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There is no single confirmed fix for Squirrel with a Gun crashing on Windows. Start with the least destructive steps—restart Steam and Windows, update Windows and your GPU driver, verify the Steam installation, and disable overlays. If the crash began after a graphics change, reset the game’s Unreal Engine configuration after backing up your saves.
This guide applies primarily to the Windows PC version of Squirrel with a Gun on Steam. The game launched on August 29, 2024, and its Steam listing specifies DirectX 11 support, 8 GB of RAM, 10 GB of storage, and a GeForce GTX 1080 as the listed minimum GPU. The store also lists 64-bit Windows 7 as the minimum and Windows 10 as recommended; however, Steam’s current client supports Windows 10 and later, so Windows 7 is not a practical recommendation for a current Steam setup. Check the current Steam requirements.
Find your crash pattern first
| Symptom | Start with these checks |
|---|---|
| Nothing happens after clicking Play | Restart Steam and Windows, check drivers, verify files, and close background software. |
| “Preparing to launch” appears, then the game closes | End any stuck process, verify files, and disable overlays. |
| The Unreal Engine crash reporter appears | Update the GPU driver, reset configuration, and test -dx11. |
| The crash began after changing graphics settings | Reset GameUserSettings.ini or the complete configuration folder. |
| One save crashes while loading | Back up saves and test a new game or a different save. |
| The game crashes randomly during play | Disable overlays, remove overclocks, check temperatures, and investigate GPU or memory stability. |
| Textures or assets are missing before the crash | Verify the Steam installation. |
| The crash happens only with mods or ReShade | Remove third-party files and retest with a clean installation. |
Steam’s general launch guidance recommends checking system requirements, Windows, drivers, game files, and non-essential software. See Steam’s launch troubleshooting checklist.
Before changing files: protect your saves
Squirrel with a Gun uses Unreal Engine 5, and PCGamingWiki lists its local files under %LOCALAPPDATA%SquirrelGunSaved. The save folder is:
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%LOCALAPPDATA%SquirrelGunSavedSaveGamesCopy the entire SaveGames folder to your desktop or another safe location before resetting configuration, removing mods, or reinstalling. Do not assume Steam Cloud will restore your progress; the available documentation does not confirm Steam Cloud support for this game. View the documented configuration and save locations.
1. Restart Steam and Windows
- Close the game.
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- End any stuck Squirrel with a Gun process.
- Exit Steam completely from the Steam menu or notification area.
- Restart Windows, open Steam, and try again.
This is especially useful if Steam says the game is already running or a previous crash left a process active. It is safe, quick, and does not alter your saves.
2. Check requirements and available storage
Compare your PC with the requirements currently listed by Steam:
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- Memory: 8 GB RAM minimum.
- Graphics: GeForce GTX 1080 listed as the minimum GPU.
- API: DirectX 11.
- Storage: 10 GB available space.
- Operating system: 64-bit Windows; Windows 10 is the practical target for Steam today.
Meeting the published minimum does not guarantee stable performance, particularly when a system is close to the minimum or has little free space. Leave additional room on the system drive for Windows temporary files, shader caches, and crash data. If the entire PC reboots or shows a blue screen, this is more likely a system-stability problem than an ordinary game crash.
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3. Update Windows and your graphics driver
- Install pending updates in Settings → Windows Update.
- Restart the computer.
- Install the current driver directly from the appropriate manufacturer: NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel.
- Restart again and test the game before making other changes.
Do not use generic driver-updater utilities. They add another potential source of problems and are unnecessary when the driver is available from the GPU manufacturer.
If the crashes began immediately after a driver update, testing the previous stable driver through the manufacturer’s official installer is a reasonable diagnostic rollback. That does not establish that a particular current driver is defective; it only tests whether the timing is significant.
4. Verify the Steam game files
- Open Steam and select Library.
- Right-click Squirrel with a Gun and choose Properties.
- Open Installed Files.
- Click Verify integrity of game files.
- Wait for the check to finish, restart Steam, and test the game.
Verification can replace missing or corrupted installation files. It does not necessarily repair a damaged save or every broken per-user configuration. Steam also notes that some files may fail validation because they are local configuration files; that result is not automatically evidence that verification failed. Read Steam’s file-verification guidance.
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5. Disable overlays and conflicting background software
Temporarily disable or close these categories of software:
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- AMD Adrenalin overlay
- Xbox Game Bar
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Also remove any ReShade preset, DLL injector, mod, manually installed tweak, or custom launch option during testing. Do not uninstall everything at once. Disable one category, launch the game, and record the result. If the crash stops, re-enable programs individually until you identify the conflict.
6. Reset the Unreal Engine configuration
A damaged configuration or an unstable graphics setting can cause a crash before the menu. Reset it without deleting the original files:
- Close the game and Steam.
- Press Win + R.
- Enter
%LOCALAPPDATA%SquirrelGunSavedand press Enter. - Copy the
SaveGamesfolder somewhere safe if you have not already done so. - Open the
Configfolder. - Rename the
Windowsfolder toWindows-backup. - Launch the game.
The game should create fresh default configuration files. Renaming is safer than deleting because the old files remain available for recovery. This is a practical configuration-reset procedure based on the documented Unreal Engine path, not a developer-confirmed universal fix.
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If the game reaches the menu but crashes after a graphics change, you can specifically back up and remove or rename:
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GameUserSettings.iniDo not edit arbitrary .ini values without a backup. A community discussion also reports disabling effects such as depth of field and motion blur, but that is community troubleshooting rather than official developer documentation. See the community configuration discussion.
7. Test -dx11 and conservative graphics settings
Steam launch options can test whether the crash is related to the graphics API:
- Open Steam Library.
- Right-click the game and choose Properties.
- Stay on General.
- Enter
-dx11in Launch Options. - Start the game and compare the result.
-dx11 is a diagnostic workaround, not a guaranteed or officially confirmed fix for every copy of Squirrel with a Gun. The Steam listing specifies DirectX 11 support, and community reports commonly use this option with Unreal Engine games, but your result may differ. If it changes nothing, remove the option. Test one launch option at a time rather than stacking several.
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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Steam also documents -autoconfig as a general experiment for selecting conservative video settings after a graphics-configuration problem. It is generic Steam guidance, not a confirmed game-specific instruction. If the game opens, lower resolution and post-processing settings before trying higher quality.
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8. Isolate a corrupted save and escalate with evidence
Back up %LOCALAPPDATA%SquirrelGunSavedSaveGames, then test a new game or a different save.
- New game works but one old save crashes: the save may be damaged or triggering a game bug.
- Every save crashes: configuration, drivers, installation, or hardware is more likely.
- The crash happens at the same location or after the same action: document that reproducible trigger for the developer.
Do not delete saves as a first-line fix. If the problem remains, collect the exact crash message, when the crash occurs, GPU and driver version, Windows version, CPU, RAM, verification result, and any recent changes such as mods, overlays, driver updates, overclocking, or undervolting.
If none of the fixes worked
Run one final clean test with no mods or ReShade, default configuration, verified files, disabled overlays, and stock CPU/GPU settings. On a laptop with integrated and discrete graphics, confirm through Settings → System → Display → Graphics or the GPU vendor’s control panel that the game is using the intended high-performance GPU.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Reinstalling should come late in the process. Back up your saves first, and remember that reinstalling the Steam files may not remove broken user configuration under %LOCALAPPDATA%SquirrelGunSaved. If you reinstall, reset or rename the local configuration as well rather than assuming the reinstall cleared it.
For a crash that occurs after the game has launched, Steam generally directs players to the third-party game developer or publisher rather than Steam Support. Use Steam’s third-party game support route and include your reproducible steps and system details.
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