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Gears of War 4 is the latest installment of Microsoft’s iconic franchise. The game was released in 2016 and is still creating a furor around the world. It features a cool mech design and an engaging campaign, but the performance is not always as smooth as expected.
There have been several complaints about Gears of War 4 Freezes or Crashes on Windows 10, with players experiencing crashes in the middle of the game and sometimes even at launch. For some players, the game simply won’t launch.
What’s surprising is that the Xbox One version of the game doesn’t have many of these problems, but they are prevalent on Windows 10. In this IR Cache article, we’ll look at a few ways to fix these Gears of War 4 Freezes or Crashes on your PC.
Do your Gears of War 4 freeze or crash on your PC? Don’t worry about it! Although this problem can be very frustrating, it is often not difficult to solve.
Table of Contents:
Why do Gears of War 4 freeze or crash on your PC?
After receiving several messages from users and noticing how often this problem occurs, we began to investigate its causes. By doing some checking and combining it with user reports, we have listed some possible causes. Some of them are listed below:
Windows Store: Because Gears of War 4 is published through the Microsoft Store, it is tied to the game, and its engines are used when the game launches. If your store is not working properly, you will experience random glitches in the game.
Graphics Drivers: There are several instances where graphics drivers can interfere with Gears of War. Either a new update breaks the game, or the current driver version isn’t working.
The latest Windows updates: Microsoft regularly releases updates to all computers. These updates contain bug fixes and new features. However, sometimes these updates, instead of improving the experience, ruin it by conflicting with the game.
Outdated Windows: Every time Gears of War crashes, Microsoft releases an update to fix the problem. Therefore, you should also keep your operating system up to date.
Asynchronous: Async improves the game’s performance by providing asynchronous functions to handle JavaScript. This method is known to improve performance, but it is also known to cause problems in the game.
Game panel and DVR: Microsoft games often have a game panel that allows the user to record gameplay through an overlay. This is a very handy feature, but sometimes it conflicts with the game with which it is used.
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How to Solve Gears of War 4 freezes or crashes on your PC
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Updated: March 2025
Install the latest Windows updates
To avoid Gears of War 4 crashing on startup, make sure that you have installed the latest version of Windows 10. This is because crashes may occur if certain updates are missing. Follow the steps below to check for Windows updates:
- Type “update” in the search box, then select “Check for updates” in the first result.
- In the pop-up window, click the Check for updates button in the right pane.
- Windows will then automatically install all available updates.
- After installing the updates, restart your computer and check if the problem with Gears of War 4 PC persists.
Updating the video card driver
An outdated video card driver is also the reason why Gears of War 4 on PC hangs. For the game to run smoothly, we recommend that you install the latest graphics driver. If you do not know how to do it, here is a quick guide.
- Right-click in the Start menu and select Device Manager from the pop-up menu.
- Expand the Display Adapters category, then right-click on the video card driver and select Update Driver.
- Select Automatically check for driver software updates and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the update.
- You can also download a video card driver from the manufacturer’s website and install it on your computer manually.
Disabling Game Bar and DVR
Game Bar/DVR is a Windows feature designed for the Xbox app to record gameplay and take screenshots. However, many users report that this feature can cause Gears of War 4 to freeze on PC. To solve this problem, you can try disabling Game Bar and DVR in Windows.
- Press Win + I to open the Settings window, and go to Games.
- Under Game Bar, uncheck Recording Game Clips, Screenshots, and Broadcasts via Game Bar and uncheck Open Game Bar via this button on the controller.
- Select Game DVR in the left pane and uncheck Record in the background while I play the game.
- Reboot the computer to confirm the process and see if the problem persists in Gears of War 4.
Resetting the Windows Store cache
Sometimes the Windows Store cache can take up a lot of memory and cause your computer to freeze in Gears of War 4. Follow the steps below to reset the Windows Store cache and see if it works.
- Type cmd in the search box, then right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
- At the extended command prompt, type wsreset.exe and press Enter.
- Then wait for the process to complete and check if the Gears of War 4 PC problems have been resolved after restarting your computer.
Disable Async
Another cause of Gears of War 4 PC hangs is Async. Many users have reported that they have solved the problem by disabling Async. Here’s how to do it:
- Launch Gears of War 4 on your Windows computer and click Options.
- In the left pane, go to Video and select Advanced Video -> Disable Async Compute.
- Restart your computer and see if the problems with Gears of War 4 PC are resolved.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Gears of War 4 keep crashing on the PC?
- Outdated Windows: Every time Gears of War crashes, Microsoft releases an update to fix the problem. Therefore, you should also keep your operating system up to date.
- Windows Store: Because Gears of War 4 is published through the Microsoft Store, it is linked to the game, and its engines are used when the game runs.
How to fix Gears of War 4 on PC?
- Update the graphics driver.
- Disable the game panel and background recording.
- Reset the Microsoft Store cache.
- Check for Windows updates.
- Update DirectX.
- Reinstall the game.
Why does my PC keep crashing when I play games?
When you start playing a game, you increase the load on the GPU and it generates more heat. Overheating causes instability and crashes. Check your system for airflow issues, make sure the GPU fans are running, and remove dust with compressed air. If it's not heating, the next likely cause that comes to mind is electricity.
What should you do if your game keeps crashing?
- Install the latest drivers.
- Install the correct software.
- Make sure your computer doesn't overheat.
- Turn off background programs.
- Turn off the built-in sound device.
- Check for malware.
- Check your hardware.