Fortnite Crashing on PC: Fix Crashes by Error Message

Fortnite crashing on PC almost always comes down to one of four things: the graphics driver resetting under DirectX 12 (the “D3D device being lost” or out-of-video-memory errors), corrupted game files or settings after an update, Easy Anti-Cheat failing at launch, or silent crashes from overlays and unstable overclocks — and the message you get, or don’t get, tells you which one to fix first. Match your symptom in the table below, then work only that section.

Match your Fortnite crash to the fix

What you see	Most likely cause	Go to
”Unreal Engine is exiting due to D3D device being lost” or a DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG / DEVICE_REMOVED code	GPU driver reset — driver, overclock or the DX12 path	Fix 1
”Out of video memory trying to allocate a rendering resource”	VRAM exhausted or a system instability that looks like it	Fix 1
”An Unreal process has crashed: UE-FortniteGame” / Crash Reporter window	Game files, settings file, or a driver problem	Fix 2
Crash right after a Fortnite update	Corrupted or half-patched files	Fix 2
”Easy Anti-Cheat is not installed” or a crash before the lobby loads	Easy Anti-Cheat broken or blocked	Fix 3
Crash to desktop with no error at all	Overlays, XMP/EXPO, CPU instability	Fix 4

Fix 1 — D3D device lost and DXGI errors

When Fortnite closes with “Unreal Engine is exiting due to D3D device being lost”, Windows stopped waiting on the graphics card and reset the driver, and Fortnite can’t survive a driver reset. It rarely means the GPU is failing. It means clocks, the driver, or the DirectX 12 path is marginal.

1. Clean-install your GPU driver. Use DDU in Safe Mode, then install the current driver. If crashes started right after a driver update, roll back one version.
2. Remove every GPU overclock and undervolt, including MSI Afterburner curves, AMD Adrenalin tuning and “OC mode” factory profiles. Fortnite’s DirectX 12 renderer exposes marginal clocks that pass other games.
3. Change the rendering path. In Settings → Video → Rendering Mode, switch between DirectX 12 and Performance and restart Fortnite (the change needs a restart). DirectX 11 is no longer in that menu — Fortnite removed it along with Legacy Performance Mode in 2026, and Performance mode now picks the DirectX version automatically.
4. Force DirectX 11 as a crash test. In the Epic Games Launcher, open Settings, expand Fortnite, tick Additional Command Line Arguments and enter:

   -d3d11

   If the crashes stop, the DirectX 12 path is the problem on your GPU. Remove the argument later to check whether a newer driver or patch fixed it.
5. Out of video memory? Lower Textures and View Distance, and turn off Hardware Ray Tracing in DirectX 12 if you use it. If the error persists on a card with 8 GB or more, treat it as a stability problem rather than a VRAM one. The out of video memory fix explains why, including the Intel 13th/14th Gen cause.

For the full breakdown of each code, including the TdrDelay registry workaround, see DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG, DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED and the Unreal-wide D3D device lost crash guide.

Fix 2 — Game files, settings and the Crash Reporter

The “An Unreal process has crashed: UE-FortniteGame” window is Unreal Engine’s generic Crash Reporter. It tells you Fortnite crashed, not why, so start with the causes that are cheapest to rule out.

1. Verify Fortnite’s files. In the Epic Games Launcher: Library → three dots on Fortnite → Manage → Verify. This fixes most crashes that start right after a patch.
2. Reset the settings file. Close Fortnite, press Win + R, open %localappdata%\FortniteGame\Saved\Config\WindowsClient and delete (or rename) GameUserSettings.ini. Fortnite rebuilds it with default settings on the next launch, which clears a bad resolution, frame cap or rendering-mode value that crashes on startup.
3. Read the log. The newest FortniteGame.log in %localappdata%\FortniteGame\Saved\Logs records what the game was doing when it closed. Search near the end for Fatal, Error or DXGI. A DXGI or D3D line sends you back to Fix 1.
4. Repair the Visual C++ runtimes. Reinstall the current Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable (x64 and x86). A broken runtime crashes Fortnite at launch, often before any window appears.

Fix 3 — Easy Anti-Cheat at launch

If Fortnite says “Easy Anti-Cheat is not installed”, or closes before you reach the lobby, the anti-cheat service isn’t starting. Fortnite ships the Epic Online Services build of EAC: open FortniteGame\Binaries\Win64\EasyAntiCheat in your Fortnite folder, run EasyAntiCheat_EOS_Setup.exe as administrator and click Repair Service.

Antivirus exclusions, the EasyAntiCheat_EOS service and a full EAC reinstall have their own guide: Fortnite Easy Anti-Cheat error fix.

Fix 4 — Silent crashes: overlays, memory and CPU stability

A crash to desktop with no error window usually isn’t the GPU, because a DirectX failure names itself.

1. Close overlays while testing: Discord, Steam, NVIDIA app and AMD overlays, MSI Afterburner/RTSS, RGB and fan-control software. Re-enable them one at a time once Fortnite is stable.
2. Disable XMP/EXPO as a test. An overclocked memory profile that passes everyday use can still crash Unreal Engine games. If turning it off fixes Fortnite, re-enable it later at a slightly lower speed or looser timings. See how to enable XMP or EXPO for where the setting lives.
3. Intel Core 13th/14th Gen: update your BIOS. These CPUs have a documented instability that Intel fixed with microcode delivered through motherboard BIOS updates. It shows up as random crashes across many games, often during shader compilation. The 0xc0000005 access violation guide covers the diagnosis.
4. Check the pagefile. Leave Windows virtual memory on System managed on your fastest drive. A disabled or tiny pagefile crashes Fortnite when memory spikes, for example during shader compilation after an update.

Once Fortnite stops crashing

Stable but stuttery is a different problem with different fixes. Start with the Fortnite stuttering fix, then tune with the best Fortnite settings for FPS. For steadier frame pacing once everything is stable, the timer resolution guide covers the Windows layer underneath.

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