7 Ways to Fix Diablo 4 Not Launching on a Windows PC

Diablo 4 is a popular multiplayer game for Windows PCs and consoles some players can’t play because of startup issues. For example, this is what one Diablo 4 player said on Reddit: “D4 won’t launch. When I open D4 it just freezes at the Blizzard logo.” Diablo 4 can crash in different ways when players try to start it on PCs. However, players can’t play D4 regardless of how it fails to launch. This is how you can fix Diablo 4 not launching on a Windows 11/10 PC.

Read also: How to Fix ‘Diablo 4 Was Unable to Open a Critical File’ Error

Repair Diablo 4’s Game Files

The Battle.net launcher includes a Scan and Repair troubleshooting tool for its games that’s similar to the verification option in Steam. Selecting that option might repair missing or corrupted game files when Diablo 4 doesn’t start. Check out this Battle.net help page for instructions about how to select Scan and Repair for games in Blizzard’s game client. This Steam page includes game verification instructions for Valve’s games client.

The Scan and Repair option in Battle.net

Disable Chroma Effects

Some D4 players have fixed Diablo 4 not launching by disabling Chroma effects. You do that by editing a LocalPrefs.txt file that includes a DisableChromaEffects file. These are the steps for editing the LocalPrefts.txt file.

1. Click File Explorer’s pinned taskbar shortcut and navigate to the Documents > Diablo IV folder.
2. Next, right-click the LocalPrefs.txt file to select the Open with and Notepad options.
3. Change the DisableChromaEffects “0” setting in the file to DisableChromaEffects “1” by changing its value from 0 to 1.
   
   

   The DisableChromaEffects “0” setting

4. Next, click the File menu and select Save to apply the change.

Rename the Dstorage.dll File

Another confirmed fix for the Diablo 4 not launching is to rename the dstorage.dll file. Renaming that file to dstorageold.dll can fix freezing at startup and other crashing issues affecting the game. This is how you can rename that file.

1. Open the Diablo IV installation folder. This will be in Steam > steamapps > common folder for those players with Valve’s games client.
2. Right-click the dstorage.dll file to select Rename.
   
   

   The rename option in File Explorer

3. Enter dstorageold.dll to be the new file’s name.

The dstorage DLL file

Erase the Battle.net Folder

Corrupted data in the Battle.net folder can cause Diablo 4 startup issues to arise. Deleting that folder will clear its data and might fix Diablo 4 not launching for some players. You can delete the Battle.net folder like this.

1. Right-click the button for the Start menu and select Run.
2. Input C:\ProgramData\ in Run and click OK.
   
   

   The Battle.net folder

3. Right-click the Battle.net folder and select Delete.

Close MSI Afterburner

Some D4 players say they’ve fixed Diablo 4 not launching by closing the MSI Afterburner background app. Do you have the MSI Afterburner overclocking app on your PC? If you do, make sure that the app isn’t running by pressing the Ctrl + Shift + Esc hotkey and looking for MSI Afterburner on Task Manager’s Process tab. If you see it, select the MSI Afterburner process and click End task.

Set a Dedicated GPU for Diablo 4

Does your PC have two graphical processing units (GPU)? If it does, make sure Diablo 4 is set for the high-performance dedicated (NVIDIA or AMD) graphics card on your gaming rig. You can set Diablo 4 to run with a high-performance graphics card like this.

1. Activate the search tool by right-clicking Start and selecting its shortcut.
2. Enter graphics settings into the Type here to search box and select the matching result.
3. Select Desktop app on the Choose an app drop-down menu.
4. Click Browse and select the Diablo IV.exe file in its installation folder.
   
   

   The graphical settings

5. Press Add in the file selection window.
6. Click your Diablo 4 game in graphics settings to press its Options button.
7. Select High performance for your dedicated GPU.
   
   

   The High performance option

8. Click Save to set the selected option.

Reinstall Diablo 4

The last resort solution for fixing Diablo 4 not launching is to reinstall the game. Doing this will update the game and refresh its files. This is how you can reinstall Diablo 4 with Battle.net and Steam.

Battle.net

1. Start Battle.net to access the game’s client.
2. Click Diablo 4 in the in-game bar.
3. Next, click the cog icon on the Play button.
4. Select Uninstall to remove the game.
5. Click the Install button for Diablo 4 to reinstall.

Steam

1. Open your Steam window to click the Library tab.
2. Right-click Diablo 4 in the sidebar to select Manage and Uninstall.
3. Click Uninstall to confirm game removal.
   
   

   The Uninstall option

4. To reinstall, click Install on the Diablo 4 page.

Other Ways to Fix Diablo 4 Not Launching

Try applying the potential solutions above first. If Diablo 4 still doesn’t start, however, these additional solutions might also kick-start the game for some players:

• Download the latest Visual Studio C++ package 2015-2022 from this Microsoft page. Run the downloaded Visual C++ file and select to repair or install runtime libraries with it.
• Temporarily disable Windows Security or third-party antivirus shields, such as AVAST, on your PC before starting Diablo 4.
• Run Diablo 4 with administrator rights from the game’s installation folder. To do this, you’ll need to right-click the game’s EXE file in its folder and select Run as an administrator.
• Close all background apps with overlays and overclocking features, such as Steam, GeForce Experience, Discord, etc. Alternatively, disable the overlay features in such software.

I hope one of the resolutions outlined above fixes Diablo 4 not launching on your PC. There isn’t a guaranteed way to fix a Diablo 4 game not starting, but the fixes above have worked for many users. If you need more potential fixes, consider contacting the game’s help service by sending a support ticket from this Blizzard page.