Many players report they can’t play Fortnite because of an interception error. For example, this is what a player said about that error on Reddit, “Every time I try to open Fortnite I get an error: ‘Please close interception before starting game.‘” That error message can also occur for other games, but it’s more widely reported for Fortnite. This is how you can fix the “Launch Error: Please close Interception before starting the game” Fortnite error on Windows PCs.
Close Background Programs
First, try closing any unneeded programs before starting your Fortnite game. Applying this potential fix might close a conflicting app, causing the error. You can close superfluous background programs like this:
- First, right-click programs in the system tray area of the taskbar to select close options for them. Some users might need to click an up arrow to view the system tray.
- Next, click an area of your taskbar with the right mouse button to select Task Manager.
- Right-click superfluous background apps in the Processes tab to select their End task options.
The End task option
- Try starting the Fortnite game again.
In addition, you can try setting a clean boot, as outlined on this Microsoft page. A clean boot will disable all unneeded third-party startup items. Then, restart your PC and try playing the Fortnite game.
Uninstall Interception
The most widely confirmed way to fix the “Launch Error: Please close Interception before starting the game” Fortnite error is to uninstall the Interception driver. Heck, even the error message drops a big hint for that potential solution. You can uninstall Interception like this:
Download and Extract the Intercept ZIP
- Open this Github page.
- Click the Interception.zip file to download it.
The Interception.zip download option
- Open the folder containing the Interception.zip file.
- Right-click the Interception.zip file and select Extract all.
- Select the Show extracted > Extract options.
- Open the extracted Interception > Command line installer folder.
- Select the folder path text in File Explorer.
- Then, right-click the selected folder path text to select Copy.
The Copy option
Execute the Uninstall Command
- Click your taskbar’s Search box.
- Input a cmd search phrase.
- Right-click the Command Prompt app shown in the search results to select Run as administrator.
- Input cd into the Command Prompt, followed by a space.
- Then press Ctrl + V to paste your copied path into the Command Prompt.
- Press the Enter key.
- Input install-interception.exe /uninstall into the Command Prompt and hit Enter.
The uninstall interception command
- Exit Command Prompt and restart Windows.
- Erase the extracted Interception folder by right-clicking it and selecting Delete.
Repair Easy Anti-Cheat
The “Launch Error: Please close Interception before starting the game” Fortnite error can also arise because of Easy Anti-Cheat issues. To address this potential cause, try repairing Easy Anti-Cheat like this:
- Open the Games\Fortnite\FortniteGame\Binaries\Win64\EasyAntiCheat folder in File Explorer.
- Right-click the EasyAntiCheat_EOS_Setup.exe file to select Show more options > Create shortcut.
- Then, right-click the EasyAntiCheat_EOS_Setup – Shortcut to select its Properties context menu.
- Enter repair to the end of the Target box. Then the path should be something like:
C:\Games\Fortnite\FortniteGame\Binaries\Win64\EasyAntiCheat\EasyAntiCheat_EOS_Setup.exe repair. - Select the Apply and OK options.
Thar Target box
- Then, double-click the EasyAntiCheat_EOS_Setup – Shortcut to repair it.
Reinstall Fortnite
If the “Launch Error: Please close Interception before starting the game” Fortnite error persists, try reinstalling the game. This will refresh Fortnite’s files and update the game. These are the steps for reinstalling Fortnite:
- Open your Epic Games Launcher software.
- Click on the three-dot menu button for Fortnite and select Uninstall twice.
The Uninstall option
- Next, click the thumbnail image for Fortnite.
- Press the Install button for the game.
The troubleshooting methods covered here will usually fix the “Launch Error: Please close Interception before starting the game” Fortnite error. Note that those potential fixes can also resolve the same error for other games. If you need more ways to fix this game error, click Contact us on this page to send a support ticket to Epic.
