World of Warcraft is still one of the foremost MMORPGs for Windows PCs after almost two decades. Throughout that time there have always been players who can’t play World of Warcraft because that game doesn’t start on their PCs. WoW startup issues can vary, with many players reporting that nothing happens when they click the game’s Play button in Battle.net. However, WoW can also throw up error messages when it fails to launch. Here are some ways you can fix World of Warcraft not launching on a Windows PC.
Read also: 5 Ways to Fix World of Warcraft’s WOW51900319 Error on a Windows PC
Set Your World of Warcraft Game to Run With Admin Rights
Setting World of Warcraft to start with administrator rights is a standard troubleshooting method for game startup issues. Applying this potential solution will ensure WoW has full system access to folders and files. You can set elevated privileges for World of Warcraft with these steps.
- Bring up File Explorer (click the library folder taskbar icon) and open the World of Warcraft installation folder.
- Right-click the Wow.exe file and select Properties.
- Select Compatibility inside the window’s tab bar.
- Click on the checkbox for Run this program as an administrator to select that option.
The Run this program as an administrator option
- To save the new compatibility settings, click Apply and OK.
- In addition, try running World of Warcraft from its installation folder by double-clicking the Wow.exe file to see if that makes any difference.
Set Battle.net to Run With Admin Rights
This potential resolution for World of Warcraft not launching is like the previous one, except that you must set the Battle.net gaming client to run as administrator. To do that, open the Battle.net folder and right-click the Battle.net Launcher.exe file to select Properties. Then select Run this program as an administrator as outlined for resolution one.
Select to Scan and Repair World of Warcraft
Blizzard.net has a Scan and Repair option, which is like the verification options in Steam and Epic Games. Selecting that option can fix corrupted World of Warcraft files, which can cause many variable game issues to arise. Check out this Blizzard.net support page for details about how you can select to scan and repair WoW and other games.
The Scan and Repair option
Disable Fullscreen Optimizations for World of Warcraft
Some players confirm disabling fullscreen optimizations can fix World of Warcraft’s 3D acceleration startup issue. So, this potential resolution is certainly worth a try if you see an error message that says, “World of Warcraft was unable to start up 3D acceleration.” To apply this potential resolution, go through steps one to three of resolution one above. However, select the Disable fullscreen optimization option on the Compatibility tab and click Apply.
Disable Overlay Features
Discord, Steam, GeForce Experience are software packages with overlay features that can sometimes cause World of Warcraft startup issues to arise. For example, players confirm disabling Discord’s overlay can resolve the 3D acceleration WoW startup issue. If you have any software packages like that, try disabling their optional overlay features before launching World of Warcraft.
GeForce Experience’s In-Game Overlay option
Set a DirectX 11 Launch Option for World of Warcraft
Setting WoW to start with DirectX 11 is a widely confirmed method for fixing World of Warcraft not launching. That can only mean the game fails to start on many PCs when it’s utilizing DirectX 12. So, try setting a DirectX 11 launch option for World of Warcraft with Blizzard.net like this.
- Run Blizzard.net on your PC.
- Select World of Warcraft on Blizzard.net’s game bar.
- Click on the little cog button beside WoW’s Play option to select Game Settings.
- Select Game Settings to bring up that tab.
- Click Additional command line arguments to activate a launch options text box.
The Additional command line arguments checkbox
- Input –d3d11 in the command line argument box.
- Press Done to apply the setting.
Reset In-Game Options
Sometimes World of Warcraft doesn’t start because of incompatible graphics settings set for the game. Selecting to reset WoW’s in-game options in Blizzard.net can address that potential cause. This Blizzard page for resetting in-game options tells you how players can apply this possible resolution for fixing World of Warcraft not launching.
The Reset In-Game Options button
Apply a Clean Boot
Third-party background apps, and even services, can interfere with World of Warcraft in various ways. To prevent software from conflicting with WoW, try clean booting your PC. This will disable unneeded third-party apps and services automatically starting with Windows. Check out this Microsoft clean-boot help page for instructions about applying this possible resolution.
The Services tab in MSConfig
Other Possible Ways to Fix World of Warcraft Not Launching
There are also more ways to feasibly fix World of Warcraft not launching beyond those methods cited above. These are alternative solutions that might sometimes kick-start that game:
- Execute a sfc /scannow command in the Command Prompt to repair system files.
- Update the driver for the graphics card on your PC.
- Erase the Battle.net data folder as instructed within this Battle.net support webpage.
- Temporarily disable antivirus programs on your PC, such as Microsoft Defender or third-party alternatives, before starting World of Warcraft.
- Set World of Warcraft to run in Windows 8 or 10 compatibility mode.
I hope one of the potential solutions in this guide fixes World of Warcraft not launching on your PC. They’re player-confirmed resolutions that often fix WoW not starting in many cases. So, try applying the recommended fixes here before contacting World of Warcraft’s help service from this Blizzard webpage.
