Forza Horizon 5 Crashing PC? Try These Fixes

Are you having trouble with Forza Horizon 5 crashing your PC? Try not to panic; we’ll get you back to shredding tires right away with these common fixes.

forza horizon 5 crashing pc

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Thanks to the outstanding job of many software engineers and game developers, the PC community keeps growing and growing.

Instead of seeing this as troublesome, Microsoft (the developers of Windows, the standard PC operating system) took the opportunity to increase their sales.

As a result, many of the Xbox exclusives are heading their way into a new environment. Brands like Gears of Wars, State of Decay, and now Forza Horizon take their chance into the “PCMR.” Therefore, players from that platform now have more ways to enjoy Xbox products.

When you’re playing on a “Personal Computer,” you’ll soon discover tons of positives.

First, you could get better graphical and video game performance depending on your system. Hence, you get to play in 4K (8K soonish) with more than 60 fps.

Secondly, you have more peripheral options while playing your favorite video games. Instead of using the same controller, you could get something from another system (PS5, Switch) or a Mouse and Keyboard.

Lastly, many video games in this system allow you to “modify” their files and add/remove gaming features. Therefore, if you’re favorite vehicle is not on GTA, you could add it.

Nowadays, with the aid of software, you can even improve the performance and run your collection with more frames.

At the same time, things might get complicated when you get your first PC and have no clue how everything runs.

Sometimes, a racing video game like Forza Horizon 5 might refuse to run on your computer, and you have no idea how to fix it.

No worries, though, we’ll give you tons of options in this article, and hopefully, we’ll find the fix.

CrossPlay Xbox Consoles and PC

Before we dig into the technical stuff, it is worth mentioning some of the most outstanding features of the PC version. One of these pluses is playing within the Xbox environment without any issues.

In other words, you can play any Forza racing video game with any friend that only has an Xbox console. Giving this essential option to Forza Horizon 5 helps it look more populated and improves matchmaking.

Furthermore, you’ll always find someone else to play with/against if you want to try any race or complete any live events.

Above all, you only need your Xbox account to gain access to any version of the game. Hence, if you began your journey on the console version, you might also get to finish it on your PC.

Is Forza Horizon 5 Cross-Platform? Learn more about crossplay in this article.

Steam vs. Game Pass vs. Microsoft Store

Nowadays, you have three different ways to acquire Forza Horizon 5 and start playing right away.

First, you can activate a Game Pass account and download it from the Xbox App on your computer. With Game Pass Ultimate, you can play it through Xbox Cloud Gaming and save some space on your hard drive.

Secondly, you could find Forza Horizon 5 inside the Xbox App or Microsoft Store and purchase the game. Also, this racing video game has the “play everywhere” feature, which means you’ll unlock it on any compatible Xbox console.

Lastly, you can find it on the Steam Store and purchase the license there. Even though it is the same version as any of these options, you’ll get extra features with the Steam App.

For example, you’ll get tons of community extras and have your gaming collection in a single place.

None of the three “versions” give you any advantages (play-wise). Therefore, it all comes down to personal preferences or those extra features outside of Forza Horizon 5.

Forza Horizon 5 Crashing PC and Common Errors

Now let’s discuss some of the prevalent issues you might encounter while playing Forza Horizon 5 on PC.

Even though they rarely appear (now even fewer thanks to many Updates), it becomes tedious when something doesn’t want to work correctly.

In this part of the article, we’ll check how and when you might get these when playing (or trying to play) FH5.

Furthermore, you’ll discover what happens if you’re stuck with any of these issues. Overall, don’t panic; everything has a solution.

Speaking about getting things fixed, the next part of this article will give you hints that might help you solve these problems and give you a little more knowledge about computers.

If you want to learn more about the options with the PC platform, you should check how to set GTA 5 Mods.

Types of Crashes or Issues

Here you have the most common problems the community might rarely encounter when playing Forza Horizon 5 on PC.

Game Pass Errors

If you’re one of those players that have a subscription (or trying to) with a Game Pass, there’s a chance that you’ll get into trouble before even downloading the racing video game.

First, you must check if the Game Pass is available in your country. Due to some limitations with Microsoft, not all PC players can process the payment and activate their accounts. Furthermore, the Xbox Cloud Gaming only loads when it detects a compatible IP (Internet Protocol).

Second, the Xbox App is only compatible with Windows 10 and upwards. As a result, anything else that doesn’t belong in this “privilege” group won’t work.

Lastly, when configuring the install folder or accessing your Xbox account, you might see issues.

Remember that this ecosystem uses many elements from Xbox, and you’ll need to set everything accordingly.

Launch Error (Startup)

Getting to see the intro of Forza Horizon 5 is one of the most extraordinary experiences for any racing video game enthusiast.

Sadly, some players cannot even see a single thing when they try to run FH5 on their computers.

When you “double click” the icon on your Desktop or the Xbox App, you might get absolutely nothing.

On different occasions, you could get an Error message (0x800701b1), but you’ll get the same results; nothing loads.

Sometimes it is hard to resolve the issue when the program (Forza Horizon 5) doesn’t give you any hints.

Nevertheless, if you’re patient enough, you might find the solution after a while.

Mid-Game Crashing Issue

Even though not getting the racing video game to load sucks, things could become more tedious. Imagine being in a middle of a racing event, and before winning, everything shuts down.

You might still have the adrenaline high and those buttons pressed before you realize that you’re not playing anymore.

Nowadays, many players worldwide might experience this atrocity more often.

Furthermore, it seems it isn’t a “PC-only” trouble anymore. Due to some technical changes (future updates), we now face more issues when any video game is released.

After a couple of months (or even more), those bugs might disappear, and we tend to get a smooth experience.

Hardware Issues

One of the positive/negative elements of the PC platform is how everything changes according to your Hardware.

If you’re using a “Potato” (low-end PC), you might have performance issues, or you won’t get to run a video game at all.

At the same time, when running some of the fancy stuff, you can have a better experience than using a console.

Even though you won’t have gameplay advantages, Forza Horizon 5 looks much better with more than 60 FPS (frames per second) and a higher resolution.

Sadly, on both ends, things might become problematic when a crucial element of your computer doesn’t seem to work correctly.

Without warning, your computer might turn off, or you could get an error that forces you to restart.

Similarly to the “Red Ring of Death” from the Xbox 360, you might need to find some upgrades.

Thankfully, you might not need to purchase the whole “console” all over again.

Speaking of hardware, why not check out our favorite VR Racing Games?

Corrupted Files

Multiple bits of information are what it takes to run any racing video game on any gaming device.

Depending on the quality and longevity of the program, you’ll need ridiculous amounts of free space on your computer.

Forza Horizon 5 is not an exception. Thanks to the beautiful graphics and tons of gaming content (which is still going up), you need tons of gigabytes if you want to install and play.

In the middle of everything, a necessary file in the racing video game might fail to load, and things could get troublesome.

For example, when you’re packing a racing event, you instead see the game closing followed by an error.

Many things could happen when installing Forza Horizon 5 for the first time. Also, you might experience similar issues after you download a single update.

Cannot Join any Multiplayer Session

One of the least troublesome issues but most common is when Forza Horizon 5 doesn’t want to join an online session.

When you’re in this situation, the “open world” seems empty, and no random events appear on the map.

Indeed, thanks to the AI (Artificial Intelligence) of this racing video game, you can play almost everything else solo. Therefore, when the servers shut down, we might play multiple racing events without issues.

Above all, the best part of this genre is when you get to play with other players. Tgis becomes tedious when you want to increase the difficulty (and enjoyment), but you cannot see any other players.

Low Framerates (Laggy)

Another problem you might see often is when the racing video game isn’t running optimally.

On the one hand, you might experience lag when running a racing event, and the other players suddenly teleport or remain stuck in a single place.

Furthermore, you might even get a connection error, which could kick you out of the event.

In contrast, you could see some “lag” when the FPS counter goes below 60 (or 30), and you’re starting to see stuttering.

When you encounter this issue, the handling becomes difficult, and the overall flow seems disrupted.

Possible Fixes

Now that you have a clear idea of some of the issues you might see (or discover in the future), it is time to discuss the possible solutions.

Recheck the Minimum System Requirements: Use a Windows tool like the Device Manager to check the names of the components in your computer. Once you have a clear idea about the items, you might want to check if you have “enough” power to play Forza Horizon 5.
Reset Your PC: Even though doing this seems useless, it is a solution that tends to work more often. When you restart the computer, you’ll eliminate any hanging programs that might take some of your PC resources. Furthermore, you might solve any connectivity issues.
Check for Windows Updates: Since the Xbox Apps works directly with your Windows, it is recommendable that you install the latest features. Sometimes, a single update does not let you join a multiplayer session inside Forza Horizon 5.
Update Xbox App: Many online features require that you download the latest version of the Xbox App. Furthermore, you might get performance improvements thanks to the upcoming fixes.
Install/Update Your Graphics Drivers: If you’re PC is new, you’ll need to navigate to your graphics card website (either Nvidia, Intel, or AMD) and download the latest driver. Furthermore, you must re-do this step often if you want to use your components at their full potential.
Modify the Graphic Processor: Many gaming laptops have different graphics cards that change depending on the program to save battery life. Therefore, you must configure the correct device (Onboard or GPU) for the task.
Change Installation Folder: Due to technical problems with your storage device, the game might run slow or with some issues. We recommend picking the fastest unit (preferably an SSD) for a smoother experience.

Last Resort (PC Veteran)

If nothing seems to work from the last part of the article, you might need to look for something more complicated. We recommend looking for aid if you have almost no experience with the PC ecosystem.

Change Account Type: Add an Admin Account with privileges or change to the primary option on your OS.
Disable Antivirus or Firewall: When playing Forza Horizon 5, you don’t need to preoccupy with any Virus. Therefore, you could disable the features from Windows Security.
Monitor Temps: Check if the ventilation works correctly and your computer doesn’t reach critical temperature rates.
Task Manager Monitoring: Open this fantastic tool from Windows to see if something “weird” is taking too many resources and close it.
Perform a Clean Boot: When everything fails to work, the last (and most potent) solution is to start with a clean Operating System.

You can burn some time while finding the proper fix by checking the Best Drift Car in GTA 5.