Path of Exile is an engrossing dark action RPG set in a grim fantasy world. It’s a game players can completely lose themselves in if they want to. However, issues causing Path of Exile crashing can hinder the experience greatly, pushing players away.
Most games don’t have regular crashes that prevent players from enjoying them. Provided they were completely finished and have been updated to fix any errors, they should run smoothly. Online games are an exception to this, though, because there can be issues on the server side that can leave players bored to tears of games like Path of Exile crashing.
Related: Path of Exile: Best Templar Build Guide
How to Fix Path of Exile Crashing on PC
There are multiple reasons that could be causing users to experience Path of Exile crashing while they’re trying to play it. Below, we’ve outlined every fix we’re aware of that can help players get around their crashes and start to enjoy the game again.
Disable Background Tasks
When Path of Exile crashing drives a player around the bend, it could be something as simple as stopping all other tasks on the PC will fix it. We don’t have a powerful gaming PC; in fact, we use a laptop, which means we always have to shut down all background tasks when we want to play a hardware-intensive game.
If users are struggling to run Path of Exile and they have a few other programs running already, it’s worth disabling or closing them to see if that fixes the issue they’re having.
Check for an Operating System Update
The first port of call with any game crashing should be to check for an update for the device being used to run it. Path of Exile is available across PC and Mac, both of which can have updates that lurk in the background and won’t download until a shutdown is triggered.
If Path of Exile creashing is becoming a regular event, it’s always worth checking for an operating system update for Windows or Mac OS. This can be such a simple fix, and it provides players with a chance to take a break while everything is downloaded and installed.
When we have an operating system update, we like to try to research the next task or quest we’re going to complete in a game. While that’s not always perfect for Path of Exile, players can learn a lot in the time it takes to update their rig, such as the best build for Rangers.
Update Graphics Drivers
While most PCs automatically update graphics drivers in the background, they can cause problems like Path of Exile crashing if they get stuck or don’t update for one reason or another. It’s always worth opening the settings for a PC and checking if there are any updates that need to be downloaded for the graphics drivers.
This is a fix that can be as frustrating as the crash. After all, these updates should always be taken care of without users even thinking. Still, it’s worth looking just in case the issue that’s occurring has a simple fix that will take a few minutes.
Verify Path of Exile’s Game Files
To verify Path of Exile’s files, players must find the game in their Steam library and open its Properties. Then, they must click on the Local Files tab and choose the option to verify the game’s files. In the Epic Games Launcher, the process is similar, but users click on the “…” option and then verify the game’s files. This could take a while because Path of Exile is a big game.
Once the files have been verified, users will be informed the process is complete, and they can try to launch the game again. We always try to restart our PC when we verify game file integrity because it can help avoid any issues with cached code causing game crashes.
Run Path of Exile as an Administrator
There are times when our PC won’t let us run the software we know is safe due to an update it has received. In cases like this, it’s best to try to run Path of Exile as an administrator. This will force a lot of programs to run and can avoid some issues that are causing crashes.
Change the DirectX Version Path of Exile Uses
Within the properties for Path of Exile on both Steam and the Epic Games Launcher is an option to force the title to use a specific version of DirectX. We’ve found that this has fixed a lot of games on Steam that continue to crash no matter what we do. There’s no rule as to what works here. Users simply need to switch to a different version of DirectX and see if it finally gets Path of Exile to run.
Change Path of Exile’s Graphics Settings
If players can launch Path of Exile, but it crashes soon after, the issue is almost certainly related to the graphics settings. If players turn the shadows and graphics down to low, they might find that the game runs with no crashes at all.
Sometimes, this is caused by a recent update that hasn’t been correctly optimized, and sometimes, it’s an issue with the hardware a player is using. Regardless of the cause, it’s always worth pulling these settings down to low to see if that gets the game going, especially if they want to run Ruthless Mode.
