8 Ways to Fix Epic Games Launcher Not Working (Starting) on a Windows PC

Epic Games Launcher is among the most popular gaming client software for Windows after Steam. However, players often report that Epic Games Launcher doesn’t start on their PCs. One Epic user’s Reddit post says, “So I was trying to open Epic Games Launcher normally from desktop like always, but today it didn’t do anything when I tried to launch it.” Players can’t access their games libraries when Epic Games Launcher doesn’t start. This is how you can fix Epic Games Launcher not working.

Read also: 6 of the Best Free Games on Epic Games Store

Close Epic Game Processes via Task Manager

Some users say they’ve fixed Epic Games Launcher by closing Epic processes in Task Manager. This termination of processes for Epic Games often enables an effective restart of the software. You can close the Epic processes like this.

1. Open the Power User menu by right-clicking Start on the taskbar and selecting Task Manager.
2. Go into the Processes tab of Task Manager.
3. Right-click EpicGamesLauncher to select the End task.
   
   

   The End task option

4. Also, end all other Epic-related processes you see in the Task Manager.
5. Try starting your Epic Games Launcher software.

Open Epic Games Launcher From its Installation Folder

Try opening Epic Games Launcher from its installation folder rather than a desktop shortcut. There could be an issue with your Epic desktop shortcut rather than the launcher itself. This is how you can open Epic Games Launcher directly from its folder.

1. Open Explorer for navigating folders by activating it with the Windows logo + E keyboard shortcut.
2. Bring up the Epic installation folder that includes the EpicGamesLauncher.exe file. The default folder location for that file is C:\Program Files (x86)\Epic Games\Launcher\Portal\Binaries\Win64.
   
   

   The Win64 folder

3. Double-click the EpicGamesLauncher.exe file.

If this potential fix works, you probably need a new shortcut for Epic Games Launcher. First, erase the current shortcut by right-clicking it and selecting Delete. To create a new one, right-click the EpicGamesLauncher.exe and select Send to > Desktop.

Run Epic Games Launcher as an Administrator

Users also confirm setting the gaming client to run with admin rights can fix Epic Games Launcher not working. You can do this by right-clicking your Epic Games Launcher shortcut and selecting Run as administrator. However, it’s best to set that software to always run with admin rights like this.

1. Open the folder containing the EpicGamesLauncher.exe file, as covered in the first couple of steps of resolution two.
2. Right-click the EpicGamesLauncher.exe file to select Properties.
3. Select elevated privileges by clicking Compatibility > Run this program as an administrator.
4. Next, select Apply to set the compatibility options as selected.
   
   

   The Run this program as an administrator checkbox

5. You can exit the window by clicking OK.

Clear the Cache for Epic Games

Clearing the cache will refresh its data. This can fix Epic Games Launcher not working when that cache includes corrupted data. These are the steps for clearing the Epic Games cache.

1. Open Run (accessible with a Windows logo + R hotkey, input %localappdata%, and click OK.
2. Next, double-click the EpicGamesLauncher > Saved folders to open them.
3. Right-click the webcache_4430 folder and select Delete.
   
   

   The Delete option for the webcache folder

4. Erase the webcache and webcache_4147 folders as well in the same directory.

If you see an “action can’t be completed” message when trying to delete those folders, this means an Epic process must be running. In this case, go through the steps outlined for this guide’s first potential resolution to end all Epic processes.

Repair the Epic Games Installation

Repairing the Epic Games Launcher installer could be a good way to kick-start that gaming client for many users. This is also a very straightforward troubleshooting method to apply as there’s a Repair option available for Epic Games within Programs and Features. You can select the Repair option like this.

1. Start the Run accessory.
2. Input an appwiz.cpl (Programs and Features) Run command and press Enter.
3. Click Epic Games Launcher in Programs and Features with the right mouse button and select Repair.
   
   

   The Repair option

4. Wait for the repair process to do its stuff before exiting the Control Panel.

Select the 100 Percent Scale Display Setting

Some users have fixed Epic Games Launcher not working by changing the Scale and layout setting in Windows to 100 percent. Thus, it seems that option can cause Epic startup issues when set differently. This is how you change the Scale and layout option.

1. Click anywhere on the Windows 11/10 desktop area with the right mouse button to select Display settings.
2. Next, click the Scale or Change the size of text apps, and other items checkbox.
   
   

   The Scale and layout option

3. Select 100% on the drop-down menu.

Add OpenGL to the Target Location

Adding an -OpenGL parameter to the target path for Epic Games Launcher’s desktop shortcut is another troubleshooting method confirmed to work by some users. Applying this potential fix sets Epic Games Launcher to run in OpenGL mode. Add OpenGL to the target location box for Epic Games like this.

1. Right-click your Epic Games shortcut on the desktop to select Properties.
2. Select the Shortcut tab and click on the Target field box.
3. Input –OpenGL to the end of the Target box. It should look something like this: “C:\Program Files (x86)\Epic Games\Launcher\Portal\Binaries\Win32\EpicGamesLauncher.exe -OpenGL.
   
   

   The Target box

4. Select Apply to save the modified target box.
5. Click OK to close the Shortcut tab and its window.

Reinstall Epic Games

Reinstalling the Epic gaming client is the last thing you should try to fix an Epic Games Launcher not working. This is because uninstalling that software also removes games installed with it. Thus, you must also reinstall all games installed with the Epic gaming client, which could take a while if you have many of them. These are the steps for reinstalling Epic Games.

1. Open Programs and Features as instructed in steps one and two of this guide’s fifth fix.
2. Select Epic Games Launcher by clicking on it.
3. Click Uninstall > Yes to remove your Epic gaming client.
   
   

   The Programs and Features Control Panel applet

4. Go to this Epic webpage and click Download Epic Games Launcher there.
   
   

   The Download Epic Games Launcher option

5. Press the button for opening File Explorer on your taskbar and go to the folder containing the EpicInstaller MSI file.
6. Double-click the EpicInstaller file to open the Epic setup wizard and select to install from there.

Users confirm all the troubleshooting methods in this guide can fix Epic Games Launcher not working. So, one of those solutions will probably kick-start Epic’s gaming client on your PC. You can then get back to playing all your favorite games installed with Epic again, be it Fortnite, Fall Guys, Rocket League, World of Warships, Genshin Impact, etc.