What should you do when League of Legends freezes in game for a few seconds? Well, the highly popular multiplayer online battle arena game is not spared from any technical issues. Here are some solutions you can try to fix this hang-up. 

Why League of Legends Freezes

You might wonder why your League of Legends freezes in game for a few seconds despite being in optimized condition. Well, even with how high-end your system is, it is unavoidable to experience technical mishaps sometimes. Usually, the cause of these freezes is the following:

  • Conflicting background applications or services
  • Hardware acceleration issues
  • Incorrect game settings
  • Insufficient system resources
  • Outdated graphics card drivers

But the good thing is that these issues are easily resolved by doing some checkups and quick resets. Most of the time, you won’t need to spend much for hardware upgrades to run the game smoothly.

Update Your Graphics Drivers

Graphic drivers are one of the possible reasons why your League of Legends freezes in game for a few seconds. In fact, it is one of the most common causes of the said game as players reported. So, here’s how you can update your drivers to work in optimal condition:

  1. Open your Start menu and search for “Device Manager”
  2. Expand your “Display adapters” section
  3. Right-click on your graphics card, then select “Update driver”
  4. Choose “Search automatically for drivers”
  5. If Windows says you already have the latest drivers, go click “Search for updated drivers on Windows Update”
  6. Go to Windows Update and click “Check for updates”. This ensures you have the latest software and drivers.

If you’re looking for the best performance, then you can visit the graphics card manufacturer’s website directly. From there, you may download their latest drivers which are more up-to-date compared to what Windows provides.

Optimize Your Graphics Settings

Second of the best solutions to do is to optimize your graphics settings. The steps may vary per your device system so it’ll be best to search instructions specifically. But for Windows 10 and 11 users, here’s how you can do so:

  1. Open your Settings and navigate to System > Display > Graphics
  2. Click “Change Default Graphics Settings” and make sure you’ve enabled “Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling” 
  3. Under your graphics settings, add League of Legends and the League client to your list of applications
  4. Set them to “High performance” mode
  5. If you don’t see League of Legends in the list, click “Browse” and locate the application files in C:\Riot Games\League of Legends

Disable Background Services and Applications

Another potential reason for League of Legends freezes in game for a few seconds is the background applications. These third-party services and apps may conflict with the game which causes the freezing. Do these to clear and disable any background services and applications:

  1. Press Windows + R to open your Run dialog
  2. Type “msconfig”, then press Enter
  3. Go to your Services tab
  4. Check “Hide all Microsoft services”
  5. Click “Disable all” to disable all non-Microsoft services
  6. Click Apply and OK

It’ll leave you with a “clean boot” environment and only essential Windows services remain running. You can gradually re-enable the services once the game runs without freezing to identify the main reason.

Modify Compatibility Settings

You can also adjust compatibility settings to prevent the League of Legends freezes in game for a few seconds. It may be that the game requires high system conditions which your device fails to provide. Here’s how you can fix it instead:

  1. Navigate to C:\Riot Games\League of Legends
  2. Right-click on “LeagueClient.exe” and select Properties
  3. Go to the Compatibility tab
  4. Check “Disable fullscreen optimizations” and “Run this program as administrator”
  5. Click Apply and OK
  6. Repeat these steps for “League of Legends.exe” in the “Game” folder

More Troubleshooting Steps

However, if the steps above won’t work, then you should try these troubleshooting available. It might help fix whatever the problem is in your system device or the game itself. Here’s what you may do: 

  • Run your Windows System File Checker by opening Command Prompt as administrator and typing “sfc /scannow”
  • Use the DISM tool with commands “dism /online /cleanup-image /CheckHealth” and “dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth”
  • Increase your virtual memory if your system has limited RAM
  • Check for overheating issues which can cause thermal throttling
  • Ensure your internet connection is stable

Remember to restart your computer after making these changes to ensure they take effect properly.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this guide assists you in resolving your “League of Legends freezes in game for a few seconds” issue. These solutions are common yet proven effective by many players in the community. If these still won’t work, seek help from Riot Games’ contact support to fix any of these issues.