How To Fix Palworld 1.0 Crashing on PC – 8 Methods To Try

You’re 20 minutes into a Palworld session. You just caught a rare Pal, expanded your base, and then… the game crashes. Back to desktop. Since the Palworld 1.0 update launched in July 2026, many PC players have reported frequent crashes on Steam and Reddit. Some occur every 30 minutes, while others can’t stay in-game for more than a few seconds.

After reviewing hundreds of community reports and comparing successful fixes, we’ve compiled the solutions that have consistently helped players stop Palworld 1.0 crashing on PC. Rather than recycling outdated Early Access advice, this guide focuses on fixes that remain relevant for the 1.0 release.

How to fix Palworld 1.0 crashing on PC

If Palworld keeps crashing after the 1.0 update, below are 8 fixes to try. Start with the easiest fix and move on to more advanced steps.

1. Force Palworld to run in DirectX 11
2. Adjust graphics settings
3. Update your graphics driver
4. Disable overlays
5. Disable backup or cloud sync software
6. Delete the mod folder
7. Move Palworld to your primary SSD
8. Perform a clean reinstall

Fix 1. Force Palworld to run in DirectX 11 

Many players report that forcing Palworld to launch in DirectX 11 instead of DirectX 12  dramatically reduces crashes. Here’s how:

1. Open Steam. Go to your Library.
2. Right-click Palworld and choose Properties.
   
3. From the General pane, enter -dx11 into Launch Options.
   
4. Close the window and launch the game.

Load the save that previously crashed and play again. If the game no longer crashes during normal gameplay or autosaves, the fix likely worked.

Fix 2. Adjust graphics settings

Several users found that lowering two specific graphics settings, including Grass Detail and Shadow, eliminated constant crashes, especially during exploration or flight. 

1. Launch Palworld.
2. Open Options > Graphics.
3. Set Grass Detail to Medium or Low. Set Shadow to Medium or Low.
   
4. Apply the changes.

These settings appear to reduce rendering-related instability without significantly affecting image quality. Play Palworld to see if the crashes still appear. If so, check out the next fix below.

Fix 3. Update your graphics driver

Although the Palworld 1.0 crash is primarily a game-side Unreal Engine issue, an outdated or corrupted graphics driver can make crashes more frequent or severe. Updating your graphics driver won’t fix the underlying game bug, but it can eliminate driver-related instability and compatibility issues and improve game performance.

You can download the latest graphics driver directly from the GPU manufacturer’s website, such as NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel. Download the correct driver corresponding to your Windows version, and run the executable file to install the driver manually. 

If you don’t have the time or patience to search for the newest drivers or update drivers manually, Driver Easy handles it all.

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. Here’s how it works:

1. Download and install Driver Easy.
2. Open the program and click Scan Now.
   
3. Click the Activate & Update button next to the flagged device to automatically download and install the correct version of this driver.
   
   Or click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system. (You’ll need the Pro version for this – when you select Update All, you’ll get a prompt to upgrade. Driver Easy Pro provides high-speed driver updates as well as various advanced features such as Game Boost and System Clean. If you’re not prepared to purchase the Pro version yet, sign up for the 7-day trial to try all the Pro benefits for free!)
   

Restart your PC after updating. Launch Palworld and play. If crashes become less frequent or disappear, the driver update helped improve stability.

Fix 4. Disable overlays

Overlay software injects itself into games to display FPS counters, chat windows, or performance monitoring. On Unreal Engine games, these overlays can occasionally cause crashes.

To test if they’re the culprit, temporarily disable:

• Steam Overlay
• Discord Overlay
• NVIDIA App Overlay
• Xbox Game Bar
• MSI Afterburner
• RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS)

After disabling them, restart Palworld. If the crashes stop, you can then re-enable the overlays one at a time to identify the conflicting application. If not, you can enable the overlay again and try the next solution.

Fix 5. Disable backup or cloud sync software

If you’re running into the ‘Could not save’ error or sudden crashes in Palworld, background synchronization software may be locking your save files while Palworld attempts to autosave.

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc at the same time to open Task Manager.
2. Look for applications such as OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, or other third-party backup software. Right-click it and click End task.
   

Restart Palworld to see how it works. If the crashes stop, exclude the Palworld save folder, usually at %LocalAppData%\Pal\Saved\SaveGames, from synchronization.

Fix 7. Move Palworld to your primary SSD

Palworld keeps freezing or stuttering when opening menus, or crashing during world loads, when installed on a secondary NVMe/SSD. If you have enough free space, you can try moving Palworld to your primary SSD to see if that helps.

1. Launch Steam. Click Steam in the top left corner and choose Settings.
2. Select the Storage tab in the left pane.
3. Click the drive dropdown menu at the top and select Add Drive to choose your SSD and create a new Steam library folder there.
   
4. Check the boxes next to Palworld and click the Move button.
   
5. Choose your main SSD as the destination, and click Move to transfer the files.

If moving isn’t available, you can try uninstalling Palworld and reinstalling it on your primary SSD (usually drive C:).

Fix 8. Perform a clean reinstall

If none of the previous fixes work, consider a clean reinstall of the game. This will remove leftover configuration files that a normal uninstall leaves behind.

1. Open Steam.
2. From your Library, right-click Palworld, and choose Manage > Uninstall.
   
3. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key + E at the same time to open File Explorer. In the search bar at the top, type in the following folders:
   C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Palworld
%LocalAppData%\Pal
%AppData%\Pal
4. Press Windows + R to open the Run command. Type regedit and press Enter.
   
5. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Palworld.
6. Delete the key if it’s present.

Restart your PC and install Palworld again, preferably on your primary SSD. Start a new game or load your backed-up save and play. If the crashes no longer occur, the clean reinstall successfully removed corrupted configuration data.

The Palworld 1.0 crashing on PC issue is frustrating, especially for players who never experienced crashes during Early Access. Fortunately, there are several temporary but effective workarounds that can improve the game’s stability.

If you’ve tried every fix in this guide and Palworld still crashes, the issue is likely tied to the game’s current build rather than your hardware. Keep both Palworld and your graphics driver updated, and watch future patch notes from Pocketpair, as the developers continue working with hardware vendors to improve stability.

• game crash
• Steam
• Windows 10
• windows 11