BlueStacks Engine Won't Start: 6 Ways to Fix It

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We’ve always wanted to be able to play our favorite games on the go, taking them from the PC or console to the phone as we have with great games like Minecraft. Following present mobile gaming statistics, it’s easy to see that gaming has also come to the point of us wanting to bring great mobile games to our PCs. BlueStacks, the fastest mobile gaming platform out there, does exactly this with Android games… but you probably already knew that if you’re here.

BlueStacks 4 has a problem where it’s engine won’t open- you get stuck on the Starting Engine screen or get an error, making you unable to use the platform. There are many possible ways to fix this problem that all have relatively easy solutions. Here, we’ll go over all of the ways to fix BlueStacks’ stuck engine.

BlueStacks System Requirements

Before jumping into the fixes, making sure that you have the right system requirements is the most important step in this process. Not having the proper requirements may be your problem.

You should check just in case, even if you’re sure you have the right requirements. Below are the minimum and recommended system requirements for the base and best ways to run BlueStacks 4. If you want the best gaming experience, use the recommended requirements.

Minimum Requirements:

Microsoft Windows 7 OS and up
Intel or AMD Processor
Your PC should have at least 2GB of Random Acess Memory (RAM) (Note: Having 2GB or more disk space isn’t a substitute for RAM.)
5GB free disc space on your HDD
You must be an Administrator on your PC
An up to date graphics driver from Microsoft or the chipset vendor (Here’s how to update your graphics drivers)

Recommended Requirements:

Microsoft Windows 10
Intel or AMD Multi-Core Processor with a Single Thread PassMark score > 1000 and virtualization extensions enabled in BIOS.
Intel/Nvidia/ATI graphics with an Onboard or Discrete controller with PassMark score ≥ 750
8GB or higher of RAM (Depending on how much RAM you need for gaming)
SSD or Fusion/Hybrid HDD Drives
Broadband internet connection to access games, accounts, and other online content
An up to date graphics driver from Microsoft or the chipset vendor
It’s recommended to not install BlueStacks App Player if you have a virtual machine (Microsoft Virtual PC, VMWare Workstation, or Oracle Virtualbox) installed on the same PC

If this isn’t your problem, here are six other methods to fix your problem. Not all may apply to you, and just one may be the proper fix. If one of these doesn’t work, it’s very advised to try a different approach.

#1 Revert to a Previous Version of Windows

Your solution may be very simple if you started experiencing the problem after a recent Windows update. This usually means that the problem is the latest Windows OS. Your only solution here is reverting to the previous build. There’s only a 10-day time limit to do this after a Windows update, though, so this option won’t be available after 10 days and you may have already lost out on fixing this.

Here are the steps to revert:

Hold the Windows Key and press I
Click “Update & Security”
Click “Recovery” from the left panel

revert update windows 10

Locate the “Go back to an earlier build” option and click “Get Started.” If the “Get Started” option is greyed out then, sadly, you can’t revert.
After clicking the “Get Started” option, just follow the on-screen directions and you will be okay

Most likely, this may not have been your problem, but it’s a very easy fix if the problem arose after you updated your OS.

#2 Switch Your Graphics Mode to DirectX

One of the simplest and most common problems is your Graphics Mode being on the wrong setting. BlueStacks automatically has your Graphics Mode selected as OpenGL. Switching this to DirectX and rebooting the system will usually solve the problem. Here are the steps:

Open BlueStacks and ignore the Engine won’t start error message
Click the options button in the top right corner. Depending what you’re running, this may look like a cogwheel or an arrow pointing down. A drop-down menu will appear.
Select “Settings” from the drop-down menu

bluestacks graphics mode

In the Settings window, click “Engine” from the vertical left pane of options
Under “Choose graphics mode”, select “DirectX”
Following this, a “Checking DirectX compatibility” message will appear briefly, followed by a message saying “Restart BlueStacks to boot in DirectX”.
Click “Restart Now”

You should also check to see if the RAM allocation is. Do this by clicking on “Engine” and going to “CPU and RAM allocation.” Move the slider to up to the Recommended Memory (which will be to the top right over the slider) if it isn’t already defaulted there.

If your problem isn’t fixed after this, you may want to toy around with the RAM some more. Go through all of the steps again, except don’t click “Restart Now.” After you’ve selected DirectX, change the Core number from the drop-down menu and try different RAM capacity settings. Once you’ve done this, click Restart Now. It’s recommended to just raise the Core number one at a time until the problem is fixed.

#3 Disable Your Antivirus Software Temporarily

BlueStacks is very vocal about their relationship with antivirus software. They recognize that you need it for safety, but also that it may be what is causing your startup issues. Disabling your antivirus software temporarily may fix the problem. BlueStacks has the most altercations with Avast, so we’ll discuss how to temporarily disable your antivirus here using Avast.

If you’re not using Avast, make sure to refer to your security application’s program for the proper steps.

REMINDER: You’re disabling it for a short time to check if BlueStacks works in that period. Do not disable it permanently.

Start by right-clicking on the Avast icon in the Windows system tray
Move your mouse to “Avast Shields control” in the drop-down menu
An expanded menu will appear. Select either the “Disable for 10 minutes” or “Disable for 1 hour” option. (Again, DO NOT choose “Disable permanently.” This will leave your PC vulnerable to threats and attacks. The other options give you enough time to see if Avast is what’s causing BlueStacks’ error)
A “Do you want to continue?” popup will appear. Select “Yes.”
Launch BlueStacks.

If disabling it temporarily works, then your issue is your antivirus software and switching to a different one will most likely prevent these problems in the future.

#4 Enable Virtualization

Another common problem is your Virtualization Technology not being enabled. Making sure Virtualization is enabled and turning it on from BIOS may solve the error. Virtualization helps BlueStacks run smoother and faster while virtualizing, especially for Intel, so it’s easy to see how enabling this can help.

Before you enable it, though, you need to check whether your system supports Virtualization or not. If it doesn’t skip this method, it won’t help you. Here are the steps to check if your system supports it – check Intel if you have Intel, AMD if you have AMD.

For Intel Users

Download the Intel Processor Identification Utility (IPIU) and select the language-specific MSI
Once download, run the IPIU and install it
Once it’s installed, run the IPIU and select the CPU Technologies tab
Search through the drop-down menu for the Intel Virtualization Technology option. If there is a “Yes” in front of it then you have this technology and you can go on to enable it.

If your processor doesn’t support this technology, then you can skip this method because it will not help you.

For AMD Users

Download the AMD Detection Utility
Once downloaded, run the Utility. It will tell you if you have Virtualization Technology or not with a message similar to: “The system is compatible with Hyper-V.”

If your processor is compatible, then continue to enable it. If it is not compatible, skip this method and try another.

Enabling Virtualization Technology

Here are the steps to enable your Virtualization Technology. We have a couple of ways to do this – one using Avast and one with BIOS (the more suggested of the two).

Before going into the BIOS method, know that you’re going to need to either press Esc, F8, F12, or F10 when restarting your PC when your manufacturer’s logo appears. You can check for the correct button online, just try each button one by one, or look at the corners when the logo appears for a message like “Press F8 to enter BIOS” where F8 can be any of the buttons.

BIOS Method:

This method is a tad bit more complicated than the rest, so take care:

Restart your PC
Press either Esc, F8, F12, or F10 when your manufacturer’s logo appears.
The BIOS menu should open. If it doesn’t then you might be seeing a list of options. There should be an option BIOS menu in this list. Use your arrow keys to navigate and press Enter to select the option.

bios virtualization enable

You should now be in the menu. Look for an option named Virtualization Technology, Intel Virtualization Technology, Intel VT for Direct I/O, or another variation of this. Using your arrow keys and Enter to select, enable these options, save the settings and exit the BIOS.

Everything should be great after your next start-up.

Avast Method:

Before we being, you’re going to want to disable Avast shortly. Remember to turn it back on when you’ve finished using BlueStacks to ensure your PC is protected.

Right-click on the Avast icon in the Windows system tray
Click “Open Avast user interface” in the drop-down menu
An Avast window will open. Click on the “Menu” button in the top right, then click on “Settings” from the new drop-down menu.
Select “Troubleshooting” from the list of options on the left side of the Settings window
Find and unselect “Enable hardware-assisted virtualization”
Restart the PC when prompted
Launch BlueStacks.

Regardless of the method, BlueStacks should run a lot smoother than previously after you do this. If interested, BlueStacks goes a little more in-depth on how to enable virtualization, giving specifics for Dell, Asus, and Acer computers.

#5 The BlueStacks Method

BlueStacks Support has its own method of fixing this problem that involves concepts from the methods above but is surely not the easiest. Before tackling this, you should temporarily disable your antivirus and internet security, then re-enable it later to stay safe while on the Web.

Here’s the BlueStacks Method:

Restart your system
Using the method above, check if Virtualization Technology is enabled. If it isn’t enabled, continue to follow the above method. It’s recommended to follow what we refer to as the BIOS method.
Make sure that your PC has the minimum system requirements for BlueStacks 4
Free up your PC’s RAM by closing/quitting/force-quitting any programs you don’t need (depending on if they’re close or not. Only force-quit if you have to.) Follow this by disabling any unnecessary start-up programs. This can be done by:
1. Pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc or right-click the taskbar and then click “Task Manager.”
2. Click the Startup tab at the top of the window
3. Click the name of the program you don’t want starting up when you turn on your PC
4. Click Disable in the bottom-right corner of the window
Increase your allotted memory RAM to BlueStacks. Do this by clicking on “Engine” and going to “CPU and RAM allocation.”

Move the slider to at least up to the Recommended Memory (which will be to the top right over the slider) if it isn’t already defaulted there.
Disable your PC antivirus temporarily

#6 Uninstall and Reinstall BlueStacks

If everything fails, then this should fix the engine problem. The point of this is to get rid of any possible bugs that can be harming BlueStacks’ process. Here’s how to do it:

Close BlueStacks and right-click the BlueStacks icon in the system tray. Click “Quit.” If this doesn’t work, input Ctrl+Alt+Del, then “Task Manager,” go and select “BlueStacks” from the list and click on “End Task.”
Hold Windows key and press R
Type %temp% and press Enter
Press and hold Ctrl+A
Press the Delete key and input “Yes” to any additional popups. This will delete the contents of the temp folder.
Download the BlueStacks Uninstall from the BlueStacks website. Run this and wait for it to finish. This will get everything BlueStacks-related off of your PC and can take a few minutes.

Click “Yes” if it asks for any permission and “OK” when it’s finished.
Now, go to the BlueStacks website and download the latest version. We’ll go into Safe Mode after this
Hold the Windows key and press R
Type “msconfig” and press Enter. Select the “Boot” tab.
Select the “Safe Boot” option then the “Minimal” option
Click “OK”
Click Restart when prompted.
You’ll be in Safe Mode after the system is restarted
Go to where you downloaded BlueStacks and run the installerr
Proceed to install BlueStacks.
Once the installation is finished, you’ll need to turn off Safe Mode
Hold the Windows Key and press R
Type “msconfig” and press Enter
Select the “Boot” tab and uncheck the “Safe Boot”
Click “OK” and restart when prompted

After everything, check to make sure if BlueStacks is working properly or not. If this did not solve your problem, then just make sure your computer has the minimum requirements. If so, then you may just be at a loss.

Conclusion

Following one of these six methods, you should be able to fix your engine problem in one-way-or-another. It’s best to try switching your graphics mode to DirectX or enabling your virtualization first, and uninstalling and re-installing and reverting to a previous version of Windows last.