6 Ways to Fix Regular In-Game League of Legends Crashing and Freezing

In-game League of Legends crashing and freezing can be a persistent gaming issue for some players. For example, this is what a LoL player’s Reddit post says, “Hello everyone, I am having this problem for a while, and it is really annoying, sometimes it (League of Legends) crashes in the middle of a fight and makes me lose a game.” This regular in-game crashing can make League of Legends hard to play. These are some ways you can remedy in-game League of Legends crashing and freezing on a Windows PC.

Disable Background Apps

First, try disabling unneeded background apps like Steam and Discord after (or before) starting League of Nations. Doing this will free up system resources and minimize potential program conflicts that could be causing League of Legends to crash. You can disable superfluous background programs like this:

1. Press the Windows key if you’ve already started the game.
2. Next, simultaneously press Ctrl + Shift + Delete to bring up a Task Manager window.
3. Right-click the unneeded program processes shown in the Processes tab to select End task.
   
   

   The Task Manager window

4. Also, right-click programs shown in the system tray to select Exit or Close options for them.

Turn off Fullscreen Optimizations

Some players say they fixed their League of Legends crashing by turning off fullscreen optimizations. Fullscreen optimization is always enabled for Windows games by default, but it’s easy to disable. These are the steps for disabling fullscreen optimizations.

1. Right-click your League of Legends desktop shortcut to select Properties.
2. Select Disable fullscreen optimization on the Compatibility tab.
   
   

   The Disable fullscreen optimization checkbox

3. To save your selected compatibility options, click on Apply and OK.

Reinstall Riot Vanguard

Regular League of Legends crashing can arise because of Riot Vanguard issues. Reinstalling the Riot Vanguard anti-cheat for LoL can address this potential cause. This is how you can reinstall the Riot Vanguard software:

1. Activate the tool for file searching using the Windows logo + S hotkey.
2. Next, input an Apps & features keyword and select the search result that matches.
3. If you’re a Windows 10 user, click the Riot Vanguard in Apps & features to select Uninstall. Windows 11 users must click the three-dot menu button for Riot Vanguard to select Uninstall.
   
   

   Apps & features in Settings

4. Restart League of Legends to automatically reinstall Riot Vanguard.

Turn Off Overlays

Overlays are third-party software features you can activate to select additional options when playing games. However, such overlays can sometimes cause crashing issues when enabled. Try disabling overlays in these software packages if installed on your PC:

• Steam
• AMD Radeon
• GeForce Experience
• Discord
• MSI Afterburner
• Overwolf

The Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game option

Reduce In-Game Video Settings

The Riot Games support service recommends that players reduce in-game video settings to fix regular in-game League of Legends crashing. Press Esc and select Video when playing League of Legends to access graphics settings. Then, try setting the LoL graphics settings like this:

• Settings: Custom
• Effects Quality: Very low
• Character Quality: Very low
• Shadows: Disable
• Frame Rate: 60
• Environment: Very low
• Wait for Vertical Sync: Disable
• Anti-Aliasing: Disable

Note that the LoL client also includes an Enable Low Spec Mode setting you can select to generally lower graphical settings for better gaming performance. You can access that setting by clicking the Gear button and General tab within the League of Legends client. Then, select the Enable Low Spec Mode setting from there.

Enable DX9 Legacy Mode

Players have also said they’ve fixed League of Legends crashing and freezing by enabling DX9 Legacy mode. That’s a DirectX9 optimization option in the LoL client, primarily included for lower-spec PCs. You can select that option like this:

1. Bring up the League of Legends client.
2. Click the Gear settings button.
3. Select the Game tab.
4. Click the Prefer DX9 Legacy Mode checkbox to select that option.
   
   

   The DX9 setting

5. Select Done to finish.

Other Possible Ways to Fix League of Legends Crashing

If the League of Legends crashing continues, other troubleshooting methods might be worth trying. These are some additional potential fixes for LoL crashing issues:

• Verify the League of Legends game files by selecting Initiate Full Repair in the LoL client’s General tab.
• Apply the graphics driver update troubleshooting method, as covered in this KeenGamer guide.
• Update Windows by checking for and installing patches.
• Apply clean boot troubleshooting to disable third-party startup items.

The troubleshooting methods covered above are some of the better ways you can fix regular in-game League of Legends crashing and freezing. Applying those possible fixes might at least reduce the regularity of the LoL crashing on your PC. You can also ask for more potential crashing fixes by submitting a support ticket from this Riot help page.