Stellaris is a strategy game set in space and it’s quite popular among PC Players. The game had been out for a while but still, PC players are experiencing errors and issues with Stellaris like in-game crash, controller not working, BootStrapper, crash at startup, game not working after changing video settings, and more. Here I have compiled a list of errors that PC players are reporting along with their fixes and workarounds.
Stellaris Crash, BootStrapper, And Fixes
Stellaris is a space strategy game released in 2016 and has been going strong with the developers supporting the game with new content. With the game being out for years, most of the errors and issues have been ironed out. But still, PC players are experiencing errors and issues with Stellaris like in-game crash, controller not working, BootStrapper, crash at startup, game not working after changing video settings, and more. The following are the errors and issues that PC players are reporting along with their fixes and workarounds.
Crash Fix
PC players are reporting that Stellaris is crashing in-game and here is how to fix it. There are multiple reasons why the game is crashing and one of them is the use of third-party tools and software like MSI Afterburner, EVGA Precision, RGB Software, Discord, or more. Disable any third-party tools you are using with the game and it’ll stop crashing.
Also, in-game overlays like Steam in-game overlay or GeForce Experience overlay can cause Stellaris to crash while playing. Disable any in-game overlay that is enabled and the issue will be fixed.
Another reason behind the Stellaris crash issue is the use of controller. Diable or remove the controller and the game will stop crashing.
Stellaris supports DirectX 9, 11, and 12 and there is a possibility that your current choice of DirectX is causing it to crash. I suggest you switch your DirectX and see if that fixes the Stellaris in-game crash. In case you aren’t able to change DirectX in-game, then right-click Stellaris in Steam and select properties. Under Launch Options type one of the following commands depending on which DirectX version your want to force.
Type -dx11 to force DirectX 11
Type -dx12 to force DirectX 12
Press Ok and launch Stellaris and it won’t crash while playing anymore.
Another reason behind the Stellaris in-game crash could be your integerated GPU. If you are playing on a system with both dedicated and integerated GPU, chances are the game isn’t swithing is running on the iGPU. To fix it, players just need to make sure Stellaris uses the dedicated GPU and the issue will be fixed.
Nvidia GPU users, open Nvidia Control Panel > Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings > select the game > select “High-performance Nvidia processor” under preferred graphics option. Apply the changes.
AMD GPU users need to open Radeon Settings > Preferences > Additional Settings > Power > Switchable Graphics Application Settings. Select the game and select the “High-Performance profile” to the game under Graphics Settings.
These changes will make sure Stellaris uses the dedicated GPU and the game won’t crash while playing.
Game Not Starting, Crash At Startup Fix
Stellaris PC players are experiencing crash at launch or game not starting at all issue with the game and here is how to fix it. Before we start with the fixes, make sure you are using at least Windows 7 SP1 64-Bit. Stellaris doesn’t support a 32-Bit operating system so if you are using a 32-Bit OS, upgrade to the 64-Bit operating system and the game will work as intended.
Your anti-virus software is a possibility behind the Stellaris crash at launch or not launching issue. The anti-virus might have blocked the game’s executable or important file which is causing the crash. Players can fix this by either disabling real-time protection in the anti-virus or excluding the game folder from it, I recommend the latter. After that, verify game files in Steam, launch Stellaris, and it won’t crash at startup.
If the above fix didn’t work, right-click Stellaris in Steam > manage > Browse local files. A new window will open containing Stellaris’ game files. Launch the game directly from the executable and you’ll likely get an error similar to vcruntime140_1.dll missing or MSVCP140.dll was not found. Fix it by installing the latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables both x64 and x86 versions.
Game Crashing After Changing Graphics Settings Fix
Some Stellaris PC players are reporting that the game isn’t working after changing video setting. To fix this, go to Documents\Paradox Interactive\Stellaris\settings.txt. Open settings.txt in a notepad and revert the changes made. This will fix the issue and Stellaris will start woking again.
In case you don’t know what to do or change, just delete the settings.ext file and launch Stellaris. This will force the game to generate another settings.txt file with default video settings and the issue will be resolved.
Controller Not Working Fix
PC players are reporting that their controllers aren’t working with Stellaris at all. Turns out developers have disabled controller/gamepads on pirpose as they are causing performance issues. However, players can force Stellaris to use a controller. Right-click Stellaris > properites > type -gamepad under Launch options and press OK. This will force the game to enable gamepad support and players will be able to play Stellaris using their controller.
BootStrapper Error Fix
Stellaris PC players are experiencing the BootStrapper error which is quite common among Paradox Interactive games and here is how to fix it. First, try giving Steam admin rights. Right-click Steam executable > Properties > Compatibility tab > check “Run This program as administrator” and hit apply.
If the error persists, close Steam and open Windows “Apps and features” utility and delete Paradox Launcher. After that, go to the following paths and delete these folders to fix the Stellaris BootStrapper error.
C:/users/’your username’/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/
C:/users/’your username’/AppData/Local/Paradox Interactive/
C:/users/’your username’/AppData/Roaming/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/
That is all for our Stellaris fixes for errors and issues like BootStrapper error, in-game crash, controller not working, crash at launch, and more. If you are facing errors and issues with other PC games or your PC then also see our hub for commonly occurring PC errors and their fixes.
