How to fix freezing and crashing in Apex Legends

Freezing and crashing are two of the last things you want when playing Apex Legends. As with any multiplayer game, performing well and even winning are sometimes reliant on how stable your game client is as compared to others. Every player has had a moment where they were a second away from clutching a win only to have their game lag, stutter, or crash entirely.

Despite years of updates and bug fixes, Apex players are always posting reports of freezing and crashing on the game’s forums. Some players are experiencing game-jittering, while others are saying they can’t join a match at all. Ensuring that a game runs well across an almost infinite number of potential computer configurations is a hefty task. While developer Respawn Entertainment continues to patch game client issues, there are a few steps you can take on your own to smooth things over.

Here’s what to do if you’re experiencing freezing and crashes in Apex.

Apex Legends freezing and crashing checklist

Check your system requirements

If Apex isn’t loading and you’re stuck on a loading screen, make sure your PC meets the game’s minimum requirements. Your CPU, GPU, RAM, and other hardware components need to be the same as or better than those listed in the minimum requirements. If one or more of your components aren’t up to spec, the game may still run, but you’ll be more likely to encounter crashes, freezes, and errors.

You don’t need to break the bank to play Apex, but there are a few requirements to take into consideration. If you’re running an AMD Phenom processor, for example, you might have to upgrade your CPU. Most desktop processors and GPUs made in the last few years should work fine. If you’re having consistent freeze issues or loading problems, check that all your components meet the minimum requirements and consider upgrading those that don’t.

If you’ve met all of Apex’s minimum requirements and you’re still scratching your head as to why you’re unable to enter the game, there are a few tweaks you can make to your system that could help solve the issue.

Update your drivers

Keeping your video drivers up to date is crucial when playing any game. Apex in particular has had driver-related issues with both AMD and Nvidia before. Keeping your drives up to date will help minimize these issues. Install the ones that are correct for your hardware and see if they solve the issue.

Downgrade your drivers

On the flip side, if you recently updated your drivers to the most recent version and you’ve had issues with Apex since then, rolling back to the previous version of the driver is advised. You can do this through either your GPU maker’s website or their software hub, which will likely have been installed when you first installed your drivers.

Disable Freesync, G-Sync, and others

Some video cards have sync options that could cause issues with Apex when paired with the game’s own Vertical Sync. Disabling features like Freesync and G-Sync may solve freezing and crashing. Try disabling one at a time to see if there’s a noticeable effect.

AMD-specific adjustments

A few players on the forums have reported issues with AMD’s FX-6000 series processors. Some say small tweaks, like playing in windowed mode, solved their problem, while several others claim that disabling two out of the six processor cores through your BIOS fixes the issue.

Note that the latter could drastically reduce your PC’s performance and may cause issues with other software. Be careful when making changes, especially if you use your PC for tasks other than gaming, like school and work.

Make changes to your game and PC

Repair the game files

Repairing your game files is often a quick and easy fix to freezing and crashing. Occasionally, game files can become corrupted due to a bad install, a power flicker during an update, or other random occurrences. Repairing your files is easy to do and can fix a variety of issues.

If you’re using Origin, go to your library, select Apex Legends, and click on the gear icon right of the orange play button. This will open a menu with a repair option. If you’re using Steam, open the Steam Library, right-click on the game, and click Properties. There, you’ll find the Local Files tab. Click it and choose Verify Integrity of Game Files to repair.

If you’re using Steam, open your game library and find Apex Legends in the list on the left side. Right-click on it, then click Properties at the bottom of the list that pops up. Select Local Files, then Verify Integrity of Game Files. Steam will run a repair utility to detect and fix any corrupted or missing files.

Reinstall Apex

If freezing and crashing continue to plague your game, reinstalling Apex won’t hurt. If repairing your game files didn’t help, uninstalling and reinstalling the game will fix many of those same issues. This is a good step to take any time you’re having major game issues like constant crashes.

Add firewall exceptions for both Origin/Steam Apex

A few players have reported their Windows firewall had been preventing access to Origin, Steam, and Apex. Add Apex and your preferred game launcher to your OS’ or antivirus program’s firewall exceptions list. This may also help with network issues, like rubber-banding and network lag.

Disable overlays

Many gaming-adjacent programs, including Steam, Origin, and Discord, have overlays that help you access stats and social features while gaming. While they can be useful, they can also slow down your game and even cause crashes, particularly if your PC is on the low end of the minimum specs. Try turning them off or closing them entirely before booting up the game.

If you’re using Origin, we have a guide on how to enable the FPS overlay. To turn off the overlay, follow the guide but uncheck the box in Origin instead of checking it.

If you’re still having issues, EA’s Support Forums have a topic called Community Crashing Troubleshooting Guide with additional suggestions to try out if you continue to have issues with freezing and crashing. The EA forums and Twitter are also great places to get additional information on the issue you’re having and potentially find a fix.