If you crash when selecting a planet in Helldivers 2, don’t worry. There are many solutions you can try, and we’ll go through all of them.
In short, your best options are the following (I will detail them all below):
- Restart Steam
- Run the game as Administrator
- Update GPU Drivers
- Verify Integrity of Game Files
- Disable Crossplay
- Set Matchmaking to Friends Only
- Set Data Collection to Off
- Delete user_settings.config
- Disable Steam Overlay
- Disable Steam Input
- Reset GameGuard
- Reinstall the Game
Let’s go through each solution in turn!
How to Fix Crashing When Selecting Planet in Helldivers 2
If you’re crashing when selecting a new planet, there are various solutions you can try. Let’s go through all of them.
Restart Steam
The simplest solution is to perform a full restart of Steam. Close the game and Steam, and also make sure to close any Steam-related apps through Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc).
Relaunch the game, and if the issue persists, move on to the next step.
Also read: How to Play with Randoms in Helldivers 2
Run the Game as Administrator
Right-click on Helldivers 2 in your Steam library, hover over Manage, and select Browse Local Files.
From there, go into the bin folder, right-click helldivers2.exe, and select Run as Administrator.
Some systems have permission restrictions that silently interfere with how the game connects to matchmaking and the galactic map, and running as admin clears that up.
Update GPU Drivers
Another straightforward one. Launch your GPU software (GeForce Experience for Nvidia users, or AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition for AMD users) and make sure you’re on the latest available driver version.
Outdated drivers are one of the most common culprits behind game crashes in general, and Helldivers 2 is particularly sensitive to them.
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Verify Integrity of Game Files
A corrupted or incomplete game file, usually caused by a failed update or interrupted download, can cause the game to crash the moment it tries to load planet data.
To fix it it, right-click Helldivers 2 in your Steam library, select Properties, go to the Installed Files tab, and click Verify integrity of game files.
Change in-game Settings
Many users managed to solve the issue by changing the following settings:
- Crossplay: Disabled
- Matchmaking: Friends only
- Data Collection: Off
With these three, you should be able to play normally. If it still doesn’t work, there’s one more thing to try.
Delete user_settings.config
This fix is less well-known but it’s been reported to solve the planet crash, especially for players who notice their in-game username showing as [Unknown] or “anonymous” on their ship.
To fix it, go to your game’s app data folder, usually C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Roaming\Arrowhead\Helldivers2 and delete the file named user_settings.config.
When you relaunch the game, it will walk you through setup again, and you should be able to select planets normally. Your progress is saved server-side, so you won’t lose anything.
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Disable Steam Overlay
To disable Steam Overlay, open the Steam client, select Steam from the top left corner, then Settings, and head to the ‘In-Game’ tab.
The first option will be ‘Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game’. Make sure to keep this disabled and try launching the game again.
Disable Steam Input
This is separate from the Steam Overlay and worth trying on its own. Right-click Helldivers 2 in your Steam library, go to Properties, and click the Controller tab.
From the dropdown, select Disable Steam Input.
Reset GameGuard
Helldivers 2 uses GameGuard as its anti-cheat software and a corrupted or conflicting GameGuard installation can cause crashes, including the planet crash specifically.
To reset it, open File Explorer and go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\helldivers2\bin.
Find the GameGuard folder and delete it entirely. Then right-click helldivers2.exe in that same bin folder and run it as Administrator.
The game will re-download a fresh copy of GameGuard on launch. Once it’s done, exit the game, then add the GameGuard folder to your antivirus whitelist to prevent it from being flagged again.
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Reinstall the Game
If nothing works, reinstalling the game completely is the only option left. Make sure to delete it and also the Arrowhead data folder at C:\Users[YourUsername]\AppData\Roaming\Arrowhead\Helldivers2.
Skipping that second step is a common mistake, and it means remnant config files stick around and can cause the exact same crash to come right back after reinstalling.
Wrapping up
There are more potential fixes here than most guides give you, and I’d work through them in the order they’re listed since the earlier ones are quicker and tend to resolve things for most people.
The in-game settings changes, verifying game files, and the user_settings.config delete are the three I’d prioritize if I had to pick.
Let us know in the comments which fix worked for you. That kind of feedback genuinely helps other players narrow it down faster.
More importantly, let us know in the comments below which one worked so that other users can benefit from your feedback.