GTA 5: Stuck At Loading Screen [Solved]

GTA 5 is notorious for its long loading period when you turn on the game or decide to play GTA Online. It can get very annoying when you take a break from all your work to find yourself waiting hours for the game to load.

At times this loading screen is permanently stuck, and it will take you a while to realize that. Don’t delete the game just yet! Mostly this issue is on the player’s end and is very simple to fix. We have a bunch of solutions for the problem, and one of them will indeed work for you.

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Key Takeaways

• There are multiple solutions if you’re stuck on the GTA 5 loading screen. The keys are very simple, but the hard part is figuring out which fix is required.
• Restart the Game and rerun the game.
• Verify game files from Steam or Epic Games. These files may have been corrupted or missing. They are essential in running the game, and check if they work correctly is required.
• Update your Windows and Graphics card Drivers. You can check for updates using Intel, Nvidia, or AMD software. Keeping drivers updated isn’t only necessary for this fix and good practice for optimizing your games.
• Restart your Internet Router since the issue may be connecting to the servers. GTA 5 requires an uninterrupted connection to the internet.
• End unnecessary background tasks. On lower-end PCs, this may be a relevant issue. Background programs may take a lot of memory and CPU, causing the GTA 5 to get stuck on the Loading screen.
• If all else fails, then try Deleting and Reinstalling the game.

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Fix: Stuck At Loading Screen

We talk about nine solutions you can follow to ensure you don’t get stuck on the loading screen anymore. Your issue may be solved after completing any one of these steps. But identifying which step for that fix is tricky, so keep reading until you can find a fix that works for you.

Restart And Retry

A phrase that is famous in the tech world, for a good reason, is “try turning it off and on again.” Every non-technical person’s first instinct would be to restart the game or PC altogether. And this is exactly what gamers and IT people suggest as well.

Sometimes, there would be an issue where the game files aren’t loaded properly. Or the PC did not boot all the required system files when turned on. This isn’t uncommon, and there is a reason why the phrase is so common it mainly works.

So, restart your PC by shutting it down and turning it back on. Give your PC time to boot appropriately, and then proceed to turn on the game. If it still doesn’t load, move to the next step below.

Verify Game Files

It isn’t uncommon for some files to get corrupted and go missing; however, you can easily verify and fix this. Before doing that, you will need to run your game as an administrator.

• Open up where your game is located on your PC. If it is Steam, then you can go to Library and right click on GTA 5, and open Properties. After that, click on browse, and you will be in the location where your game file is placed.
• Right-click on the GTA 5 application and click on Properties.
• Open the compatibility tab shown in the image below and select the ‘run as administrator.

• Click Apply to confirm your selection.

For Steam

Once you’re done with running GTA 5 as administrator, follow these steps:

• Turn off GTA 5 and head onto Steam Library.
• Navigate yourself to Properties by right-clicking on GTA 5
• Select the second option in the pop-up window, “Verify integrity of game files.” Give it some time to verify and download any corrupted files, which will take a few minutes.

For Epic Games

If you are playing GTA 5 on Epic Games, the steps are pretty similar and easy to execute. They are as follows:

• Turn off GTA 5 and open up the Epic Games library.
• Click on the three dots below the GTA 5 game, as shown in the image below.

• Click on the Verify option; reviewing all the game files will take a while. It will check for any missing or corrupted files and download any if required. Let it run for a couple of minutes while it does this.

Hopefully, your game will start working correctly, and you won’t be stuck on the GTA 5 loading screen. However, if you are still stuck, don’t worry; we have more steps to follow.

Check Your Network Connection

The reason you’re stuck on the GTA 5 loading screen may be due to a bad network. Which doesn’t let Rockstar games connect, and you end up seeing a never-ending loading screen. You need consistent and uninterrupted internet to load the game properly.

Try turning off your router and restarting it after 15 seconds. You can check out various articles online on how to Restart your Internet Router. After that, connect your PC to the internet and try turning on GTA 5 again.

If the problem continues, move to the next step on this page.

Update Your Windows

Windows is constantly releasing updates for users to fix any bugs or glitches. Keeping your PC up to date will remove any compatibility issues or crashes by adding new features and improvements. Follow these steps to update your Windows:

• Open the windows settings menu by searching it or pressing Windows + I.
• Navigate to Update and Security.
• Click on Check for Updates, which will be under the Windows Update
• Click Download and Install if your windows are not up to date.
• Make sure you have ample space for updating your windows. It will prompt you if you lack space on your hard drive.
• It will take a while to download; restart your PC and let it install the updates.

It’s a good practice for gamers and other users to keep their PC up to date for the optimum experience. Moreover, it may help you fix the issue of being stuck on the GTA 5 loading screen. If not, try out the next step mentioned below.

Update Your Graphics Drivers

Every Gamer knows the importance of keeping your graphics card up to date. This is essential for having the best gaming experience and avoiding crashes and glitches. Intel, AMD, and Nvidia have their software, which you can download and check for updates.

For Nvidia

• Download and Install Nvidia GeForce Experience.
• Select the Drivers tab on the top left next to the home tab.

• Click on check for updates, and Nvidia will automatically browse for any updates on your drivers. Download and restart your PC to apply any updates.

For AMD

• Download and Install AMD Software Adrenaline Edition.
• You can check for updates on your graphics card drivers on the home page.

• If your driver is not up to date, it will allow you to download the new version. Click on Download, and it will take a while for it to complete. After it is completed, restart your Pc to apply any updates.

For Intel

• Search ‘Device Manager’ on the windows search bar and open it up.
• On display adapters, locate your Intel HD Graphics card.
• Right-click and select update driver. Choose the ‘select automatically for drivers’ option and update your driver.

• It will require you to restart your PC to apply any updates.

Updating your Graphics card is essential whether or not your GTA 5 is getting stuck on its loading screen. However, this may fix your issue, and your game will run more smoothly. There are a couple of more steps that you can follow in case this fix does not work for you.

Load GTA 5 Into Story Mode

A temporary fix that works mainly is to load GTA 5 onto story mode first, then enter Online mode. It has been shown to reduce the loading times of GTA 5 Online.

• When you are at the start page, select Story mode and wait for the game to load into Story mode.
• Press Escape to open the menu.
• Click on Online and then Start GTA Online.

This method will reduce your encounter with Loading screens and may be the fix you were looking for. However, this isn’t a permanent fix, so you should read the rest of this article for a solution.

Suspend And Resume

Sometimes, GTA 5 has glitches that are annoying but easy to solve. Even though the game has been around for a decade, some bugs still appear. However, sometimes a simple suspension and resume do the job. This is done by:

• Open the task manager while in the loading screen by clicking Ctrl + Alt + Delete.
• Choose the second tab from the top left, ‘Performance.’
• After selecting Networking from the list shown on the left, click ‘Open Resource Monitor.’
• Navigate to GTA 5 and click the right mouse button while selecting it.
• Select ‘Suspend.’
• After 10 seconds, right-click on GTA 5 again and click ‘Resume.’ Be sure not to leave it longer than that, or it will cause the game to crash.
• Close the task manager and go back into the game.

This should fix the GTA 5 loading screen issue. It is often seen in gaming that the most annoying problems usually have the easiest solutions. But figuring out those easy solutions is the hard part.

Close Background Tasks

At times your PC uses a lot of its resources, such as Memory or CPU, on less essential background tasks. This causes the system to reduce performance, and the game runs comparatively slower than usual. However, in some cases, it causes the game not to work properly and get stuck.

This issue may be more prevalent in lower-end PCs or near the minimum requirements of GTA 5. Whatever the case, it is best to close all unnecessary background tasks by following the steps below:

• Open the task manager by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete.
• By default, the ‘Processes’ tab will open; it will be on the top left of the window.
• Select unnecessary tasks and click End Task to close them individually. Programs like Word, Google Chrome, Spotify, and Discord are unnecessary in the game and consume system resources.
• After that, restart GTA 5 and check whether the problem is solved.

If All Else Fails, Reinstall The Game

It can be a very daunting thought to delete and download a 100GB game. Therefore, if all else fails, we have left this solution at the end. Delete GTA 5 from your PC and download it again from Steam or Epic Games.

GTA 5 is a decade-long game that is still among the most popular.  Most players have been playing the game for quite some time now. Hence, it can be difficult to stop playing the game. This makes deleting and installing the 100GB game worth your effort.

Closing Remarks

If you follow every step in this guide in its entirety, then indeed, you won’t be stuck on your GTA 5 loading screen for long. As the steps in this article are straightforward, it shows how a simple fix can solve a vast issue.

We have written other solutions for some glitches seen in GTA 5. These include Unable to Initialize DirectX 9 Device Fix. In addition to that, we have covered How to Fix “Unable to Access Rockstar Servers”.