6 Simple Fixes for Origin Games Won’t Launch

Origin games won’t launch? That can be frustrating. But don’t worry. Here’re 6 simple fixes to resolve this problem. You can try them one by one and see if you can find the one that works for you.

Fix 1: Run Origin as administrator
Fix 2: Clear Origin’s cache
Fix 3: Disable Origin overlay
Fix 4: Disconnect your VPN
Fix 5: Perform a clean boot
Fix 6: Uninstall and reinstall Origin

Fix 1: Run Origin as administrator

You can try to run Origin as an administrator and see if it helps fix the problem:

1) Close the Origin client.

2) On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and then type “origin”.

3) Right-click on Origin from the result and then select Run as administrator.

Launch a game you want to play and see if the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, continue to try Fix 2.

Fix 2: Clear Origin’s cache

Whenever you’re having problems with your games in Origin like the games won’t launch, you can try clearing Origin’s cache to help fix the issues. Here’s how:

1) Ensure Origin is closed and no related processes are running in the background.

Open Task Manager and go to Processes. Make sure that Origin.exe and OriginWebHelperService.exe aren’t there. If they are, end the tasks to close them.

2) On your keyboard, press Win+R to invoke the Run box.

3) Type %programdata%/origin into the Run box and then click OK.

4) Delete all the files and folders inside it except for LocalContent. Do not delete this folder.

5) On your keyboard, press Win+R to invoke the Run box again.

6) Type %appdata% into the Run box and then click OK.

7) In the Roaming folder that opens, delete the Origin folder.

the location of the Origin folder

8) Click on AppData in the address bar.

9) Open the Local folder.

10) Delete the Origin folder from the Local folder.

Restart your computer. Launch Origin and then the games to see if the problem is fixed.

If Fix 2 doesn’t work for you, continue to try Fix 3.

Fix 3: Disable Origin overlay

Some users have reported that disabling Origin overlay on the game helped them fix the Origin games not launching issue. You can try this method as well and see if it works for you. Here’s how:

1) Ensure the game is fully closed.

Open Task Manager and go to Processes. Make sure the game process isn’t there. If it’s there, end the task to close it.

2) Run Origin as administrator.

3) Go to My Games page and right-click on the game that you want to play, and then select Game Properties…

4) Check Disable Origin in Game for this game.

5) Click OK to save the changes.

Launch the game and see if the problem is resolved. If the game launches without problems, you can disable Origin overlay for each game by following the above steps.

If this fix doesn’t work for you, head to try other fixes.

Fix 4: Disconnect your VPN

A VPN can be the cause of Origin games won’t launch. NordVPN is one of these VPNs that has been reported causing this issue. If you have a VPN connected, disconnect it temporarily and see if the problem is fixed.

If the problem is fixed, your VPN is causing the problem. In that case, you can contact the VPN vendor to determine whether the problem can be resolved. Or just uninstall VPN from your computer.

Fix 5: Perform a clean boot

A background service or a startup program can interfere with Origin and cause games not to launch correctly. You can perform a clean boot to determine if the third-party service or the startup item is causing the problem.

You can follow these steps to perform a clean boot:

1) Press Win+R keys to open the Run box.

2) Type “msconfig” into the Run box and click OK. Then the System Configuration window will open.

3) At the System Configuration window, go to the Services tab, tick Hide all Microsoft services and click Disable all. Then all non-microsoft services will be disabled.

4) Go to the Startup tab, click on Open Task Manager.

5) In Task Manager, for each item that’s enabled at startup (you can tell from the Status column), select the item and then select Disable.

6) Go back to the System Configuration window.

7) Click Apply -> OK to save the changes.

8) Restart your computer. Then your computer will be in a clean boot environment.

9) Check to see if the problem occurs in the clean boot environment.

If the problem doesn’t occur, a third-party service or a startup program is the cause. Then you can follow below steps to find out which service or startup program is causing the problem.

1) Open the System Configuration window again.

2) On the Services tab, tick Hide all Microsoft services.

3) Enable several non-Microsoft services at a time (for example, five services as a group).

4) Check to see if the problem occurs. If the problem occurs, that group contains the service that’s causing the problem.

5) Repeat Step 3) and Step 4) until you determine a group of services causing the problem. Then check the service one by one until you determine the service that is causing the problem.

If none of the services is the cause, perform the same steps for the Startup programs and find out which startup program is causing the problem.

After you determine the service or the startup program that causes the problem, contact the program manufacturer to determine whether the problem can be resolved.

Or, run Windows with the problem item disabled. You can disable the problem item in the System Configuration window. To do this, open the System Configuration window and enable your Services and Startup Items, but clear the check box for the problem item.

If this Fix doesn’t work for you, try Fix 7.

Fix 6: Uninstall and reinstall Origin

If none of the above fixes resolves the problem, the last resort you can try is to uninstall and reinstall Origin.

1) Ensure Origin is closed.

2) Open Control Panel.

To open the Control Panel, press Win+R, type “control” and then click OK.

3) View by Category and click on Uninstall a program under Programs.

4) Select Origin and then click on Uninstall.

uninstall origin through control panel

5) Download and install the latest Origin software from the Origin official website.

6) Install the games again.

Hopefully you can fix the Origin games won’t launch issues with the above steps. If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment below. I’ll get back to you ASAP.

Leave a Comment