Preparing Epic Games Launcher Fix | Epic Games Launcher Error

The Epic Games Launcher is home to Fortnite, one of the world’s most popular battle royale games. It’s also known to give away tons of great games for free. Heck, it even gave away free Discord Nitro subscriptions to tons of people last year.

The Epic Games Launcher can also run into problems and errors like most apps and launchers. Usually, these can be fixed by simply re-opening the launcher or restarting your PC. But, some errors require a more robust fix.

Today, we’ll be talking about fixing the stuck at preparing Epic Games Launcher error. Follow the steps below to help you find the best fix for your problem.

Fixing Stuck at Preparing Epic Games Launcher Error

When you first open the Epic Games Launcher, you should be greeted with the “Preparing Epic Games Launcher” message. Usually, this only takes a while and is essentially just the loading screen before taking you to the main menu.

If it takes longer than a few minutes, you might want to try restarting the launcher first. If it still doesn’t work, follow the different fixes below.

Method 1: Force Quit and Re-launch

Let’s start by simply force quitting the Epic Games Launcher and restarting it.

1. Press ctrl + alt + del to bring up the Task Manager. You can also open it by typing “Task Manager” in the Windows search bar.
2. Find “EpicGamesLauncher” from the list of processes available.
3. Right-click on “EpicGamesLauncher” and select “End Task.”
4. This should then force your Epic Games Launcher app to close.
5. Finally, simply open the Epic Games Launcher again and see if it works.

This is one of the easiest and fastest ways to fix the error and should be the first thing you do to try and fix it.

Method 2: Restart PC

If method 1 didn’t work, feel free to restart your PC and see if that helps. Usually, restarting your PC frees up temporary files and processes stored within your computer. Restarting essentially flushes and deletes unnecessary files that could have been causing problems with the Epic Games Launcher.

Tons of processes and files could cause a conflict with programs and applications. This is why it’s usually recommended to restart your PC after installing or uninstalling new programs and applications.

Method 3: Update Graphics Drivers

You should also try updating your graphics drivers. Outdated GPU drivers can cause a lot of issues, especially with newer applications and games. Updating your GPU driver is actually very easy. Make sure to follow the steps that apply to your GPU.

To Update Your NVIDIA GPU Driver

1. Go to the NVIDIA website and click on “GeForce Drivers.”
2. You can choose to download the GeForce Experience app, which can automatically detect your GPU and notify you of new driver releases. On the other hand, you can also manually search for the latest drivers by filling in the necessary information to find the latest drivers for your GPU.
3. Download the latest driver for your device and begin the installation process.
4. Wait for the installation to finish, and make sure to restart your PC.

To Update Your AMD GPU Driver

1. Right-click on your desktop and open “AMD Radeon Software.”
2. Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner of the tab. This should bring you directly to the settings, where you can check for new driver updates.
3. Under “Radeon Software,” simply click on “Check for Updates” to find out if your drivers are updated.
4. If it says “Up To Date,” simply close the app, but if there are newer drivers, install and then restart your PC.

After updating your GPU drivers, you can try opening the Epic Games Launcher once again. If the error was caused by outdated GPU drivers, you should be able to easily access the Epic Games store now.

Method 4: Deleting Web Cache Data

If none of the methods above worked, it might be time to move on to some more advanced fixes. First, you can try deleting web cache data by following these steps.

1. Make sure that the Epic Games Launcher isn’t open or running in the background.
2. Click on the folder icon on your taskbar and go to “Local Disk C.”
3. Go to the “Users” folder and double-click on your username.
4. From here, click on the “View” tab and make sure that there’s a check on the “Hidden items” box.
5. Once you’ve checked the box, you should be able to see “AppData.”
6. Go to the “Local” folder and then find the “EpicGamesLauncher” folder.
7. Go inside “Saved” and delete the “Crashes” folder and any “web cache” folder you can find.

After this process, you’ll have to sign into Epic Games again, but you should be able to launch it without any problems.

Method 5: Uninstall and Deleting Epic Games Entries

This final fix is your last resort to hopefully fix your stuck at preparing Epic Games Launcher error.

1. Ensure that the Epic Games Launcher is closed and isn’t running in the background.
2. Click on the search bar and type in “Add or Remove Programs.”
3. Look for Epic Games Launcher and click on “Uninstall.”
4. After completely uninstalling the Epic Games Launcher, go to your Local Disk C folder.
5. Find “Users” and double-click on your username.
6. Click on the “View” tab and make sure that there’s a check on the “Hidden items” box.
7. Go inside the “AppData” folder, and then the “Local” folder
8. Delete all the “Epic Games” and “Epic Games Launcher” folders, and then restart your PC.
9. Download the Epic Games Installer from the website and finish the installation process.

After following the steps above, you should be able to run the Epic Games Launcher flawlessly and finally claim those free games.

Hopefully, at least one of the methods above worked for you. If none of them worked, you might want to take a deeper look into your system because there might be something else conflicting with the Epic Games Launcher.