Black screen and windows freeze over ESO exit

Bragtag · August 2017

Hello,

When i quit eso strange things happen.
- Eso have stop working ( yeah i know i just tried to quit the game)
- Black screen but i still can move my mouse. ( damn... i wanted to quit but i'm still stuck in that game)
- I need to change user on my profile to make it close completely.

I'm playing eso with the steam luncher.

Can i have some help please ?

olsborg · August 2017

About 33% of the time when I quit ESO I also go to a blackscreen and I have to restart the computer. Dunno why it happens, but its annoying.

ZOS_Bill · August 2017

Here are a few things you can try that may help with the crashes and black screen you are experiencing.

Check graphics card drivers and settings

Download and install latest drivers for your graphics card:

NVIDIA
AMD

Repair the game client

To repair the game client, open the ESO Launcher, click Game Options, and then select Repair.

Remove any mods or add-ons

Turn off or remove all mods or add-ons you have installed.

Verify game cache in Steam

Load Steam;
From the Library section, right-click on the game and select Properties from the menu;
Select the Local files tab and click the Verify integrity of game cache... button;
Steam will verify the game's files. This process may take several minutes;
Once the process is complete, close the window and launch the game again.

Bragtag · August 2017

Thanks for your answer but none of these solution worked...

The game still crash when I quit.

ZOS_Bill · August 2017

@Bragtag We are sorry that none of the troubleshooting suggested has helped with the black screen. Please check your inbox as we've sent you a PM regarding this.

freespirit · August 2017

FYI @ZOS_BillE I sometimes get this too, the only cure is a reboot of my PC......

This is on a brand spanking new PC, with everything newly installed and no addons, it only started happening after Morrowind released.

Capsaica · August 2017

I frequently get a black screen when trying to quit the game, and it has been doing this for a very long time. I'm not even sure how long. A year? Maybe longer...

Ending the process from the task manager works for me when this happens. I actually play ESO with the task manager open to deal with this and to deal with the 4th Alliance War faction, the Load Screens.

The black screen "freeze" happens almost every time I actually try to quit from the game menu by logging out, and then choosing "back" from the character select screen, and then "exit" from the login screen.

It happens probably 50% of the time that I type "/quit" in the chat window to quit the game. More frequently if I am not in a town and choose to quit immediately instead of waiting 10 seconds.

It happens more rarely when I right click on the ESO icon in my task bar and choose "close window."

It does not happen (that I have noticed or remember) when I end the ESO process from the task manager.

This is just FYI since I have found a workaround (task manager) that works for me, and haven't really put much more thought into it beyond that. Just figured I'd add my 2 cents in case the information would be helpful to others.

patplays · October 2017

This happens to me most if I hit ESC then hit Quit. If I hit ESC then log out then Back from the Character screen then Quit from the login screen the black screen only lasts a short time. If I hit ESc then Quit it doesn't seem to matter if there is the 10 second count down or it quits right then. Not every time but sometimes the game goes to black screen still showing the cursor then the cursor will fade out and the screen is stuck on black and the game is not responding. I then have to restart the computer. This is the only way. The black screen will stay forever if I don't do a restart.

Irfind · October 2017

I have the same problem as patplays and Bragtag i hoped todays patch will fix it but no nothing. My game also freezing from time to time, sound is playing normal(cant shut the game down but Windows is working normally), only PC newstart helps.

Zaldan · October 2017

I'd assumed this was something ZO$ couldn't be bothered fixing, you know like all the other bugs

Psycrow · February 2025

I have this problem today !!!!

SilverBride · February 2025

Last week I had 2 days where after playing around 2 hours I would get freezes, and the screen would go black for a few seconds and it would say "no signal". It kept doing this but rebooting my PC would fix it.

I made sure all cables were tight then opened the side of my PC and used canned air to clear any dust that was on the fans and my graphics card, which wasn't a lot but it seems to have fixed the problem.

I've played a lot the past few days and it hasn't done it since.