With New Fortnite Update, My PC is Freezing and Lagging badly: Fix

Fortnite is still one of the most popular battle royale games out there despite many battle royale games launching recently. The building mechanics in the game offer a pretty unique experience and make it different from other battle royale games.

With New Fortnite Update, PC Freezing Badly: How to Fix

The last thing you want while playing Fortnite is your PC starting to freeze or lag. However, after the recent update, many users worldwide face lagging and freezing issues with their PCs while playing Fortnite.

If that’s the case with you too and you are in a quandary, stop banging your head; we have the solutions. Apply them in the given order. We are sure one of them will fix the issue.

Fix 1: Low system Specs Could be the reason

Your PC needs to meet a minimum system requirement criteria for the smooth running of Fortnite. If your PC falls short of these criteria, you will experience freezing and lagging. Therefore you need to make sure that your PC is powerful enough before playing Fortnite.

Here are the minimum system requirements for Fortnite

Processor: At Least a Core i3 2.4GHz

RAM: Minimum of 4GB

HDD: 16GB of Free Space

Graphics Card: Intel HD 4000

OS: Windows 7, 8, or Windows 10 64-bit

DirectX: Version 11

In case you don’t know the specs of your system, follow these steps to check:

• Open the run dialogue box. You can either open it from the start menu or by pressing the Windows and R keys together.
• In the run dialogue box, type dxdiag and click the OK button.
• A window will open up with the system specifications of your PC.
• If you want to see the graphic card details, click on the Display tab.

You should note that even if your PC meets the minimum requirements criteria, it may not still be able to run Fortnite at high settings. You may have to tweak some settings to squeeze out optimum performance. Once you have determined that your PC has enough juice. It can run Fortnite without issues, then move to the other troubleshooting solutions provided here.

Fix 2: Re-Install the Latest Fortnite update

It may be possible that the update was not installed correctly. In that case, there may arise several issues that could cause freezing and lagging of the game. To install the latest update, visit the official Fortnite website. Check for the latest released update; if you find one, download and install it before you jump into the Fortnite arena.

Fix 3: Run the Game as an Administrator

It is possible that your PC may restrict Fortnite from accessing certain game files. The reason being insufficient administrative privileges. If Fortnite can’t access all the game files, then freezing and lagging are bound to happen. To rule out this possibility, run Fortnite with all administrative rights. Here is how you can run Fortnite as an administrator:

• First, close the epic game launcher. Now check the taskbar, if there is any process related to the epic game launcher still running. If there is any, close it.
• Now, right-click on the Fortnite epic game launcher icon. Once the drop-down menu appears, choose ‘Properties’ from the list.
• In the properties window, go to the ‘Compatibility’ tab.
• Check the, ‘Run this program as administrator’ option, then click on the ‘apply’ button.
• Launch the game and check if it’s lagging or not.

Fix 4: Update the graphic card drivers

It’s possible that Fortnite itself doesn’t have any issue; instead, outdated graphic drivers could be causing the problem. It’s a known fact that faulty drivers can cause several performance issues. If you are experiencing freezing and lagging with Fortnite, it’s recommended that you update the graphic drivers.

• To update the graphic drivers, visit your graphic card vendor’s website.
• Here, check the latest available driver and download them.
• Once downloaded, run the installer to install the graphic drivers on your PC.

Fix 5: Check for any corrupt Fortnite files

If the integrity of Fortnite files has been compromised, then also you will face several annoying issues. Several processes could damage or corrupt files related to Fortnite.

For instance, if you improperly close Fortnite, there is a possibility that the game save file will get corrupted. Similarly, other files can also be damaged. Fortunately, there is an easy way to ensure that all the epic games files are intact or not. You need to follow the below-given steps;

• You have to open the epic Fortnite game launcher.
• From the game launcher window, navigate to the ‘library’ and then click on ‘settings.’
• Lastly, click on the ‘Verify’ link.
• Wait for the verifying process to complete, then restart your PC. Now launch the game and check if the issue is gone or not.

Fix 6: Expand your PC’s virtual memory

Your PC employs virtual memory to save temporary files whenever it runs short of RAM. That can happen while playing Fortnite too. However, if your PC is low on virtual memory, the game will freeze or start lagging. You should follow the below steps to expand the virtual memory of your PC;

• Click the ‘Start’ button, and in the search box, type ‘Advance System Settings.’
• From the search results, click on the ‘View advanced system settings’ link.
• On the following window, click on the ‘advance’ tab, then choose the ‘settings’ option.
• Once again, click on the ‘advance’ tab, and then click the ‘Change’ button.
• When the virtual memory dialogue box opens, uncheck the box next to the ‘Automatically manage paging file size for all drives’ option.
• Next, set the minimum and maximum size of the virtual memory.
• Once done, first click on the ‘Set’ button and then the ‘OK’ button. Lastly, reboot your system.

Fix 7: Disable V Sync feature

The V Sync feature syncs the refresh rate and frame rates to minimize screen tearing and stuttering. However, the same feature could sometimes cause games to freeze. Therefore, if you face freezing and lagging with Fortnite, too, V sync could be behind the issue. One simple way to check is to disable the V sync feature. Here is how you can do it;

• Launch Fortnite, then head to the Battle Royale section.
• Open the settings menu and find the V sync option.
• If you see it enabled, turn it off to disable it.
• Now launch the game and check if the issue persists or not.

Fix 8: Check your internet connection

As Fortnite is a battle royal PvP game, you can’t play it without a stable internet connection. Moreover, if your internet connection is slow, you will also experience lagging and freezing while playing Fortnite. Therefore, you should check your internet connections before starting Fortnite.

• Perform a search on google to make sure that your internet connection is up and running.
• Several websites on the internet let you check the upload and download speed of your network.
• Perform a check and if you are not getting a fast enough speed, talk to your ISP or upgrade your plan.

Or you can simply perform a speed test.

Fix 9: Perform a fresh Installation of Fortnite

Even after applying all the solutions mentioned above, you are still experiencing lagging or freezing; It simply means that the damage to Fortnite game files is beyond repair. In that case, a fresh install of Fortnite could be your last resort. Go through the below steps for re-install of Fortnite;

• Run the epic game launcher and head to the library section.
• Choose the settings option, then click the uninstall button.
• Close the window after uninstalling, then relaunch the epic game launcher.
• Start the download and install Fortnite for reinstallation.

Bottomline

That is all the solutions to fix the freezing and lagging of your PC after the recent Fortnite update. Even after applying all the troubleshooters given here, if the issue persists, there might be a hardware failure involved. In that case, let a qualified technician look to your PC to find any possible hardware failure.