Fixing Crashes, Freezing, and Performance Issues in Phasmophobia Fixing Crashes, Freezing, and Performance Issues in Phasmophobia

Fixing Crashes, Freezing, and Performance Issues in Phasmophobia

If you're experiencing crashing, freezing, or performance issues in Phasmophobia, verifying your game files and updating your GPU drivers can resolve 90% of these problems. Follow the steps below to troubleshoot.

🔍 1. Verify Your Game Files

Corrupted or missing game files can cause crashes. To fix this:

  1. Open Steam and go to your Library.
  2. Right-click Phasmophobia and select Properties.
  3. Click on the Local Files tab.
  4. Select Verify Integrity of Game Files.
  5. Wait for the process to complete, then restart the game.

If the issue persists, move on to updating your GPU drivers.

🎮 2. Update Your GPU Drivers

Keeping your graphics card drivers up to date helps prevent crashes and performance issues. Follow the steps below based on your GPU type:

✅ NVIDIA Users: Follow Fix 2a
🟥 AMD Users: Follow Fix 2b
🔷 Intel Users: Follow Fix 2c

If updating your GPU drivers doesn't fix the problem, try the advanced clean installation steps below.

🔧 Fix 2a: Update, Reinstall, or Clean Install Your NVIDIA Driver

🖥️ Option 1: Update via NVIDIA Website

  1. Visit the official NVIDIA Driver Download page.
  2. Enter your graphics card model and select Windows Driver Type: DCH.
  3. Download the latest GeForce Game Ready Driver.
  4. Perform a clean installation (refer to NVIDIA’s instructions).

🚀 Option 2: Update via GeForce Experience

  1. Open GeForce Experience and go to the Drivers tab.
  2. Find the GeForce Game Ready Driver (you’ll see a version number & release date).
  3. Click the three dots next to it and select Reinstall Driver.
  4. Choose Custom Installation and enable Perform a Clean Installation.

🔧 Fix 2b: Update, Reinstall, or Clean Install Your AMD Driver

  1. Download the AMD Cleanup Utility.
  2. Open the AMD Cleanup Utility and select No when prompted for Safe Mode.
  3. After the confirmation prompt appears, click OK to continue.
  4. Once the process completes, your screen may flicker as the drivers are removed.
  5. Restart your PC when prompted.
  6. Follow AMD's tutorial to reinstall and update your drivers.
  7. Check if the issue persists.

🔧 Fix 2c: Update, Reinstall, or Clean Install Your Intel Driver

  1. Download and install the latest Intel Graphics Driver (see image).
  2. Restart your computer.

⚠️ 3. Other Common Issues & Fixes

🎮 3a. Game is stuck at 90% loading, stuttering, or lagging

  1. Lower your in-game graphics settings to the lowest possible values.
  2. Cap your FPS to 60 or lower. Try toggling V-Sync ON and OFF.
  3. If you have DirectX 10 enabled, remove it:
    • Right-click Phasmophobia in Steam → Properties → General.
    • In "Launch Options," delete anything entered (DirectX 10 is no longer supported).

🕵️ 3b. Phasmophobia is running in Task Manager, but I don't see it

The Oculus application is known to cause this issue. If you have Oculus installed, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Oculus application and let it run in the background
    (even if you're not playing VR / using Desktop Mode).
  2. When launching Phasmophobia, select the middle option: "Play Phasmophobia".

🖥️ 3c. Fullscreen mode has black bars on the side

  1. Right-click your desktop and open NVIDIA Control Panel.
  2. Go to Display → Adjust Desktop Size and Position.
  3. Under the Scaling tab:
    • Select Full-Screen mode.
    • Check the box for Override the scaling mode set by games and programs.
  4. Click Apply and restart Phasmophobia.

💻 3d. Run a System File Check (SFC)

If you suspect Windows corruption, try running a System File Check:

  1. Open Command Prompt as an Administrator.
  2. Type: sfc /scannow
  3. Wait for the scan to complete and restart your computer.

🔧 4. Other Possible Fixes

If the above solutions didn’t help, try these additional fixes:

✅ Move the game to your C drive
✅ Add Phasmophobia as an exception in your Antivirus/Firewall
✅ Unplug any Controllers or VR Hardware
✅ Temporarily disable or make exceptions in your Antivirus software
✅ Uninstall the Oculus app (if not needed)
✅ Uninstall Citrix Workspace and Citrix Receiver (these can cause compatibility issues)
✅ Perform a clean install of UnityPlayer.DLL (see below)

🔍 UnityPlayer.DLL Fix

  1. Navigate to: Steam\steamapps\common\Phasmophobia
  2. Delete the file: UnityPlayer.DLL
  3. Verify your game files via Steam.

🛠️ 5. Still Having Issues?

If you're still experiencing problems after following these steps, try the following:

🔹 Restart your PC
🔹 Lower your in-game graphics settings
🔹 Check for Windows updates
🔹 Disable unnecessary background apps

If nothing works, contact Phasmophobia Support for further help.