Forza Horizon 5 is the latest entry in the Open World Racing series from Playground Games and Xbox Game Studios. I will be showing you how to fix Forza Horizon 5 crashes, freezes, black screens, and any other problems you might be experiencing in Forza Horizon 5 on a computer.

The game looks stunning and runs very well on a wide variety of systems as well. However, if you’re are running into the Forza Horizon 5 crash at launch issue, here are Hot to Fix Forza Horizon 5 few things you can try to fix that. If you want to see more articles on how to resolve problems with Forza Horizon 5 crashing, freezing, and also an article on how to improve the Forza Horizon 5 performance and Forza Horizon 5 FPS in games in Windows 10, or Windows 11.

[Note: All the methods mentioned in this article are only suggested by the developers of Forza Horizon 5. I usually try these methods myself. But I haven’t seen any problems with my copy yet.]

1. Check if Your PC Meets The Requirements:

This is the most common cause for a crash at launch in Forza titles and it isn’t different this time. Before you Buy Forza Horizon 5 or install the game please check the system requirement from the Support page.

Forza Horizon 5 system requirement
Image: Fix Forza Horizon 5 system requirement

2. Turn Off Game Mode:

We can now move on to the next method and that’s to turn off Game mode and to do this all you need to do is

Turn Off Game Mode
  • right-click on the start menu icon
  • then need to click on Settings.
  • select gaming and you don’t need to go down.
  • To Game mode, and you need to simply toggle Game mode to off.

3. Check with The Security Systems:

Whatever third-party or first-party security software you are using at Forza Horizon 5 game folder to its exceptions or exclusions list. The first thing that you need to do is just ensure that your security software is not causing the issues in Forza Horizon 5. If you can’t do that, please disable the antivirus software entirely and play the game that way.

Next, you can try to put it into silent mode, the first thing you need to do is right-click in the bottom right-hand corner on the icon. You then need to go up to Silent mode and Select Silent Mode. This will now put the security software into like a game in silent mode and go ahead and launch the game and see if that resolves the issue.

Example list of virus checkers according to a Support page, that will make the game not boot.

  • Trend Micro Maximum Security
  • Comodo Antivirus
  • Sophos
  • Emisoft Anti-Malware
  • Avira
  • Avast
  • Bitdefender Firewall
  • AVG

If that didn’t resolve the issue, then the next thing you want to do is just disable your security software just for a short period of time. For example, in Avast, I can do ten minutes so I can get a good idea to see if it’s the security software that’s causing the issue. Once you’ve done that, go ahead and launch the game and see if that resolved the issue you are having.

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4. Disable Developer Mode:

If that didn’t fix the issue, then don’t panic, because the next thing we want to do is stay within the settings, but this time click on Home. You now need to go ahead and click on Update and Security and you now need to click on for developers and you need to ensure developer mode is turned off.

Disable Developer Mode

If yours is turned on, then simply toggle this option here to off. And once you’ve done that, go ahead and launch the game and hopefully that resolves the issue you’re having with the game crashing or freezing or just giving you a black screen.

5. Disable or Uninstall Software Applications:

If that was not the issue, then the next thing you want to do is just ensure you are not running any programs in the background, and programs that are currently causing a lot of issues with Forza Horizon 5 are programs like.

  • OBS Studio Discord Expert
  • MSI After Burner and Riviera Tuna,
  • Logitech G Hub
  • EVGA Precision
  • Xsplit
  • MacType
  • Warsaw Banking App
  • Wallpaper Engine
  • A-Volute Sound studio
  • Sonic Audio

It has also been known to cause a few problems, so ensure none of those programs are currently running when you’re going to play for the Horizon Five.

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6. Disable Nahimic Service:

For some users, the audio service Nahimic can interfere with the game and cause it to crash. Make sure to try and disable the app and see if the issue is resolved. Follow the below steps to disable it.

  • type in system configuration in windows search and open the result
  • select the services tab
  • search for Nahimic and disable it
  • Restart you PC

7. Make Sure to Update Your Windows:

Ensure that you are on the latest version of Windows Forza Horizon Five requires that you are at least on Windows 10 version 15630 or higher.

Run Forza Horizon 5

8. Hot to Fix Forza Horizon 5 with Verify Game Files (Steam):

The game files may be corrupted or missing to ensure that the game files are in good shape, try to check their integrity with these steps on Steam.

Hot to Fix Forza Horizon 5
  • Launch Steam
  • Right-click on Forza Horizon 5 in your library, and click Properties
  • Now, in the LOCAL FILES tab, select Verify Integrity of local files…

This will download any corrupted or missing files that were compromised during the download or installation process.

9. Run Forza Horizon 5 Run as admin (Steam):

The game developer recommends that the game be run in an administrator account. Here’s how to do that.

Run Forza Horizon 5 Run as admin
  • Open Steam and then your Library
  • Here, right-click on Forza Horizon 5
  • Click Manage
  • Then select Browse local files
Run Forza Horizon 5 Run as admin
  • Right-click on ForzaHorizon5.exe and select Properties
  • Click the Compatibility tab
  • Check “Run this program as an administrator

Launch Steam again, and then Forza Horizon 5. See if this made any difference.

10. Manually update Your GPU Drivers:

Ensure that you are on the latest drivers of your GPU, which adds support for Four to Horizon 5. The steps to check for the latest GPU driver depend on the hardware you got. Download the latest drivers from the links below.

AMD

NVIDIA

INTEL

11. Update DirextX and Visual C++ Redistributables:

Ensure that both DirectX and Visual C Redistributables are on the latest version. Here are the links.

DirectX

Visual C++ Redistributables