Are you facing Fallout 4 long loading times on Windows 10? Fear not, because we’ve got you covered. In this article from NewsPivot, we’ll outline several solutions to Fallout 4 long loading times. Let’s dive in.
Why Does Fallout 4 Take So Long to Load
Fallout 4 is an action role-playing game published by Bethesda Software. The game was released on November 10, 2015 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the continuation of Fallout 3 and becomes the fourth major game in the Fallout series.
Players can work hard on this land and build farms, markets, and even cities to survive. Additionally, they are able to build various defenses (such as turrets and traps) around their settlements to defend against random attacks.
This game is popular all over the world and many players have praised this game. However, some players have complained about long loading times in Fallout 4 while playing the game.
Why does Fallout 4 take so long to load? Listed below are some common reasons.
- Using the Vertical Sync feature
- Using the Cloud Sync feature
- Running the game in full-screen mode
- Faulty graphics card driver
- Outdated operating system
- Slow disk access speed
- Bug in the game
Now that you know some of the reasons that can cause Fallout 4 long loading times, here’s how to fix it.
How to Fix Fallout 4 Long Loading Times
What an annoying problem for gamers to encounter long loading times in Fallout 4, right? So, what should you do if you encounter the same problem? In the following content, you will learn about several specific solutions.
Solution 1: Disable Vertical Sync
Vertical Sync allows users to synchronize the frame rate of a running game with the refresh rate of the monitor. This will improve game stability and graphics. Many players benefit from this feature, but it can also cause issues with long loading times in Fallout 4.
To solve this issue, you should disable this feature.
Step 1: Launch Fallout 4 and click on Options from the main menu.
Step 2: Click on Video and then select Graphics.
Step 3: In Graphics, turn the option Vertical Sync off.
Step 4: Save the changed settings and close the window.
Now, you can restart Fallout 4 and see if the issue is resolved.
Solution 2: Change FPS Settings
Fallout 4 loading times are related to FPS (frames per second). However, this feature can also cause long loading times in Fallout 4. At this point, you can fix the problem by changing the FPS settings.
Step 1: Navigate to the Fallout folder.
Step 2: Then open the text Fallout4Prefs.ini and change iPresentInterval=1 to iPresentInterval=0 to uncap the frame rate.
Solution 3: Edit Fallout 4 Preferences
Another way to fix long load times in Fallout 4 is to change your Fallout 4 preferences. You can add buffer settings in your preferences file. Before proceeding, make sure to copy the preference file and store it in an accessible location in case something goes wrong.
Step 1: Right-click Fallout 4 and choose Properties. Then go to LOCAL FILES > BROWSE LOCAL FILES.
Step 2: Double-click Fallout4Prefs.ini file to open it.
Step 3: Add the following lines under the heading of General:
- iNumHWThreads=X (X is the number of your CPU cores)
- uExterior Cell Buffer=64
Then you can save and close the file. Relaunch Fallout 4 to see if the loading time has been sped up.
Solution 4: Disable Steam Cloud Sync
Steam Cloud is an option in the gaming platform that allows you to save your progress and data via the Steam Cloud in addition to saving settings locally. However, this feature seems to conflict with a number of different mods in Fallout 4, so you can try disabling it and see if the issue gets fixed.
Step 1: Under the LIBRARY category in Steam, right-click your Fallout 4 and select Properties.
Step 2: Choose the UPDATES tab. Then uncheck the option Enable Steam Cloud Synchronization for Fallout 4.

Solution 5: Move Fallout 4 to an SSD
As we all know, the read/write speed of an HDD is slower than an SSD. If you’re experiencing long loading times in Fallout 4, it could be because it’s not fast enough. So, you can try moving Fallout 4 to an SSD or download Steam on SSD and then reinstall Fallout 4. Here are the steps on how to move Fallout 4 to an SSD using Steam.
Step 1: Launch Steam and navigate to Fallout 4 properties.Click on the Local Files tab and then click on the Move install folder.
Step 2: Select the SSD from the drop-down and then proceed with the wizard.
Step 3: After the files have been moved, restart your computer and check if the long loading issue is resolved.
Solution 6: Launch in Windowed Borderless Mode
Many players use full-screen mode in Fallout 4 for a better gaming experience. However, this mode consumes more resources and may cause issues such as long loading times in Fallout 4.
In this case, you can try changing the settings and launching the game in windowed borderless mode. The steps are as follows.
Step 1: Exit Fallout 4.
Step 2: Launch Steam and click LIBRARY to view your game list.
Step 3: Right-click Fallout 4 in the list and then select Properties.
Step 4: In the pop-up window, switch to GENERAL tab. Then click SET LAUNCH OPTIONS.

Step 5: Set the launch options to –windowed-noborder. Press OK to save the change you have made.
Now, you can restart Fallout 4 and check if the Fallout 4 long loading times issue is resolved.
Solution 7: Update the Graphics Card Driver
You may also encounter long loading times in Fallout 4 due to corrupted or outdated graphics card drivers. So, you need to try to fix the problem by updating the Graphics driver via Device Manager.
Step 1: Right-click the Start button and choose Device Manager to open the utility.
Step 2: Double-click Display adapters to expand it. Right-click your graphics card and choose Update driver.
Step 3: Choose the Search automatically for drivers option. In this way, your Windows will search your computer for the latest driver software for your device. Then follow the on-screen instructions to finish the operation.

After successfully downloading and installing any available updates, restart your device.
Bottom Line
For gaming enthusiasts, Fallout 4 is universally loved for its characters, production, and soundtrack. However, there are also some problems in the Fallout 4 game, including the long loading times in Fallout 4 problem introduced in this article.
If you have encountered a similar problem, this article introduces 7 solutions. You can try one by one to solve this problem.