7 Ways to Fix the “Cyberpunk 2077 Has Flatlined” Error on a Windows PC

The “Cyberpunk 2077 has flatlined” error is a widely reported crashing issue. Players have reported that they see the “flatlined error” message when they try to start Cyberpunk 2077. One player said this about the flatlined issue in a Reddit post: “It’s been over a week now since I’ve bought the expansion and haven’t been able to launch the game at all. I’m getting ‘Whoa! Cyberpunk 2077 has flatlined’ as soon as I press play.” This is how you can fix the “Cyberpunk 2077 has flatlined” error on a Windows 11/10 PC.

Verify the Cyberpunk 2077 Game Files

Some Cyberpunk 2077 players confirm verifying the game’s files can resolve the “has flatlined” error. So, that could be a good starting point for troubleshooting the “Cyberpunk 2077 has flatlined” issue. These official support pages for the GOG, Steam, and Epic Games Launching gaming clients provide instructions about how to verify games with those software packages:

• GOG Galaxy
• Steam
• Epic Games Launcher

The Verify button

Disable Fullscreen Optimization for Cyberpunk 2077

A few CP players have said they’ve fixed the “Cyberpunk 2077 has flatlined” error by disabling fullscreen optimization. Doing that can prevent fullscreen optimization from causing issues. So, try changing the compatibility settings for Cyberpunk 2077 as follows.

1. If you launch the game from the Windows desktop, right-click the shortcut for it and select Properties. Alternatively, open the Cyberpunk 2077 installation folder and right-click the Cyberpunk2077.exe file that launches the game to select Properties.
2. Click on Compatibility to view those options.
3. Select Disable fullscreen optimizations to set that option.
   
   

   The Disable fullscreen optimization checkbox

4. Click the Run this program as an administrator checkbox to set the game to run with elevated rights.
5. Select Apply to set Cyberpunk 2077’s new compatibility options.
6. Click OK to exit to close the settings.
7. Repeat those steps for the REDprelauncher if you have it.

Repair Visual C++ Redistributable Packages

Corrupted Visual C++ redistributable packages can cause the “Cyberpunk 2077 has flatlined” error to occur. You can address that potential cause by repairing Visual C++ packages on your PC via the Programs and Features Control Panel applet like this.

1. Right-click the button that opens the Windows Start menu to select Run.
2. Enter an appwiz.cpl command into the Run dialog and select the OK option.
3. Click on a Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package with a computer icon in Programs and Features to select it.
4. Select the Change option.
   
   

   The Change option

5. Click Repair in the window that pops up.
   
   

   The Repair button

6. Repeat the previous three steps for all Visual C++ Redistributable packages.

Update the Graphics Driver on Your PC

Updating graphics drivers is another way to fix the “Cyberpunk 2077 has flatlined” error that has worked for some CP players. So, it does seem to be the case that old graphics card drivers can cause this crashing issue. This is how you can manually download and update a graphics driver for an AMD or NVIDIA GPU.

1. Bring up either the AMD or NVIDIA graphics driver download page.
2. Select your PC’s Windows platform and graphics card on the selection menus.
3. Click on Submit or Search to view graphics driver download options.
   
   

   The NVIDIA driver download page

4. Select the Download option for the latest graphics driver that’s compatible with your GPU.
   
   

   The Download button for an NVIDIA driver

5. Hold down the Windows keyboard key and press E to access Explorer and navigate to the folder containing the downloaded driver package.
6. Double-click the AMD/NVIDIA driver package to open an installer window.
7. Select Install within the installer window.

If you don’t know exactly what your PC’s graphics card model is, check the details for it with the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. To do that, press the Windows logo + S search tool hotkey, input dxdiag, and select dxdiag. You can view platform and graphics card details on the System and Display tabs within the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window.

Allow Cyberpunk 2077 Through the Windows Defender Firewall

Check if Cyberpunk 2077 is allowed through the Windows (Microsoft) Defender Firewall. If it isn’t, add it to the firewall’s exception list by following the instructions on this Microsoft support page. Select to add the Cyberpunk2077 application file to the list and select the Private and Public checkboxes for it.

The Allowed apps firewall settings

Disable Overlay Features

Overlays can cause gaming issues to arise. So, disabling Steam, Discord, GeForce Experience, or any other gaming overlay feature in third-party software might be worth a try. These help pages include guidelines for disabling/enabling overlay features for the Steam, Discord, and GeForce Experience software.

• Steam
• Discord
• GeForce Experience

Deactivate Third-Party Antivirus Software

CP players on Reddit have confirmed they fixed the “Cyberpunk 2077 has flatlined” error by disabling third-party antivirus utilities. Avira Security is one such utility users confirm can cause Cyberpunk issues. If you have third-party security software installed, right-click on its system tray icon on the right of the taskbar and select an option for temporarily deactivating its antivirus shield. Launch Cyberpunk with the antivirus shield turned off.

If that works, you could uninstall your third-party antivirus utility to ensure it causes no further issues. Microsoft Defender is a satisfactory Windows 11/10 alternative. Alternatively, add Cyberpunk 2077 to your antivirus tool’s exceptions list if you prefer to keep it.

One of those possible resolutions will probably fix the “Cyberpunk 2077 has flatlined” error on your Windows 11/10. I don’t promise guaranteed fixes for everyone, but the troubleshooting methods cited above are confirmed to work by Cyberpunk players.