GTA San Andreas on PC

GTA San Andreas black screen or crash after Alt-Tab

Single player: the classic game has no window mode of its own, and switching away with Alt-Tab can flicker or crash it. These are the fixes our sources give.

Steps

1. Single player: install SilentPatch

   SilentPatch's page lists two fixes for this. The game uses your desktop refresh rate instead of 60 Hz, so Alt-Tab and the start no longer flicker on high refresh rate screens. And an occasional crash when you minimize the game next to a mirror is gone. PCGamingWiki also gives SilentPatch as the fix when Alt-Tab crashes the game.

   Careful: Single player only. Before you play MTA, MTA asks you to delete every .asi file from the GTA and MTA folders. Its own example is SilentPatch's file.

   ASI plugins or a game-folder DLL block MTA →

   Source: SilentPatch page, PCGamingWiki, PCGamingWiki, MTA help

2. Single player: play in a window

   The Windowed Mode plugin runs the game in a window or in a borderless window, and Alt+Enter switches between the two. Its page says it works with version 1.0 US of San Andreas and needs an ASI loader. PCGamingWiki lists it for window mode.

   Careful: Single player only. Before you play MTA, MTA asks you to delete every .asi file from the GTA and MTA folders. Its own example is SilentPatch's file.

   ASI plugins or a game-folder DLL block MTA →

   Source: PCGamingWiki, GitHub (ThirteenAG), MTA help

3. Update the graphics driver

   Install the newest driver for your graphics card. Rockstar's advice is to remove the old driver, restart, and then install the new one. MTA's graphics guide gives the same advice and links the NVIDIA and AMD driver pages.

   Source: Rockstar Support, MTA help

4. In MTA: use a borderless mode

   MTA has its own fix. In MTA's settings, set Fullscreen mode to Borderless window or Borderless keep res. MTA's graphics guide recommends this when the game crashes on Alt-Tab.

   MTA crashes or loses the picture after Alt-Tab →

   Source: MTA help, MTA source code

See also: MTA crashes or loses the picture after Alt-Tab, Black screen or frozen logos when MTA starts

Playing MTA, not single player? Use the MTA steps above, or search the Fix tool for your message.

Other problems like this

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• GTA San Andreas no sound or missing radio songs (Steam)
• Controller not working in GTA San Andreas on PC

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