Grand Theft Auto V is the fifth mainline instalment in the long-running open-world sandbox action-adventure crime games developed by Rockstar. The entire franchise is hugely popular and insanely successful, with almost every kid having grown up on some or the other GTA game. The series’ most successful and popular game even to this date remains Grand Theft Auto V, being an absolute king of a videogame and being highly influential and popular even today after being released almost 10 years earlier in September 2023. It’s one of the best-selling video games and till date has sold more than 150 million copies all across the globe.

The game’s success is very much due to the excellent online mode, titled Grand Theft Auto Online, which capitalises on the detailed world of Los Santos in GTA V and makes it an ongoing multiplayer experience for people to join in. Aside from that, the game also features a great modding community which creates many custom mods and features which elongate the game’s playtime and enjoyment for the players. However, even such legendary games are not without their flaws. Players have reported GTA V often crashing and causing issues on startup, which makes the players frustrated as they are unable to play and enjoy their game. Not to worry, as in this article, we explore the issue and how to completely fix Grand Theft Auto V crashes on startup.

Also Read: Black Ops 3 Keeps Crashing On PC: Fix It With These 7 Solutions

What Causes GTA V Crashing?

We all know that Grand Theft Auto V is a phenomenal game which is widely recognised as one of the best video games ever made, let alone of the best of its generation. It is extremely popular even a decade after its release and the online mode still gets over 90 thousand daily players, with peaks even going to 2.5 million players logging on to GTA Online every month. The game is massively popular and influential, so why do some players still report issues with the game and it not working properly on their devices?

We did some research into the matter, and it turns out the common outlier is issues with the device or problems when downloading or updating software, not necessarily in the game itself. Grand Theft Auto V is a port on PC and does not work as well (relatively) on PC as it does on consoles, as with the majority of PC ports. Do mind that GTA V is an impressive port and generally functions well on PCs or laptops, but these small issues do occur due to the vast variety of computers available in which players want to run the game.

This is unfortunately a common trend for games on PC, with many popular games like Resident Evil having issues when launching on PC. These issues are primarily caused due to hardware limitations, misconfigured or altered settings, corrupted game files, graphics settings, missing files of Visual C++, other applications running in the background or even your antivirus. This is due to how your desktop chooses to prioritise what program to put its majority of memory and power on, which can cause these complications. Not to worry though, as this problem is easily fixable. We elaborate on the different methods to fix GTA V crashing below.

Initial Steps You Should Follow To Fix GTA V Crashing Quickly

Before we go into the advanced and more elaborate methods, these simple procedures can often do the trick and make the game work as intended with no trouble. These are the initial, simpler methods to provide solutions to GTA V crashing on startup or during gameplay. If none of this works for you, then let us look into the more advanced, more complex methods to solve the issue.

• Restart your PC or game– A fix which can work about just anything, try restarting your system and your game.
• Run the game as administrator– When an application is run as administrator, it can tap into resources of the device otherwise unavailable to it. Try if this makes the game not crash.
• Make sure your device meets the requirements– Grand Theft Auto V will not run properly on your laptop or PC if your device does not have the minimum requirements met, so make sure to check that.
• Try disabling mods if any– Sometimes some mods can cause incompatibility issues and make the game not run as intended. Try disabling mods and then running the game to see if the issue is fixed.
• Make sure you have DirectX installed– DirectX is crucial for graphics and ensuring that games work as intended, so make sure you have at least DirectX 11 or further versions installed on your device.
• Turn off overclocking– Overclocking can cause issues with software and make applications not run properly. Turn off overclock settings if you have any components in your device which you have overclocked.
• Close other applications– Many apps running together in the background can heat the device by causing too much usage of energy, making the game not work or simply crash. Close all other apps and then try running the game.
• Disable your antivirus– Check if temporarily disabling your antivirus can make the game run as intended as sometimes antivirus can cause issues by wrongly detecting the game as a virus. If this works, make sure to turn the antivirus on again and then put GTA V on its whitelist.

5 Additional Methods To Fix GTA V Crashing Error

As we stated, if none of those earlier methods worked for your particular problem, then follow any of these four methods until you can finally make the game work for your device.

Method 1: Try Upgrading Graphics Drivers

GTA 5 problems with crashing can be brought on by outdated graphics drivers. It’s generally a good idea to keep this driver updated so that your gaming experience is not hindered. Follow the simple steps mentioned below and update your graphics driver in no time.

• Step 1: Open the Device Manager by typing its name into the Windows search box.
• Step 2: Double-click the Display Adapters section to expand its list.
• Step 3: To update your GPU’s driver, right-click on it and choose Update driver from the dropdown menu.
• Step 4: In the Update Driver Wizard, choose the option to automatically search for drivers. The Wizard will look for the most recent drivers automatically.
• Step 5: Simply follow the installation instructions after the drivers are located.
• Step 6: And then finally, reboot your computer.
• Step 7: After the restart, carry out any extra instructions that may occur. and run the game to check if the problem persists.

Method 2: Lower GTA V Graphics settings

You may have set the graphics quality of the game too high, which could be resulting in GTA V crashing. But this can be lowered easily, as we explore below. Lowering the graphics will result in a smoother overall experience for your game.

• Step 1: Launch Grand Theft Auto V.
• Step 2: Click Settings, then select Graphics from the drop-down box.
• Step 3: Make the following adjustments:

1. Texture Quality: Normal
2. Shader Quality: Normal
3. Shadow Quality: Normal
4. Reflection Quality: Normal
5. Grass Quality: Normal

These are our recommended graphics settings for an average gaming machine which meets the specifications for GTA V. You can opt to lower them further so that the game runs better according to your device specifications.

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Method 3: Make Sure To Verify Game Files

Game files can often get corrupted and not work the way they are intended to, which can cause issues such as GTA V crashing. Both Steam and Epic Games offer easy ways to verify your game files to make sure that no such issues occur follow the steps mentioned below for a quick fix.

GTA V Crashing on Steam – Verify Game Files

• Step 1: Access Steam through your desktop and open your game library.
• Step 2: Search for Grand Theft Auto V from the game list
• Step 3: Right-click on the game, and in the menu click on Properties.
• Step 4: In the left panel in the new window, select the LOCAL FILES option.
• Step 5: Now select the Verify Integrity of Game Files option on your screen.

GTA V Crashing on Epic Games- Verify Game Files

• Step 1: Access Steam through your desktop and open your game library.
• Step 2: In the list of games, find Grand Theft Auto V.
• Step 3: Click on the three dots icon near the corner and then hit the Manage option.
• Step 4: Now select the Verify button.

It’s important to have verified game files which are not corrupted for the proper working of games. If the files are not verified the game has to be installed again as per the instructions given further by Steam or Epic Games after the method is completed.

Method 4: Download Visual C++ Packages

Many games require Visual C++ for them to work properly so that the games can run on computer systems without any trouble. GTA V is also such a game, and it requires proper Visual C++ packages to ensure the smooth running of the game. Normally these files are already installed, but sometimes certain files can be missing. The process to fix that is to download the Visual C++ packages, which we elaborate on below.

• Step 1: Visit the official Visual C++ Redist Packages website to access the downloads.
• Step 2: On this site, click on the given link to download vc_redist. Make sure to download the proper version depending on your software. X86 is for 32-bit systems while X64 works for 64-bit systems.
• Step 3: After the installation package is downloaded, open it and follow the onscreen instructions.
• Step 4: Restart your computer. This process will help in fixing GTA V crashing issues by downloading the missing files required for the game to run properly.

Also Read: Troubleshooting Resident Evil 5 Not Launching On Steam: 100% Working Fixes 2023

Conclusion

The Grand Theft Auto franchise is one of the most celebrated in the gaming industry, and Grand Theft Auto is one of the modern giants of gaming, with the likes of God of War or Elden Ring. GTA V crashing can cause irritation and trouble to players who want to explore the highly realistic and detailed world of GTA V. After reading this article though, you can easily solve the problem of GTA V crashing anytime.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q) Will mods crash GTA V or stop it from running properly?

Ans: Some mods can cause performance issues with the game, so be sure to only stick to mods so that your computer system can run without trouble.

Q) When is GTA 6 coming out?

Ans: Fans are desperate for GTA 6 news as GTA 5 has been out for nearly a decade. We have no yearly confirmation, but due to Rockstar’s announcement and then the following leaks, we know that GTA 6 is in development and will release in a few years. Do not expect any news soon though.