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Payday 2 is Crashing on Startup or Not Launching [Fix]

Encompassing solutions for different Payday Issues

6 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Key notes

Payday 2 is afirst-person shooter game, but unlike many other shooters, this game puts you in the shoes of a bank robber.

Although the gameplay sounds fun, Payday 2 has certain issues on Windows 10. Namely, it frequently crashes or displays a black screen, and sometimes it won’t even launch.

So, without further delay, let’s fix these issues.

What can I do if Payday 2 is crashing on startup?

1. Update your drivers

If your graphics card drivers are outdated, you might experience Payday 2 crashes or low fps, and this is why it’s crucial that you alwaysupdate your drivers.

Users have reported that the game ran smoothly after downloading and installing the latest drivers.

Thus, we recommend the Outbyte driver solution to automatically download all the outdated drivers on your PC. The tool will help with the entire process, ensuring that you get the right drivers.

Besides, once you install it, you can periodically run a system scan to rest assured that your PC’s essential components are in good shape. It will recommend the right driver options and all the available ones from a vast database.

➡️Get Outbyte Driver Updater

2. Turn off the Steam Overlay

If you wish to disable Steam Overlay just for a specific game, in our case, Payday 2, follow these steps:

3. Run Payday 2 in Compatibility Mode

4. Move the render_settings file

Payday 2 crashes can be caused if a specific file gets corrupted. And it’s usually the specified file that is affected, and that causes crashing issues.

5. Disable mods

Disabling modes might help, too. Some of the mods might cause compatibility issues and thus crash the game in certain sequences. Because of that, we advise you to disable mods individually until you find out which one is the cause of the problem.

This can be done simply by navigating to the game’s installation folder and accessing the Mods folder. Once there, you can remove them all at once by simply deleting the complete folder or removing them individually and try running Payday 2 again.

6. Enable theUse HQ Weaponsoption

The most common reason for sudden crashes recently reported on the official Steam forum seems to be related to the Use HQ Weapons in-game option.

Luckily, a lot of users resolved the problem by simply enabling this option from the settings menu.

It seems that this is a common issue: the game crashes or freezes once this option is disabled and other players use new gadgets.

How do I fix Payday 2 not launching?

1. Verify game cache

To make sure that the verification process is successful, it might be a good idea to delete a few files from Payday 2 installation directory before you verify the game cache.

2. Change the resolution

3. Delete IPHLPAPI.dll

If you can’t launch Payday 2 on your computer, you might have to removeIPHLPAPI.dllfile. It should be located somewhere in Payday 2 installation directory.

How do I fix Payday 2 black screen?

1. Run Payday 2 in windowed mode

2. Reinstall the game

In case the game won’t start or/and it stops to a black screen, and after the validity check explained above, we advise you to perform a clean reinstall of Payday 2.

You can do so within the Steam client, but there’s a good chance that this procedure will skip on certain remaining files and registry inputs.

You can remove the files completely much quicker and with less fuss by using a dedicateduninstaller toolthat will delete every file related to the game.

Besides, this is the surest way to know that when reinstalling, the old, unnecessary files won’t interfere with the new ones.

Afterward, restart your PC, reopen Steam, and locate Payday 2 to reinstall it.

So these are some of the most common issues and tricks to fix things when Payday 2 is crashing on startup.

There’s also a VR version of Payday 2, and many reported thatPayday 2 VR is not workingproperly, but we covered that issue in a separate guide.

And before you leave, check some quick tips tooptimize your PC for gamingand get the best experience.

Feel free to let us know in the comments below the issue you are facing and how you were able to fix it.

More about the topics:game fix,windows 10 games

Milan Stanojevic

Windows Toubleshooting Expert

Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He’s a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology.

Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.

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Milan Stanojevic

Windows Toubleshooting Expert

Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s specialized in Windows errors & software issues.