When I try to play fortnite and alt tab,my screen freezes

Hello,

I have a problem with Fortnite. Every time I press Alt-Tab to switch to another application or change the resolution in the game, the screen freezes completely. However, the sound from the game or other background apps (like music) continues to play.

Here are the steps I have already tried:

  1. Updated my BIOS, GPU drivers (AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT), and chipset drivers.

  2. Verified Fortnite files in the Epic Games Launcher.

  3. Changed the DirectX version (tried both DirectX 11 and 12).

  4. Disabled full-screen optimizations and used compatibility mode.

  5. Played in Windowed Fullscreen instead of Fullscreen.

  6. Reinstalled Fortnite.

Additional information:
This issue started around January 15th, after a Windows update. It might have started slightly earlier, but I am not sure. Other games do not have this issue; it happens only in Fortnite.

I would be grateful if you could provide any advice or solutions.

Thank you for your help.

Best regards,

Efe

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Hi, Efe Yiğit Kara

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

We are aware of an issue where pressing alt+tab while you are playing Fortnite causes your computer to freeze. 

Based on feedback from other players who have commonly encountered this issue playing Fortnite after updating their systems, we speculate that this may be due to a compatibility conflict between the new system and the game program, and suggest that you try rolling back the update: 

I.Uninstall the update: 

1.Windows Update >, select “Start > Settings”. Under Related Settings, select Update History > Uninstall Updates or use the following shortcut: 

2. Select the update you want to remove from the list, and then select Uninstall. 

  

  

II.Rolling Back the System 

If the above solution fails to uninstall the update, and you have not completed 10 days after the update and have kept the windows.old and $windows.~bt folders, you can also try to roll back to a previous version of Windows, please refer to the steps below: 

  

  

III.Restore the system from a restore point (if you have one). 

Please refer to the following link for more details: 

  

If none of the above options can solve the problem, you can choose to freshly install the old version of Windows 11 to solve the problem of your gaming experience, please make sure you manually back up all your important files before executing this option, once you have finished backing up, please follow the below option: 

1. Prepare a USB flash drive and follow the method provided by volunteer host Ramesh in the link below to download the ISO file for 23H2 

  

2. Copy the ISO to the USB flash drive. 

  

3. Reboot your computer, then insert the USB flash drive into your computer and follow your computer manufacturer's instructions to enter the Bios and set the USB flash drive as the first boot item. 

  

4. Next, a fresh installation will begin and you can follow the steps to complete it. 

Disclaimer: At this point, we have exhausted all troubleshooting and I recommend that we try to perform a clean install to get your computer back into a working condition. Please ensure that you backup any important data, including Documents, Pictures, Videos, and more.

  

Since we are only support staff and not Microsoft engineers or Microsoft employees, we suggest you to press Windows+F to give official feedback to Microsoft about the issue that appears in the new version of Windows, only if you give your feedback, the development team will be aware of the issue. 

  

After submitting, please share the feedback link here as this will allow others on the forum (including me) to vote for your submission. More votes will increase the attention and priority of the development team. Thank you for your understanding! 

  

Additionally, you can also send feedback about the issue to Fortnite Officials and they will review and fix the issue as well. 

  

If you need more help, feel free to reach out to us. 

Best Regards

Nicholas.Z - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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Hi Nicholas.Z,

I wanted to follow up and ask if there have been any updates or progress made on resolving this problem. Unfortunately, the issue still persists on my end when pressing Alt+Tab while playing Fortnite, and my computer freezes.

I am currently running the latest version of Windows as of today, and the problem remains unresolved.

Looking forward to any updates or additional troubleshooting steps you might have.

Best regards,

Julian

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Hi, JulianMueller

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

After feedback from other users and our investigation, the crash caused by the cut screen when you play Fortnite is related to the compatibility conflict between Window 11 24H2 and the game, the known solution is to roll back the update or install the old version of Window 11, you can refer to my first reply for details. 

  

Since we are only support staff and not Microsoft engineers or Microsoft employees, we suggest you to press Windows+F to give feedback to Microsoft, only if you give your feedback, the development team will be aware of the problem. 

  

After submitting, please share the feedback link here as this will allow others on the forum (including me) to vote for your submission. More votes will increase the attention and priority of the development team. Thank you for your understanding! 

  

If you need more help, feel free to reach out. 

Best Regards

Nicholas.Z - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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Last updated March 26, 2025 Views 1,650 Applies to: