Sea of Thieves getting stuck on loading screen is a fairly common issue. A lot of players have reported this issue on their devices. There can be various reasons as to why players may encounter this message. It can be that the system does not meet the minimum required standards, outdated drivers, corrupt files, network connectivity issues, and others.
In this guide, we will do our best to address these issues without sparing too much time for it. As each user will face different causes for their error, players need to go through all points below. Once all of the fixes below have been tried, and players will notice the loading screen issue disappears, and the game is playable.
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Sea of Thieves is Stuck on Loading Screen – How to Fix?
Let’s begin with those fixes. The first thing for players to do is check whether their system meets the minimum recommended requirements. In order to run the game successfully, players need to have systems that can support the Sea of Thieves.
Fix 1 – Check System Requirements for Sea of Thieves
A significant portion of players who reported the loading screen error issue seems to be running the game on outdated operating systems. Players who currently are on older OS, like Windows 7 or Windows 8, must upgrade their system to the latest stable Windows 10 OS.
To run the Sea of Thieves, a Windows 10 OS is the minimum requirement. This is the first step to fixing the loading screen issue by checking if the system meets the game requirements. If the requirements do not match, players are advised to upgrade their current operating system.
Check out the table below to know if your system is capable of supporting the Sea of Thieves:
| OS | Windows 10 |
| CPU | Intel i3 processor @2.9 GHz / AMD FX-6300 @3.5 GHz |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce 650 / AMD Radeon 7750 |
| RAM | 4GB |
| DirectX | V. 11 |
| VRAM | 1GB |
| HDD | 60 GB @5.4K RPM |
If players have systems that meet the above-mentioned specifications and still continue to face the loading screen problem, then check out the other fixes below.
Fix 2 – Update Windows OS
Usually, Windows updates are set to automatically download so that it would run in the background and install itself when a newer build is available. However, it is never a bad idea to check if the latest update did download and install properly.
Check out the steps to know if the latest update is installed:
- Select Windows Key + i
- The Windows Setting pop up will appear, select Update & Security.
- Select Check for Updates
- Install the latest available update
Once these steps are done, players can try and run the Sea of Thieves once again and check if the loading screen problem still exists. If players still face the loading screen problem, then proceed to try the other fixes listed below.
Fix 3 – Check Display Drivers and Update
One of the reasons why players still face the loading screen problem/stuttering gameplay can be due to either a corrupted graphics card or an outdated one. If players already have the GeForce Experience pre-installed on their system, it will check for newer updates to the drivers automatically. Else, players will have to check manually for newer updates to their graphics card.
Check out the steps to know if the driver is stable and install the latest updates:
- Navigate to the Windows Search Tab and search for ‘Device Manager.’
- Then select ‘Device Manager.’
- Open the ‘Display Adapters’
- Depending on NVIDIA or Raedon, right-click to open them.
- Select the ‘Update Driver’ option and select the ‘Search Automatically’ for updated driver software.
- Continue with the installation by following the setup instructions.
- The latest driver will be installed.
If players have followed the steps to update their display drivers and still continue to face the loading screen problem, then check out the other fixes below.
Fix 4 – Run Sea of Thieves as Administrator
At times, players may face the stuck on loading screen problem due to the proper lack of privileges to run the game. Certain features of the game are restricted for users with limited privileges. This means players must try to run the game using Administrator privileges.
Check out the steps to below to run Sea of Thieves as an Administrator user:
- Players need to head over to desktop-shortcut of the game.
- Then right-click on it and select ‘Properties.’
- A new pop up will appear and in it go to ‘Compatibility.’
- Then select ‘Run this program as an administrator.’
- Select ‘Apply’ to finish the changes and then ‘OK.’
By doing this, players have assigned Administrator privileges to the game permanently. However, if players want to run the game in Administrator only for certain runs, they can do so by right-clicking on the game shortcut and select ‘Run as administrator.’
Once the admin privileges are set, players can try and run the Sea of Thieves once again and check if the loading screen problem still exists. If players still face the loading screen problem, then proceed to try the other fixes listed below.
Fix 5 – Reset Sea of Thieves
A lot of users were able to clear the stuck on loading screen problem by simply resetting the game back to its original default settings. Check out the steps below to reset Sea of Thieves to default settings:
- Select Windows Key + i
- Select ‘Apps’
- From the list, find ‘Sea of Thieves’ and click on it
- Select ‘Advanced Options’
- From the list, find ‘Reset’ and click on it
- Click ‘Reset’ again after the second prompt
This will completely reset Sea of Thieves to its original default setting. If players still face the loading screen problem after resetting the game, then proceed to try the other fixes listed below.
Fix 6 – Use VPN to Connect to Sea of Thieves
Users have reported that they are unable to access the game due to their region. This can be due to a form of game restriction to certain regions or simply because of a full server. Using a VPN might help resolve this issue.
Check out some of the best top free VPN’s available:
- Hotspot Shield VPN
- Windscribe
- Tunnelbear
- Hide.me
A lot of users have managed to run the game after using 3rd party VPN services. Once players are done playing the game, they can shut off the VPN.
Fix 7 – Change Time/Date
In certain cases, having an incorrect time or date zone set in your device can cause the loading screen problem. When players try to connect to the game, the server time may not match up with the local system time, and a conflict may arise. Similarly, for players who use VPN services, there may be a conflict with their IP address location time zone and local system. To address this issue, players can either turn off their VPN or change the local system settings to match the VPN.
Check out the steps to change Time/Date in the local system:
- Select Windows Key + i
- Select ‘Time & Language’ and enable the ‘Set Time Automatically’ toggle button
- On the left side panel, select ‘Region.’
- Cross-check that country and region match with system settings
- Restart the system and run the game again
If players still face the loading screen problem after setting the time and date, then proceed to try the other fixes listed below.
Fix 8 – Launch Sea of Thieves via Microsoft Store Library
Games that are not run directly through the Microsoft Store library may misbehave. Try running the game from the Store Library to see if the loading problem issue still arises.
- Open Microsoft Store
- Select any free app to download and install
- Navigate to ‘My Library’
- Select ‘Sea of Thieves’ from the list and run the game
Run the game directly through Microsoft Store this time and see if the game is playable. If players still can’t run the game by now, then check out the last possible fix for the loading screen problem in Sea of Thieves.
Fix 9 – Clear Microsoft Store cache and Reinstall Sea of Thieves
The loading screen problem can also arise due to corrupt cache files during installation. By clearing the cache files and reinstalling the game, it should sort itself out.
Check out the steps below on how to clear cache and reinstall the game:
- Select Windows key + R
- Enter ‘wsreset.exe.’
- Then select Windows key + I and select ‘Apps.’
- Find ‘Sea of Thieves’ from the list and click on it.
- Proceed with uninstallation
- Once it is completely uninstalled, proceed to reinstall it from Microsoft Store.
- Run the game
Even after trying all the fixes mentioned above, players can also try to run ‘CCleaner’ as a last resort. It drastically reduces all errors and crashes and also speeds up the system.
That concludes all the methods to fix the Stuck on Loading Screen problem in Sea of Thieves.
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