Fix Apex Legends EAC Is Not Running Issue

Respawn Entertainment and Electronic Arts did a great job releasing Apex Legends in 2019 as a free-to-play hero shooter video game. It’s an award-winning battle royale title that provides powerful characters, a strategic squad play experience, the next evolution of weapons, innovative gameplay, and more. However, despite its popularity and offering an excellent multiplayer experience, the game does have some issues. Some players are encountering the “Apex Legends EAC Is Not Running” issue on PC.

Easy Anti-Cheat, developed and maintained by Epic Games, is a popular and reliable anti-cheat service used to prevent hacking and cheating in online multiplayer video games for the PC. Despite being included in hundreds of popular video games, the Easy Anti-Cheat service may sometimes get disabled or corrupted on the PC due to unexpected reasons. This can affect the game launch experience and multiplayer connectivity and cause other issues in the game. Apex Legends players are also experiencing this issue where EAC doesn’t run at all, preventing the game from running.

Talking about the EAC service not running in the background while launching Apex Legends on the PC, there can be multiple possible reasons behind this. To be precise, an outdated game patch version, not running the game application using admin access, corrupted or missing game files, outdated GPU drivers, disabled EAC service, paused EAC service, conflicts with the Windows antivirus protection or Firewall, issues with the system software, an outdated client, etc can be crucial reasons.

Luckily, here we’ve shared with you some workarounds that might help you to resolve this issue. As you’re now aware of the possible scenarios, it’s recommended to follow the troubleshooting methods below until the problem has been fixed. So, without further ado, let’s jump into it.

1. Reboot the PC

First of all, you should reboot the PC to ensure there is no issue with the temporary glitch on the system or cache data whatsoever. In several scenarios, a normal restart of the system fixes multiple issues that we can’t deny.

2. Check the Apex Legends Server Status

As a second workaround, you can try checking out the Apex Legends server status here to understand whether there is an issue with the online services or not. Sometimes any kind of temporary server downtime or outage can trouble you a lot. You can visit the page and check for the real-time status. Additionally, you visit the DownDetector webpage for Apex Legends to check for the latest user reports, last 24-hour reports, live outage map, and more.

Meanwhile, you can also follow the official @_ApexStatus Twitter handle to get all the updates for the same. In case, the server is down or going through a maintenance process, make sure to wait for a couple of hours and try again later.

3. Run Apex Legends as an administrator

It’s also recommended to run the Apex Legends game application as an administrator on the PC by following the steps below to ensure there is no issue with the program running. Without allowing the system admin permission, your video game might not run properly.

Go to the installed Apex Legends game directory.
Right-click on the ApexLegends.exe application file on your PC.
Click on Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.

Click on the Run this program as an administrator box to enable it.
Once done, click on Apply and then OK to save changes.
Finally, launch the game to check for the EAC error.

4. Update Apex Legends

We should also recommend you check the game update manually via the Steam client or EA Desktop to avoid potential glitches that can come with the outdated game version. An outdated game patch version mostly triggers bugs or stability issues that can be fixed by following the steps below.

For Steam:

Open the Steam client > Go to Library.
Click on Apex Legends from the left pane.
In case, an update is available, click on Update.
Wait for a couple of minutes to complete it.
Once done, restart your PC to apply changes.

For EA App:

Launch the EA App on the PC.
Sign in to the valid account > Go to Profile at the top right side.
Click on the down arrow icon next to the profile.
Next, click on Settings > Select Download.
From the Updates section, you’ll need to Turn ON the Update games automatically toggle.
Now, Turn ON the Enable background services option.
Once done, relaunch the EA App to apply changes.

5. Verify and Repair Game Files

Sometimes missing or corrupted game files might trigger several issues that can be frustrating enough with the game launching and EAC services. You can follow the steps below to easily fix corrupted game files directly via the game client on your PC.

For EA App:

Open the EA App > Go to My Collection.
Right-click on Apex Legends from the list.
Click on Repair > Wait to complete the verification process.
Once done, restart the PC to apply changes.

For Steam:

Launch the Steam client > Click on Library.
Right-click on Apex Legends.
Click on Properties > Go to Local Files.
Now, click on Verify Integrity of Game Files.
Wait for this process to complete.
Once done, reboot the PC to apply changes.

6. Update Windows

If in case, you’re running the outdated Windows OS version or outdated build then make sure to follow the steps below to check and install updates. Mostly, an outdated system software version can cause multiple issues with the program launching & performance.

Press the Win+I keys to open Windows Settings.
Click on Windows Update from the left pane.
Click on Check for updates.
If there is an update available, just select Download and Install.
Wait for the update process to be completed.
Once done, reboot your PC to apply changes.

7. Disable Windows Firewall

Make sure to turn off security programs on the PC if you’re experiencing game launching or easy anti-cheat service issues. Sometimes aggressive antivirus programs may block ongoing connections with the game files or servers. To do so:

Open the Start Menu > Search and open Windows Defender Firewall.
Click on Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off from the left side.
Now, select the Turn off Windows Defender Firewall (not recommended) option.
Do the same for all the Private, Public, and Domain Network Settings.
Once done, click on OK to save changes.

8. Turn Off Antivirus Protection

It’s also recommended to temporarily turn off the antivirus protection on your system whatever you’re using. Well, it can be the default Windows antivirus or a third-party antivirus software. But sometimes aggressive scanning of the program files and blocking can be painful while launching the game application. Several users have found this trick helpful to disabling the antivirus software.

Press the Win+I keys to open Windows Settings.
Click on Update & Security > Go to Windows Security from the left pane.
Now, click on Open Windows Security.
Open Virus & threat protection > Click on Manage settings.
Turn Off the Real-time protection option.
If prompted, click on Yes to proceed further.
You’re good to go.

9. Delete Apex Legends Cache Folder

In case, you’re still encountering the Apex Legends EAC not running error then make sure to delete the game cache folder manually by following the steps below. Sometimes an outdated or clogged cache folder can trigger easy anti-cheat service running issues.

Press the Win+R keys to open the Run dialogue box.
Type %appdata% > Hit Enter to open the AppData folder.
Now, search for the Apex Legends folder > Make sure to Delete it.
Once done, reboot the PC & run the game again.

10. Repair Easy Anti-Cheat

The Easy Anti-Cheat service automatically gets installed with each of the games that support it. Similarly, it gets uninstalled automatically whenever you uninstall the game that was using Easy Anti-Cheat from your system. Now, if you’ve already installed Easy Anti-Cheat service but you feel that it doesn’t work properly, make sure to repair it first.

Head over to the Apex Legends installation directory.
Open the EasyAntiCheat folder inside it.
Now, right-click on the EasyAntiCheat_Setup.exe file.
Select Run as administrator > If prompted, click on Yes.
Then choose Install > Select Repair.
Wait for it to complete and then reboot the PC.
Finally, launch the Apex Legends game to check for the issue.

11. Restart Easy Anti-Cheat Service

Sometimes the easy anti-cheat system might get disabled or stopped due to unexpected reasons. So, you should follow the steps below to manually restart the EAC service or enable it on the system.

Press the Win+R keys to open the Run dialogue box.
Type services.msc and hit Enter to open Services.
Search for the Easy AntiCheat service from the list.
Double-click on the EAC service > Go to Properties.
Set the Startup type to Automatic.
Reboot your computer and launch the game.

12. Reinstall Easy Anti-Cheat

Last but not least, you can try uninstalling and reinstalling the Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) service on your computer by following the steps below. It’s a simple process and should help you fix the EAC not running issue with the video games.

Press the Win+I keys to open Windows Settings.
Click on Apps > Locate and click on Easy Anti-Cheat to select it.
Now, click on Uninstall > Follow the on-screen prompts to delete it completely.
Once done, go to the Apex Legends installation root folder.
Open the EasyAntiCheat folder inside it > Right-click on the EasyAntiCheat_Setup.exe file.
Select Run as administrator > Click on Yes, if prompted.
Click on Install and wait for it to complete.
Finally, run the Apex Legends game to check if EAC is running or not.

That’s it, guys. We assume this guide was helpful to you. For further queries, you can comment below.