Game freezes or stops responding on a Windows 10 device

Sometimes a game can freeze or stop responding because of a temporary issue that you can fix by exiting and restarting the game.

Note If your game is crashing or not responding during start-up, skip this solution.

In the game itself, press the X at the top right-hand corner of the window to close it, and then restart the game.

Restarting your Windows 10 device resets anything running in the memory that can cause the game to freeze or stop responding. To restart your Windows 10 device, complete the following steps.

Note Make sure there's nothing open or unsaved before you continue, as this process will automatically close down any open apps.

1. Press the Windows button on your device or keyboard, or select the Windows icon from the bottom-left corner of the main screen.
2. Select Power and then select Restart.

Once your Windows 10 device has restarted, you can sign back in and restart your game.

If your game is freezing or not responding, there may be an update available for your Windows 10 device's hardware.

For more information on how to check your device for the latest software updates, including video drivers, see How to get software and driver updates for Windows 10.

Some games have specific minimum system requirements for your Windows 10 device to be able to play them seamlessly. If your game is freezing or not responding, verify that the device you're using can run the game without any problems.

For more information on how to check the system requirements for your game, see How to find out if a game will work on your Windows 10 device.

If your game requires an online connection, losing connectivity mid-game can result in problems playing the game. Usually, the game will let you know if it has lost network connectivity.

Here's how you can check whether you're still connected:

1. Press the Windows button on your device or keyboard, or select the Windows icon from the bottom-left corner of the main screen.
2. Select Settings, and then select Network & Internet.
3. Make sure that the network you're connected to displays Connected.

If your network does not appear as Connected, or if you're having connectivity problems, scroll to the bottom of the page and select Network and Sharing Centre. From there, select Troubleshoot problems and then follow the instructions.

Sometimes the performance and stability of gameplay can be affected by corrupted profile data on your Windows 10 device. To check your profile data, try playing the same game using a different account. Here's how:

1. Press the Windows button on your device or keyboard, or select the Windows icon from the bottom-left corner of the main screen.
2. Select your account name from the top left-hand corner of the menu and then select Switch account.
3. Sign in with an account other than the one you were using.
4. Restart the game to see if it works correctly.

Occasionally, game files become corrupted or altered if you have malware or are running a game modification on your device. If your game is freezing or not responding, uninstalling and reinstalling it will remove and replace the files that run the game.

To learn more about how to uninstall and reinstall games, follow the steps at How to uninstall and reinstall a game on Windows 10 and then try playing the game again.

Game developers can build game-specific security into their titles and enforce their community policies to help ensure fair and respectful gameplay. If you can no longer access a particular game, it may be the result of a game-specific enforcement or ban. Because every game is different, the method by which you are notified of a game ban varies by developer. For specific information about a game ban, contact the appropriate game developer or publisher.

If your game continues to freeze or stop responding, visit the Windows 10 Games page for a list of all game titles. If this is a Microsoft-published game, you can check for game-specific information, as well as links to the community pages for known service power cuts or sign-in issues. If this game was published by a third party, you'll find direct links to their service and community pages.