7 Ways to Fix Mortal Kombat 1 Not Launching on a Windows PC

Mortal Kombat 1 is a decent beat ’em-up, but quite a few players have had issues with launching that game. Players have reported they can’t play Mortal Kombat 1 because it doesn’t launch on their PCs. For some players, the game gets stuck on the loading screen. Others say the screen goes black when they launch Mortal Kombat 1. MK 1 doesn’t start regardless of how it crashes at launch. This is how you can fix Mortal Kombat 1 not launching on a PC.

Verify Mortal Kombat 1’s Files

A few MK 1 players have confirmed verifying Mortal Kombat 1’s files can fix that game not working. That’s a pretty good starting point since it’s easy to run verification scans in Steam or Epic Games Launcher. You can repair corrupted or missing Mortal Kombat 1 files by verifying files as follows.

Steam

1. Start Steam and select its Library time to view your games.
2. Right-click Mortal Kombat 1 to select a Properties option for that game.
3. Click Local Files and select Verify integrity of game files on that tab.
   
   

   The Verify integrity of game files button in Steam

Epic Games

1. Run the Epic Games software and click Library.
2. Click the … button for the Mortal Kombat 1 game and select Manage.
3. Select Verify to run the game scan.
   
   

   The Verify option in Epic Games

Set Mortal Kombat 1 to Run as An Administrator

Setting Mortal Kombat 1 to run as administrator is another fix that has kick-started the game for some MK 1 players. Although you can select to run programs as an administrator from the context menu, it’s best to permanently set MK 1 to always run with elevated privileges. This is how you can set Mortal Kombat 1 to run as an administrator.

1. Press the Windows logo + E Explorer hotkey and go to the Mortal Kombat 1 installation folder.
2. Right-click the MK12.exe (application) file and select Properties.
3. Click on Compatibility inside the tab bar.
   
   

   The Run this program as an administrator option

4. Select the Run this program as administrator box.
5. Press the MK12 Properties window’s Apply > OK buttons.
6. Open the MK12 > Binaries > Win64 subfolder from the Mortal Kombat 1 directory.
7. Repeat steps two to four for the MK12 file in the Win64 folder.

Delete Shader Cache Files

Some Steam players have said they fixed MK 1 not starting by deleting shader cache files. Doing so will enable MK 1 to complete shader preparation. Erase the shader cache files as follows.

1. Open this Steam folder path in File Explorer: C:UsersTestAppDataLocalMK12SavedSteam.
2. Select the three D3D files that end with the .ushaderprecache extension.
   
   

   D3D shader cache files in the Store folder

3. Right-click your mouse and select the Delete context menu option.

Disable RGB Lighting Effects on Your Devices

Mortal Kombat 1’s Warner Bros publisher has confirmed that keyboards, mice, and other devices with RGB lighting effects can cause MK 1 startup issues. So, users with devices that have RGB lighting devices often need to disable their light effects to fix Mortal Kombat 1 not staring. If you have an illuminated device, disable its lighting effects with the configuration software for the peripheral.

Razer Chrome mouse lighting effects

Steam users can also disable RGB lighting by editing a Usersettings.ini file. That file contains some RFG settings you change within a text editor. Edit that configuration file like this.

1. Open this Steam directory inside File Explorer: C:Users<user folder name>AppDataLocalMK12SavedSteamConfigWindowsNoEditor.
2. Right-click the Usersettings.ini and select Open with > Notepad.
3. Change the RGBKeyLighting and RGBPeripherals settings in that configuration file to Off.
4. Click File to select the Save menu option.

Update Your PC’s Graphics Driver

Warner Bros also advises players to update graphics drivers on their PCs to fix Mortal Kombat 1 not starting. Installing the latest graphics driver for your PC may resolve MK 1 performance and stability issues. This is how you can install the latest NVIDIA or AMD drivers.

1. Go to the NVIDIA or AMD driver download page depending on what your PC’s graphics card model is.
2. Select your graphics card model and PC Windows platform on the driver download page.
3. Click either Submit or Search.
   
   

   The NVIDIA driver download page

4. Next, click the Download option for the latest driver.
   
   

   A graphics driver download option

5. Go to whatever folder contains the downloaded AMD or NVIDIA driver package.
6. Double-click the driver package file to run the installer.
7. Click Install within the driver setup wizard.

To find details for your PC’s graphics card model and platform, right-click the Start menu button to select Search, input dxdiag, and select the dxdiag result. That will bring up a DirectX Diagnostic Tool that displays system and graphics card info. The System tab includes OS details, and you can view graphics card info on the Display tab.

Reinstall Mortal Kombat 1

Reinstalling Mortal Kombat 1 is the best way to fix a corrupted game installation. You can reinstall Mortal Kombat 1 via the Steam and Epic Games Launcher client software as follows.

Steam

1. Go into your Steam software and select its Library tab.
2. Click on Mortal Kombat 1 in the games list with your right mouse button to select Manage.
3. Select Uninstall to remove the game.
   
   

   The Uninstall option in Steam

4. Left-click Mortal Kombat 1 in your games list and select Install to reinstall it.

Epic Games

1. Start Epic Games and click on the Library tab in that gaming client.
2. Click the … button for Mortal Kombat 1.
3. Select Uninstall on the menu and then the confirmation prompt.
   
   

   The Uninstall option in Epic Games

4. Click on the Mortal Kombat 1 image in your Epic library after removing the game to select Install.

Apply a Clean Boot

Clean booting is a troubleshooting method that removes third-party background apps and services from the Windows startup. This will free up system resources for running Mortal Kombat 1 and can prevent third-party apps and services from conflicting with the game. If a background app is crashing MK 1, clean booting will probably eliminate that cause. You can apply this potential fix by following the instructions on this Microsoft webpage guide to clean booting.

The System Configuration tool for disabling startup services

Other Ways to Fix Mortal Kombat 1 not Launching

There are many potential causes for Mortal Kombat 1 not launching. So, the potential solutions above may not be enough for all MK 1 players. Try applying these additional troubleshooting methods if the game still doesn’t start. 

• Select Steam’s Clear Download Cache option, as instructed on this official Steam guide page.
• Update DirectX by installing Windows updates. You can also try installing DirectX runtime libraries with the Microsoft DirectX End-User Runtime installer downloadable at this Microsoft webpage.
• Uninstall the Razer Synapse and Razer Chroma software if installed on your PC.
• Add Mortal Kombat 1 to your antivirus utility’s exclusion list. Or you can try disabling your antivirus shield first to see if that makes a difference.

For an expensive game, Mortal Kombat 1 has a surprisingly large variety of reported bugs and issues. You’ll probably need to apply more than one of the potential resolutions above to fix Mortal Kombat 1 not launching on your Windows PC. If none of them work for you, contact MK 1’s support service by filling out this request submission form.