WoW fix takes forever to run on Windows 10

World of Warcraft, also known as Wow, is loved by millions of gamers. It is a multiplayer role playing game published by Blizzard Entertainment. This game can be played on both Windows and Mac operating systems. Like all games, World of Warcraft is not without bugs and problems. Few Windows users report that WoW takes forever to launch. If you are also facing the same problem, this guide will help you solve it. So keep reading!

How to fix WoW that takes forever to run on Windows 10

Here are some common reasons why WoW won't run on Windows 10 PC.

  • Game requirements do not match your PC
  • Internet connection is not stable
  • Some other background task is interfering with the game
  • Several corrupted program files are preventing the game from launching.
  • Presence of corrupted files on PC
  • There is not enough space on your PC and hence RAM memory is causing you problems
  • Outdated operating system and drivers
  • Antivirus and firewall are blocking the game
  • Misconfigured game files on PC

In this section, we've compiled a list of troubleshooting methods to help you resolve WoW's launch issue.

Method 1: Basic Troubleshooting Methods

1A: Ensuring basic system requirements

If you're experiencing the problem that World of Warcraft won't launch at startup, you'll need to check the game's basic requirements and make sure your PC meets them.

  • OS: Windows 7 64-bit.
  • Processor: Intel Core i5-760, AMD FX-8100.
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 2GB, AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB, or Intel HD Graphics 530 (45W TDP with 8GB RAM).
  • RAM: 4 GB RAM (8 GB for integrated graphics such as the Intel HD Graphics series).
  • Storage: 70 GB of free space on a 7200 rpm hard drive.

1B. Make sure your network connection is correct

An unstable internet connection will cause WoW to take forever to launch, and if there are any obstructions between your router and your computer, they can interfere with your wireless signal and cause intermittent connection problems. You can run Speedtest to find out the optimal network speed level required for a proper connection.

Make sure your device meets the criteria below.

  • Find your network's signal strength and if it's very low, remove any obstacles in the way.
  • Avoid having too many devices connected to the same network.
  • Always buy a modem/router that is verified by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and they do not conflict.
  • Do not use old, broken or damaged cables. Replace cables if necessary.
  • Make sure the wires from the modem to the router and from the modem to the wall are stable and free from interference.

If there are any internet connection issues, check out our Fix Network Connection Issues in Windows 10 guide to fix them.

1C. Run Blizzard Battle.net as an administrator.

This is one of the most common reasons why WoW won't run on your Windows 10 PC. Some permissions and features can only be accessed if you have granted administrator rights to World of Warcraft. In this case, you can fix the error in question by following the instructions below.

1. Right-click the World of Warcraft shortcut on your desktop, or navigate to the installation directory and right-click it.

2. Now select the Properties option.

3. Then go to the "Compatibility" tab and check "Run this program as an administrator".

4. Finally, click "Apply" and "OK" to save the changes. Check to see if you've fixed the issue launching World of Warcraft.

1D. Close background processes

Several users have confirmed that WoW takes forever to launch, and this can be fixed by closing all background tasks running on your PC. To complete a task, follow our guide How to complete a task in Windows 10 and proceed according to the instructions.

After you have closed all background processes, check if you were able to solve the problem with starting WoW.

Method 2: Rename the Cache, Interface and WTF folders

There are several game files located in folders such as Cache, Interface and WTF, which are responsible for storing basic information about the game, progress and settings. If they are corrupted, you will have trouble starting WoW. So, you are advised to rename the folders and check if that works.

1. Close all processes running in the background as mentioned in Method 1D and press Windows + E keys at the same time to open File Explorer.

2. Now navigate to the specified path as shown in the picture.

C:Program Files (x86)World of Warcraft

3. Now find the following folders and right click on them. Then select "Rename" as shown.

4. Now rename the folders to something like Cacheold, Interfaceold, WTFold respectively.

5. Once you have renamed these folders, restart the game and check if the problem with running WOW on your Windows 10 PC is fixed.

Method 3: Delete WOW Cache Folder

Some users are experiencing that WoW takes forever to launch during startup, and this problem can be fixed by completely deleting the cache folder from your computer. All temporary files of the game will be deleted and the next time you start the game in succession, it will start without errors. If renaming folders doesn't work for you, the instructions below will help you do it.

1. Repeat steps 1-2 as described above.

2. Then right-click on the Cache folder and select the Delete option as shown in the picture.

Then check if you have fixed the problem with starting World of Warcraft.

Method 4: Change the read-only attribute

World of Warcraft will run without any errors if you provide the correct user attribute settings in UAC (User Account Control). If the game and its components have read-only components, you will not be able to modify or update World of Warcraft. This causes WoW to take forever to run on your PC. In this case, change the read-only attribute for the game as mentioned below.

1. Launch File Explorer by pressing the Windows + E keys at the same time and navigate to the next path.

C:Program Files (x86)World of Warcraft

2. Now, right-click on the Wow.exe installation file and select the Properties option.

3. Now go to the General tab and uncheck the Read Only checkbox next to the Attributes section as shown in the image.

4. Then click "Apply" and "OK" to save the changes. Now check if the problem with starting World of Warcraft is resolved.

Method 5: Repair System Files

If you have missing or corrupted files on your Windows 10 PC, you will experience WoW taking forever to launch. However, you can repair these corrupted files using the built-in utilities, namely System File Checker and Deployment Image Servicing and Management. Read our guide to restoring system files in Windows 10 and follow the steps to repair any corrupted files.

Once the scan is complete, one of the following messages will appear:

  • Windows Resource Protection found no integrity violations.
  • Windows Resource Protection was unable to perform the requested operation.
  • Windows Resource Protection found corrupted files and successfully repaired them.
  • Windows Resource Protection found corrupted files but was unable to fix some of them.

Wait for the message that verification is 100% complete and see if your computer is able to fix problems running WoW.

Method 6: Run Disk Cleanup

Few users have suggested that clearing disk space on their PC helped them deal with WoW not launching. This will allow your computer to install new files when needed, which will help you resolve the issue. If you don't have enough free space on your PC, which is contributing to the problem in question, follow our 10 Ways to Free Up Hard Drive Space in Windows guide to help you clean up all the junk files on your PC.

Method 7: Run the Blizzard Repair Tool

If you're still unable to fix WoW taking forever to launch, chances are that you have corrupted game files on your computer. Corrupted files can fill up your PC due to overprotection of an antivirus package or due to an update failure. Thankfully, you can automatically resolve all of these corrupted game files using Blizzard's built-in tool. Here are some instructions for running the Battle.net Repair Tool.

1. As before, navigate to the directory with the Wow.exe installation file and select the "Run as administrator" option, as shown in the figure.

2. If the User Account Control window appears, click Yes to continue.

3. Now go to the "Games" tab in the upper corner of the window and select World of Warcraft from the list.

4. Then click "Options" and then "Scan and Repair" from the drop-down list.

5. At the next prompt, click "Start Scan" and wait for the process to complete.

6. Finally, restart the game and check if you can fix the World of Warcraft launch issue.

Method 8: Update Windows

You can also fix errors on your computer and in the game by updating your operating system. Always check if you have updated your Windows operating system and if there are any updates pending, use our guide How to download and install the latest Windows 10 update.

After updating your Windows operating system, check if you can fix the WoW launch issue.

Method 9: Update your graphics drivers

World of Warcraft is a graphics intensive game, so your graphics driver is essential to your gaming experience. If the drivers are outdated or faulty, be sure to update them. You can search for the latest driver releases on its official websites or manually update them. Follow our 4 Ways to Update Graphics Drivers in Windows 10 guide to update your driver and check if you've fixed WoW's running problem that's taking forever.

Method 10: Roll Back GPU Drivers

Sometimes the current version of the GPU drivers can cause startup conflicts, in which case you need to restore the previous versions of the installed drivers. This process is called driver rollback, and you can easily roll back your computer's drivers to their previous state by following our How to Roll Back Drivers in Windows 10 guide. This will help you fix the issue that is taking forever to launch WoW.

Method 11: Reinstall your graphics drivers

If you're still experiencing World of Warcraft not launching after updating your graphics drivers, please reinstall your device drivers to fix the incompatibility issues. There are several ways to reinstall drivers on your computer. However, you can easily reinstall your graphics drivers by following the instructions in our How to Uninstall and Reinstall Drivers in Windows 10 guide.

After reinstalling your GPU drivers, check if you can access World of Warcraft without errors.

Method 12: Change Windows Defender Firewall settings

You will also experience WoW not launching due to an overly reactive or overprotective antivirus package on your Windows 10 PC. This prevents the connection between the game launcher and the server. So, to fix this problem, you can either whitelist World of Warcraft in your firewall settings or disable the problem temporarily.

Option I: World of Warcraft Whitelist

To allow World of Warcraft in Windows Defender Firewall, follow our guide Allow or block apps through Windows Firewall and follow the steps as instructed.

Option II: Disable Windows Defender Firewall (Not recommended)

If you don't know how to disable Windows Defender Firewall, our guide to disable Windows 10 Firewall will help you with that.

Option III: Create a New Rule in the Firewall

1. Press the Windows key and type Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security, then click Open.

2. Now in the left pane, click Inbound Rules as shown in the figure.

3. Then, in the right pane, click New Rule… as shown.

4. Now make sure you have selected the "Program" option under "What type of rule do you want to create?". menu and click "Next>" as shown in the figure.

5. Then click the "Browse..." button corresponding to the Path to this program: as shown.

6. Then go to C:Program Files (x86)World of Warcraft and double click on the installation file. Then click on the Open button.

7. Then click Next > in the New Inbound Rule Wizard window as shown in the figure.

8. Now select the radio button next to Allow the connection and click Next > as shown.

9. Make sure the Domain, Private, Public fields are selected and click Next > as shown.

10. Finally, add a name to the new rule and click Finish.

Finally, check if you have fixed the problem with starting World of Warcraft or not.

Method 13: Temporarily disable third-party antivirus (if applicable)

Some incompatible antivirus programs installed on your computer can cause WoW to take forever to launch. To avoid conflicts, you should verify the security settings of your Windows 10 computer and check if they are stable or not. To find out if the antivirus package is causing the startup problem, disable it once and try connecting to the network. Read our guide on how to temporarily disable your antivirus in Windows 10 and follow the instructions to temporarily disable your antivirus program on your PC.

If you have a problem running World of Warcraft after disabling the antivirus program on your computer, it is recommended that you completely uninstall the program from your PC. Read our guide on Force Removal of Programs That Won't Remove in Windows 10 to remove the antivirus program on your computer.

Method 14: Reinstall World of Warcraft

Any misconfigured files in World of Warcraft will result in opening problems, even if you've followed all the methods above and updated all pending actions. So in this case, you have no other choice but to reinstall the game. Here's how you do it.

1. Press the Windows key and type apps and features, then click Open.

2. Now find World of Warcraft in the list and click on it. Then select the "Delete" option.

3. When prompted, click Remove again.

4. When the game is completely removed from your computer, press and hold the Windows + E keys at the same time to open File Explorer.

5. Now go to the following paths and delete the folders related to WOW.

C:WindowsTempC:Program FilesgametitleC:Program Files (x86)gametitleC:Program FilesCommon FilesBlizzard EntertainmentC:UsersPublicGamesgametitleC:UsersPublicPublic DocumentsBlizzard Entertainmentgametitle

Note. Make sure you find something related to World of Warcraft and not the name of the game in the above places.

6. Then empty all the data in the trash and permanently delete the files/folders you deleted now.

6. Then visit the official Blizzard website to download World of Warcraft for Windows PC.

7. Then click "Download for Windows" and wait until the game is installed on your computer.

8. Navigate to My Downloads in File Explorer and double click on the setup file to launch the application.

9. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the game on your Windows 10 PC.

Finally, restart the game and now you won't have any problems launching WoW.

Method 15: Perform a System Restore

If you have recently upgraded your Windows 10 operating system and later encountered a WoW launch issue that takes forever, the latest Windows update components can interfere with any software on your computer and may cause the issue in question. So, in this case, you should restore your computer to a previous version when it was working fine. To do this, follow our guide "How to use System Restore in Windows 10" and follow the instructions as shown.

After restoring your Windows 10 PC, check if you can connect to the game without problems. If none of the methods helped you solve the problem with starting World of Warcraft, you need to perform a clean installation of the Windows operating system. To clean boot your PC, follow the steps in our guide How to clean install Windows 10.

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We hope this guide was helpful and you were able to resolve the issue that is causing WoW to take forever to run on your Windows 10 PC. Let us know which method worked best for you. Also, if you have any questions/suggestions regarding this article, feel free to post them in the comments section.

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