Many players have reported that Fallout 4 goes black when they try to start the game. For example, one Fallout 4 player’s Reddit post says: “Fallout 4 black screen on startup. My Fallout 4 starts with a black screen and doesn’t load anything.” Players can’t play Fallout 4 when it shows a black screen at startup. This is how you can fix the Fallout 4 black screen gaming issue on Windows PCs.
Change the iPresentInterval Setting to 0 and Set a Framerate Cap
A widely confirmed way to fix the Fallout 4 black screen bug is to change the iPresentInterval setting to 0. Changing that option to 0 unlocks the game’s framerate. However, it’s also advised to set a framerate cap when applying this fix. This is how you change the iPresentInterval setting and apply a framerate cap:
- Open File Explorer to bring up the This PC > Documents > My Games > Fallout 4 folder path.
- Next, double-click the Fallout4Prefs.ini file to open it.
The Fallout4Prefs.ini file
- Change the iPresentInterval=1 setting to iPresentInterval=0.
- Click File and select Save to finish.
The iPresentInterval setting
- Right-click an area of the desktop to select NVIDIA Control Panel.
- Next, select Manage 3D settings > Program Settings.
- Select Fallout 4 on the Program to customize the drop-down menu.
- Click Max Frame Rate to bring up a slider bar.
- Select the On radio button.
The frame rate settings
- Input 60 in the FPS box and click OK.
- Press Apply to save your settings.
Lower the Screen Refresh Rate
Players have also fixed the Fallout 4 black screen bug by lowering the screen refresh rate. The recommended refresh rate value to set is 60 Hertz (or at least lower than 300). You can apply this potential fix with Windows settings like this.
- Right-click Start to select the Search shortcut.
- Enter advanced display info into the search tool.
- Click View advanced display info to access more settings.
The Refresh Rate setting
- Change the Refresh Rate setting to 60Hz.
Install a New Graphics Driver
Bethesda support recommends players update graphics drivers for GPUs to fix the Fallout 4 black screen bug. Outmoded graphics drivers can often cause black-screen gaming issues. Our guide for updating video card drivers includes instructions for applying this possible fix.
The NVIDIA graphics driver download page
Select a High-Performance Graphics Card
If your PC has two graphics cards, select the High-performance graphical option. Doing this will set Fallout 4 to run with an AMD or NVIDIA GPU rather than an integrated Intel alternative. These are the steps for selecting High performance via Settings in Windows:
- Press the Windows key + S to activate the search tool to find settings.
- Enter graphics settings and select the result that matches the keyword.
- Click Browse, select the Fallout 4 EXE file, and press the Add button.
The Options button
- Press the Options button.
- Click the High performance > Save options.
The High performance radio button
Select Windowed Mode and Borderless
If your PC has an older GPU, try setting the game to run in a borderless windowed mode. You can apply this potential resolution by selecting Windowed Mode and Borderless options for Fallout 4 without starting the game. This is how you can select those options:
- First, open the Library tab in the Steam gaming client.
- Select to run Fallout 4.
- Click Options on the launch menu.
The Options menu option
- Select the Windowed Mode checkbox.
- Click Borderless to select that option.
The Windowed and Borderless settings
- In addition, click Advanced and generally lower the graphical quality settings from there.
- Click OK on the options windows.
Remove Fallout 4 Mods
Fallout 4 mods can sometimes cause black screen issues, especially those that change graphical or in-game settings. Have you added any mods to Fallout 4? If yes, try removing those mods as instructed on this Bethesda support page.
The potential resolutions above have fixed the Fallout 4 black screen bug for many players. So, applying some of those troubleshooting methods might also resolve that gaming issue on your PC. You can also ask Bethesda for more potential black screen bug fixes by submitting a support ticket as outlined on this help page.
