How to Fix Overwatch 2 Crashing on Windows?

The crashing issue is common among players as it’s usual for players to face problems like crashing, not launching, and stuttering issues in the new games. Unfortunately, regardless of your computer’s high specs, various reasons can cause crashing issues as it’s still in beta. Therefore, it could be from the game developers, which will fix after the upcoming update.

Following are the reasons that may be involved as essential contributors to causing crashing issues:-

Incompatible System Requirement- The chances of crashing may increase if you do not match the game’s requirement. So before moving to the troubleshooting methods, take a look into the minimum game requirements.
Overclocked GPU and RAM- If you use any overclocking software, make sure to uninstall or revert the overclock settings, as you may not be able to play if the settings are not set correctly.
Corrupted Game Files- There may be a chance of corruption in the game files as it can crash any game. Therefore, either uninstall the game entirely or use the verify option provided by the game manufacturers to restore the corrupted files.
Outdated Graphics Driver– If you have not checked for your driver’s update in a long time, the Graphics drivers may get outdated, so that you may encounter a crashing issue. Therefore, either reinstall or update the graphics driver.
Software Conflict- Irrelevant interference from the applications or Microsoft services is known as software conflict. It has a significant impact on frequent game crashes. You can easily counter this issue by starting Windows in a clean boot.
Many Idle Applications Using Ram Usage- In most cases, the crashing issue caused by irrelevant applications uses high memory usage even if idle. Thus, many application gets crashed due to the unawareness of users. Therefore, ensure none of the irrelevant tasks run while playing overwatch 2.

1. Check System Requirements

Before going through the workarounds, we advise checking the minimum game requirements; as most of the time, game requirements do not match the system requirements. Thus, the game crashes frequently. Below we have outlined the minimum game requirements:-

CPU: Intel® Core i3 or AMD Phenom X3 8650.
RAM: 6 GB.
OS: Windows® 7 / Windows® 8 / Windows® 10 64-bit (latest Service Pack).
VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 600 series, AMD Radeon HD 7000 series.
PIXEL SHADER: 5.0.
VERTEX SHADER: 5.0.
FREE DISK SPACE: 50 GB.

2. Run Overwatch 2 With the Administrator’s Privileges

If you have not run Overwatch 2 with administrator privileges yet, you should try it as it eliminates interference from the firewall and other Microsoft services by giving special permissions to the application that otherwise may not be available with the normal permissions.

To run the Overwatch with administrator permissions, right-click the overwatch 2 launcher and click Run As Administrator.
Wait for the game to load fully and check if the issue is fixed
If it is, exit the game, right-click Overwatch 2 and go to Properties

Go to Properties
From the top menu, go to Compatibility and click Run This Program in Compatibility Mode For
Select Windows 8 from the below dropdown and tick Run This Program As Administrator
Once done, click OK and Apply to save the changes.

Running Game With Administrator

3. Repair Game Files

If the issue is still there, it may be due to the game files that might get damaged or corrupted, which can cause the game to crash while playing or even at launching. If the game files get corrupted, you must restore them via the Repair option.

To repair the game files, launch the battle.net client and head to the Library.
Locate for Overwatch 2 Beta and click on the Settings Icon, which should be on the right of the Play button
Click Start And Repair

Repairing Overwatch 2 Files
Then, wait for the process to complete
Once done, check if the issue fixes fixed.

4. Update GPU Drivers

Another thing you can do is to check for Graphics drivers updates. If you haven’t updated the Graphics drivers in a long time, you will experience crashing or not launching problems in a game. So kindly check for driver updates. If the updates are available, download and install them.

First of all, there are two ways to update Graphics Driver via Device Manager or Manufacturer’s Vendor

4.1 Via Device Manager

To update Graphics Driver via device manager, right-click the Windows menu icon and select Device Manager.

Launching Device Manager
Expand the Graphics Driver Menu and right-click on the current driver
Select Update Driver from the list of options

Click Update Driver
Click Search For Automatically For Drivers
If it finds that latest driver, download it. Otherwise, update the driver via the respective vendor.

4.2 Via Manufacturer’s Vendor

Launch the vendor application and go to the Driver section
There will be an option called Check For Updates
Click on it and wait for the vendor to find the driver
If the driver is found, download and install it on your computer

Updating Graphics Driver
Once done, restart your computer to see if it fixes the crashing issue.

5. Revert or Uninstall Overclock Applications

Another main reason could be overclocking, which can affect the GPU performance badly. Although overclocking significantly impacts the Performance, it sometimes causes issues if the overclock settings are set incorrectly, not according to the Graphics Card. Therefore, the best option for this issue is to get some knowledge about overclocking or revert all the settings you have applied to the GPU.

Launch the application you used for overclocking to revert the overclock settings.
Now there will be a reset option. Click on it and close the application

Reset Overclock Settings
Once done, launch the game to see if it fixes.

6. Perform a Clean Boot

A clean boot is an option to boot Windows with a minimum of drivers and services. Usually, drivers and third-party services conflict with the running games and applications, which brings many problems. Therefore, performing a clean boot will disable the unnecessary programs and services that are not required to boot Windows.

To perform a clean boot, open Run Program. For that, press the Win + R keys together.
In the short Window, type MSConfig and enter to navigate system configuration settings.

Navigating to MS Configuration
Select the Selective Startup and go to the Services tab

Select Selective Startup
Click Hide All Microsoft Sevices, then click Disable All

Perform a Clean Boot
Once done, restart the computer for the changes to take effect
After rebooting, launch the game to see if the error is fixed.

7. Close Irrelevant Background Tasks

Idle background applications, which load at the startup, can crash the game due to the lack of memory usage. If you use unnecessary applications or other background tasks, then make sure these applications and tasks do not consume high ram usage, as this can crash the game. Follow the steps to send the task the unnecessary application:-

Right-click on the taskbar and select Task Manager

Open Task Manager
Choose the application you want to end the task
Then, click on the End Task button from the bottom right

End Task Overlay Applications
Once done, check if the Overwatch is still crashing
If the overwatch 2 is running properly, disable the problematic application from startup.

8. Disable Antivirus and Firewall Program

The interference from the Windows defender can be the leading cause of this issue. Sometimes, Windows defender and firewall prevent the game from launching or running as it can block the program files anytime if they consume high memory usage. For that reason, either allow the game.exe file through the Windows firewall or disable the Windows security entirely.

To disable the Window Security, go to Settings from the Start Menu
Navigate to Update & Security

Navigating to Windows Security
Click Windows Security from the left pane
Click Virus & Threat Protection

Click Virus & Threat Protection
Click Manage Settings

Click Manage settings
Turn off Real-Time Protection

Click to Turn Off Real-Time protection
Once done, launch the Overwatch and see if the crashing issue is fixed.

9. Set Power Options to High Performance

If the crashing issue persists, try changing the power options to High Performance. Changing the power options to high Performance will run all the hardware components with the maximum potential. It won’t damage the hardware and gives you maximum Performance. Below are the steps:-

To change the Power Options, launch Run Program by pressing Win + R simultaneously.
Type powercfg.cpl and click OK to navigate

Go to Power Plan Settings
Choose High Performace under Additional Power Plan

Select High Performance in Power Options
Note: If you have a laptop, enable the sleep mode as High Performance disabled it
Once done, launch the game and see if it fixes the crashing issue.

10. Adjust the Appearance Performance of Windows

It is an option for users with a minimum amount of memory for their operating system. Microsoft has visual effects and animation in their OS, but these features require more system resources and can also slow down your computer. Therefore, adjust the appearance performance of Windows by following the below steps:-

From Start Menu, type Performance and open the first settings

Navigating to the Appearance Settings
Choose Adjust For Best Performace
Click Apply, then click OK

Adjusting for Best Performance
After that, launch the game and check if it fixes the crashing problem.

11. Disable Full-Screen Optimization

Another reason that could solve this issue is to disable the full-screen optimization along with some compatibility settings as it can increase the little bit performance. Even though it won’t’ impact significantly, the issue may be resolved. Below are the steps:-

To disable the full-screen optimization, go to the directory where Overwatch 2 has been installed.
Right-click on the overwatch 2.exe file and go to the Properties

Click Properties
Check Disable Full-Screen Optimization
Click Apply, then click OK

Disable Full-Screen Optimization
Launch the game and check if the issue is resolved.