If CS2 keeps crashing after the latest update, you’re not alone. Following the Season 5 update, many players have reported random crashes at startup (instantly after the Valve logo) or during matches, back screens, or driver timeout errors on Windows PCs. In this guide, we’ll walk you through 8 fixes for CS2 crashing on PC after the update, ranked by what the community has actually proven to work.
How to fix Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) Crashing on PC
CS2 may crash after an update because of incompatible graphics drivers, corrupted shader caches, Faceit Anti-cheat conflicts, unstable overclock settings, or damaged game files. Here are 8 proven fixes to try. Just work your way down the list until you find the one that solves the problem for you.
- Disable Faceit Anti-Cheat
- Change the launch options
- Update your graphics driver
- Verify the game files’ integrity
- Clear the shader cache
- Run the game in compatibility mode
- Disable CPU overclocking
- Reinstall Counter-Strike 2
1. Disable Faceit Anti-Cheat
One of the most commonly reported culprits is Faceit Anti-Cheat. Many players found that CS2 launches normally once Faceit is completely closed.
Simply locate the Faceit icon in your Windows system tray. Right-click it and select Exit or Close. Then, launch Counter-Strike 2 from Steam. If the game runs normally, keep Faceit closed while playing until a compatibility update becomes available. Reopening Faceit while CS2 is running may cause the game to crash again. If this method doesn’t work, move on to the next one.
2. Change the launch options
A rendering glitch introduced in the new update might be failing to initialize your native display mode. You can bypass this by forcing CS2 to launch in fullscreen.
1. Launch Steam and go to the Library tab. Right-click Counter-Strike 2 and choose Properties.
2. Under Launch Options, enter -novid -fullscreen. The -novid parameter skips the intro video, which also skips a common crash point during initial loading.
Restart the game to see how it works. If CS2 still crashes, try -novid -borderless instead. One Reddit user reported this worked for one round but failed mid-game. If that happens, switch to -fullscreen and try again.
3. Update your graphics driver
The graphics card is the heart and soul for games like CS2. If the game constantly crashes on your PC, it is likely that the graphics driver on your computer is outdated or corrupt. So you should update your drivers to see if it fixes the crashing issue. There are mainly 2 ways you can update your graphics driver: manually or automatically.
Option 1: Update your graphics driver manually
If you’re a tech-savvy gamer, you can spend some time updating your GPU driver manually.
To do so, first visit the website of your GPU manufacturer:
Then search for your GPU model. You can download the latest driver that’s compatible with your operating system or choose a previous version, such as NVIDIA 566.36 and AMD 23.11.1, which are considered stable drivers for CS2. Once downloaded, open the installer and follow the on-screen instructions to update.
Option 2: Update your graphics driver automatically (Recommended)
If you don’t have the time, patience, or skills to update the driver manually, you can do it automatically with Driver Easy. Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for it. You don’t need to know exactly what system your computer is running, you don’t need to be troubled by the wrong driver you would be downloading, and you don’t need to worry about making a mistake when installing. Driver Easy handles it all.
1. Download and install Driver Easy.
2. Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.
3. Click the Activate & Update button to update your graphics driver, or click Update All to automatically install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system.
If you prefer to install an older version, just click the three-dot button next to the GPU driver, select All available versions, and install the one you want.
This requires the Pro version, which provides you with hassle-free driver installations as well as full technical features and support. You’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All. If you’re not ready to buy the Pro version, Driver Easy offers a 7-day free trial which includes access to all the Pro features such as one-click driver update, game boost, and so on. You won’t be charged anything until your 7-day trial has ended.
Launch Counter-Strike 2 again and see if the latest graphics driver stops the crashes. If updating the driver didn’t help (especially if you’re seeing an AMD driver timeout error), the issue may be leftover files from a previous driver installation. You can perform a clean reinstallation of the GPU driver to see if it resolves the problem.
4. Verify the game files’ integrity
CS2 may also crash if the game files are missing or damaged. To rule out this as a possibility, you can verify the integrity of the game files, which systematically check every game file against Steam’s master copy, and ensure all critical game components are intact and properly installed.
Here’s how you can do it:
1. Launch Steam. In the LIBRARY, right-click Counter-Strike 2 and select Properties from the drop-down menu.
2. Select the Installed Files tab and click on the Verify integrity of game files button.
Steam will verify the game’s files – this process may take several minutes. Launch CS2 to see if the crashing issue has been resolved. If yes, then great! If it’s still no joy, please move on to Fix 6, below.
5. Clear the shader cache
Major game updates often rebuild shader pipelines. If the existing shader cache becomes corrupted or incompatible with the latest version, CS2 may crash during startup or while loading into a match. You can clear the cache to rebuild the shader files.
Step 1: Clear DirectX shader cache
1. Type disk into the Windows search bar and select Disk Cleanup.
2. Select your primary system drive (usually C:).
3. Check the box for DirectX Shader Cache. You can leave others unchecked. Then click OK.
4. Click Delete Files to confirm.
Step 2: Clear Steam shader cache
1. Navigate to your Steam folder, which is usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\shadercache\).
2. Open the 730 (CS2’s app ID) folder and delete all the files inside it (do not delete the folder itself).
Step 3: Clear your GPU shader cache
For NVIDIA users
1. Open the NVIDIA Control Panel or the NVIDIA app, go to Manage 3D Settings, find Shader Cache, set it to Disabled, and click Apply.
2. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R to open the Run dialog. Type %localappdata% and hit Enter.
3. Open the NVIDIA folder. Open the DXCache and GLCache (if available) folders, and delete all the files inside them.
4. Go back to the NVIDIA Control Panel and re-enable the Shader Cache (Driver Default/On).
For AMD users
1. Open your AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition. Then go to Gaming > Graphics.
2. Click the Reset button next to Perform Reset, and click OK to confirm.
Restart your PC after deleting the shader cache. The next time you launch CS2, the shader cache will be rebuilt automatically. The first launch may take a little longer than usual, which is expected. If the crashes still happen, check out the next solution.
6. Run the game in compatibility mode
If Counter-Strike 2 or Steam lacks administrative privileges, which ensure that you have full rights to do anything it needs on your computer, it might fail to launch properly. To check if that’s your case, you can try running it as an administrator:
- Right-click your Steam desktop icon and select Properties.
- Select the Compatibility tab. Tick the box for Run this program as an administrator. Then click Apply > OK to save the changes.
- Then tick the box for Run this program in compatibility mode for: then select Windows 8 from the drop-down list.
Now open Counter-Strike 2 again (it should open with administrative permission) to see if the crashes stop. If it’s still happening, please move on to the next fix.
7. Disable CPU overclocking
If your CPU is overclocked—even if it’s stable in stress tests—it may still cause random crashes in games like CS2. Major game updates can change CPU workloads, exposing stability issues that weren’t noticeable before.
If you’ve manually overclocked your processor or enabled automatic overclocking features, enter the BIOS and return the CPU to its default settings. Look for options like Load Optimized Defaults, Load Setup Defaults, or Reset to Default Settings. If you used software like Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (Intel XTU) or AMD Ryzen Master to apply the overclock, open the software and reset your CPU settings to defaults.
Once done, test CS2 again. If it still runs with constant freezes or crashes, try the last fix below.
8. Reinstall Counter-Strike 2
If none of the above helps to stop Counter-Strike 2 from crashing on your computer, you’ll need to do a clean install of the game, which involves a full removal and then reinstallation. To do so:
1. Go to your Steam Library, right-click Counter Strike 2, and click Manage > Uninstall.
2. On your keyboard, press the Windows key and the R key at the same time. Type prefetch and hit Enter. 
3. If or when asked for admin permission, click Yes to go ahead. Select all files you see here and delete them. (Windows records program open logs in the Prefetch folder, which is usually safe to delete.)
4. Press the Windows key and the R key at the same time again. Type %temp% and hit Enter. This will open the Temp folder where Windows keeps temporary files. Select all files you see here and delete them as well.
Restart your computer. Then install Counter-Strike 2 again on Steam, and see if it stops crashing now.
The above are some of the most effective ways to stop your Counter-Strike 2 from crashing. If you have any other suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment below.