other potential fixes for the Fallout 4 crashes and freezes. If you manage to find a solution that works, let us know by commenting below!

13 Comments

  • Bob
    Posted November 14, 2015 at 3:00 pm

    I tried everything, yet nothing works. I’m able to go in the menu, see the credits, settings, and all that, but I can’t start a new game. It just gives a loading screen, and freezes. Without music.

    • Post Author
      Calin Ciabai
      Posted November 15, 2015 at 7:25 am

      I guess you’re running on a PC, Bob? Can you please share your specs with me? Maybe I can help. Also, did you update ALL your drivers, including audio ones?

    • Pierre
      Posted November 15, 2015 at 12:45 pm

      sry it is a English forum.. xD
      so i have the same probleme
      black screen after the loading of the new game
      my config
      – intel core i5 750 4 cpu 2.7ghz
      -12 go de ram
      -carte mere gigabyte p55-m ud2
      -AMD R9 290 Tri-x oc
      -alim 950 watt

  • clark
    Posted November 16, 2015 at 12:29 am

    hey,so i can opnw up the launcher but i cant launch the game. when i do i get a black screen for about 3 seconds, then the game crashes without anything else popping up.

    here are my specs:

    Intel(R) HD Graphics 4400
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-4150 CPU @ 3.50GHz
    cpu speed: 3.5 GHz
    ram: 8.1 GB
    Microsoft Windows 8 (build 9200), 64-bit

    • Post Author
      Calin Ciabai
      Posted November 16, 2015 at 6:41 am

      Clark, your problem is most likely the graphics card. You’re probably playing on a laptop. You need a good, dedicated graphic card in order to be able to play the game and that’s where your problems are coming from.

      • Ayeast
        Posted December 6, 2015 at 2:27 pm

        I have a dedicated gpu a nvidia geforce gt750m and i have the same problem

    • Mikey
      Posted November 19, 2015 at 1:05 am

      If I recall the minimum specs for Fallout 4 requires that you have a cpu at 4.00ghz. This might be the cause of your problem. other than that Ram looks great. 64 bit is the right track and your graphics card may be okay. Id double check on the graphics card as i am unfamiliar with that one and it could be old.

  • jake
    Posted December 4, 2015 at 3:04 am

    I don’t get it. I’m terrible with computers so i bought an alienware thinking theyd set me up good I got the intel core i7 but the GHz? is only at 2.00

    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4765T CPU @ 2.00GHz (8 CPUs) ~2.00

    • Post Author
      Calin Ciabai
      Posted December 6, 2015 at 7:08 am

      This setup should be good enough to run the game if you have a good graphics card.

      • PhilBlackness
        Posted December 15, 2015 at 4:56 am

        I have 8gb ram,gpu:r9 280x 3gb Toxic,cpu:amd fx-6300 4.3ghz overclocked. And when i click the new game,nothing happened except the problem with black screen.

  • Cherry
    Posted December 22, 2015 at 12:19 am

    Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 6-Core 3.2GHz
    XFX Double D Radeon HD 7970 DirectX 11
    16 GB ram
    I have played this game until I am at level47 1/2 and suddenly I am crashing
    when I fast travel or go through a door. It started slow and recovered with a start up initially but now I am crashing with black screen and noise and not recovering. Can’t even start up my computer right away. I was thinking it was my graphics card but now I’m worried about bad ram.

  • Erik
    Posted January 18, 2016 at 6:50 pm

    So i have Al i7 aal recommonend specs and it crashes on startup

  • Mark Brown
    Posted February 8, 2016 at 5:39 pm

    I play on a PS4 and every time I enter the Corvega Assembly Plant, the screen goes black and it’s dead. I did it once in the original quest, but now it crashes. Only way to continue is reload a previous save and don’t go to that building. I’ve gone back alone, with Dogmeat and with Stong and it flails every time

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