How to fix the infinite loading screen in Apex Legends
Apex Legends stuck on an infinite loading circle at the lobby or into a match? The causes — from server trouble to corrupted caches — and the fixes in the right order.
What infinite loading means
The infinite loading circle — at the title screen, entering the lobby, or dropping into a match — means the client is waiting on something that never arrives: a service response, a party sync, or an asset load. It's a symptom with several distinct causes rather than one error, so the fix is a quick process of elimination.
Common causes
- EA server or matchmaking trouble — the loading spinner is how service problems often present
- A stale session or party desync (especially after a previous match ended badly)
- Slow or interrupted asset loading from a failing disk or a nearly-full drive
- Corrupted game files or shader/download cache
- A connection that's technically up but losing packets to the datacenter
Fixes, in order
- 1
Rule out the servers
If the game loaded fine yesterday and hangs today, check Apex server status first. A loading screen that never resolves during an EA incident is their problem, and the only fix is waiting.
- 2
Full restart, leave the party
Close Apex completely and relaunch. If you were in a party, have everyone leave and re-form after restarting — a desynced party session is a classic infinite-load trigger at match start.
- 3
Verify game files
On Steam: Verify integrity of game files; on the EA app: Repair; on console: check storage and re-download any add-ons that show as corrupted. Damaged assets stall loading at the same spot every time.
- 4
Check the drive
Make sure the install drive has free space and is healthy. A disk struggling to read assets produces exactly this hang — moving the install to a healthier (ideally solid-state) drive fixes the chronic version of it.
- 5
Switch datacenter and test the connection
From the lobby, pick a different datacenter and retry. If loads hang only at match start, sustained packet loss to one datacenter is a likely cause — a wired connection and a router restart address the local half of that.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Apex Legends stuck on the loading screen?
Either the servers are struggling, your session/party is desynced, or the client can't finish loading assets — usually corrupted files or a slow drive. Restart and re-form the party first, then verify files, then look at the drive and connection.
Why does Apex load forever only when entering a match?
Match-start hangs point at the connection to the assigned datacenter or a party desync, not your install. Re-form the party, manually select a healthy datacenter, and check for packet loss.