How to Fix PES 2021 Crashes and Errors on PC — All Solutions (2025)

By MrRealMod June 23, 2026 PES 2021 | Fixes | Crashes | PC

Nothing is more frustrating than PES 2021 crashing right before a big match or throwing an error on startup after you just spent an hour installing mods. The good news is that almost every PES 2021 crash and error has a known fix. In this guide I have collected every solution that works in 2025 — covering crashes on startup, mid-game freezes, black screens, Sider errors, and more. Work through this list from top to bottom and your game will be running smoothly again.

PES 2021 Fix Crash Errors PC Troubleshoot 2025

Before You Try Anything — Do This First

Before jumping into specific fixes, run through this quick checklist. These three things solve about 60% of all PES 2021 problems without needing to do anything complicated.

1

Restart your PC completely. Not sleep mode — a full shutdown and restart. Many crash issues are caused by leftover processes from a previous game session still sitting in memory.

2

Run PES 2021 as Administrator. Right-click pes2021.exe and choose Run as Administrator. Many permission errors disappear with this single step.

3

Update your graphics drivers. Outdated GPU drivers are the number one cause of game crashes in 2025. Visit the NVIDIA or AMD website, download the latest driver for your card, and install it.

If the game still crashes after doing all three of these, move on to the specific fixes below based on when your crash happens.

Fix 1 — PES 2021 Crashes on Startup (Won't Launch)

Error: Game closes immediately after launch

Solution A: Install Visual C++ Redistributables

This is the most common cause of PES 2021 not launching at all. The game requires specific Microsoft Visual C++ libraries to run. If these are missing or corrupted, the game closes silently without any error message.

Go to the Microsoft website and download and install both of these:

• Visual C++ Redistributable 2015–2022 (x64)
• Visual C++ Redistributable 2015–2022 (x86)

After installing, restart your PC and try launching PES 2021 again. This single fix solves the problem for the majority of players who cannot get the game to open.

Solution B: Verify game files (Steam only)

If you installed PES 2021 through Steam, corrupted installation files can cause startup crashes. To check and repair them:

1. Open Steam and go to your Library
2. Right-click PES 2021 and choose Properties
3. Click Local Files, then Verify integrity of game files
4. Wait for Steam to check and replace any missing or corrupted files
5. Try launching the game again

Solution C: Disable antivirus temporarily

Some antivirus programs — especially Windows Defender — incorrectly flag PES 2021 mod files as threats and quarantine them. This can prevent the game from launching. Temporarily disable your antivirus, try launching the game, and if it works, add the PES 2021 folder to your antivirus exclusion list so it is never scanned again.

Fix 2 — PES 2021 Crashes Mid-Game or During a Match

Error: Game freezes or closes during gameplay

Solution A: Lower your graphics settings

Mid-game crashes are very often caused by your PC running out of VRAM — especially if you have facepacks or HD texture mods installed. These mods increase the amount of graphics memory the game uses significantly.

Go to PES 2021 display settings and try reducing:

• Rendering resolution from High to Medium
• Shadow quality from High to Low
• Anti-aliasing — turn this off completely
• Crowd detail — reduce to Low

If you have a GPU with 4 GB VRAM or less and you have installed large facepacks, these settings changes are essential for stability.

Solution B: Remove recently added mods one by one

If PES 2021 only started crashing after you installed new mods, a corrupted or incompatible mod file is almost certainly the cause. Go to your Sider content folder and remove the most recently added mod folder. Test the game. If it is stable, that mod was the problem — either the file was corrupted during download or it is incompatible with your version of Smoke Patch or Sider.

Tip: Always download mods from trusted sources. Corrupted mod files from unreliable sites are a very common cause of mid-game crashes that are hard to trace.

Solution C: Check your PC temperature

If PES 2021 crashes after you have been playing for 30–60 minutes but works fine at first, overheating is the likely cause. Download a free tool like HWMonitor or MSI Afterburner to check your CPU and GPU temperatures while playing. If your GPU is hitting above 90 degrees Celsius, clean the dust from your PC fans and consider reapplying thermal paste on your CPU.

Fix 3 — Black Screen After Launching PES 2021

Error: Screen goes black, game does not load

Solution: Switch to windowed mode

A black screen on launch is usually a resolution or display mode conflict. The fix is to force PES 2021 into windowed mode by editing its configuration file.

Navigate to your PES 2021 folder and open the file:

Settings\PES2021_SETTINGS.ini

Find the line that reads DISPLAY_MODE and change its value to 1 (which means windowed mode). Save the file and launch the game. Once you are inside, go to Display Settings and switch back to fullscreen from within the game — this usually resolves the conflict permanently.

Fix 4 — Sider Causing PES 2021 to Crash

Error: Game only crashes when Sider is running

Solution A: Make sure Sider version matches your game

Different builds of PES 2021 require specific versions of Sider. If you updated PES 2021 recently (or are using a different build from the one Sider was configured for), the mismatch causes crashes. Check the Sider GitHub page for the compatible version list and download the correct one for your game build.

Solution B: Empty the Sider content folder

To confirm Sider itself is not the problem, temporarily move all your mod files out of the content folder so it is completely empty, then run Sider and launch the game. If it runs without crashing, one of your mod files is corrupted. Add them back one at a time to identify the problem file.

Solution C: Run Sider as Administrator

Right-click sider.exe, go to Properties, click the Compatibility tab, and check the box that says Run this program as an administrator. Click Apply. This ensures Sider always runs with the correct permissions and prevents hook-related crashes.

Fix 5 — PES 2021 Stuck on Loading Screen

Error: Loading screen freezes and never completes

Solution: Delete the cache folder

PES 2021 builds a cache of game data over time. When this cache becomes corrupted — often after installing a new option file or patch — the game gets stuck on the loading screen indefinitely.

Close the game completely. Navigate to:

Documents\KONAMI\eFootball PES 2021\[your ID folder]\

Delete the folder named cache or temp if it exists. Do not delete the save folder. Relaunch PES 2021 — it will rebuild the cache automatically and the loading screen issue should be resolved.

Fix 6 — Option File Disappears After Restarting the Game

Error: Squads and kits reset every time game is closed

Solution: Check the EDIT file location

This is one of the most common mistakes beginners make. If your option file keeps disappearing after you close PES 2021, it means you placed the EDIT00000000 file in the wrong folder. PES 2021 creates a numbered folder inside the save directory that is unique to your Steam or game account. You must place the option file inside that specific numbered folder, not in the root save folder.

The correct path is:

Documents\KONAMI\eFootball PES 2021\[your unique number]\save\

If you see multiple numbered folders, the correct one is usually the one with the largest number or the most recently modified date.

Quick Fix Summary

Here is a fast reference of all the fixes covered in this guide:

• Game won't launch — Install Visual C++ Redistributables, verify Steam files, disable antivirus
• Crashes mid-game — Lower graphics settings, remove recent mods, check PC temperature
• Black screen on launch — Force windowed mode via settings file
• Sider crashes game — Match Sider version to game build, empty content folder, run as admin
• Stuck on loading screen — Delete cache folder
• Option file disappears — Place EDIT file in the correct numbered save folder

Still stuck? If none of these fixes work for your specific problem, message us on Telegram at t.me/MrRealMod with a description of your error and your PC specs. We will help you find the right solution.

Need a fresh working patch or option file? Download the latest tested versions from RealMod and get back to playing.

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