"Another instance is already running"

[Ukkis]

Hi all. Love the game, when i get to play it.
If i launch the game on steam it loads the rockstar launcher and nothing happens (because steam thinks the R launcher is the game) and if i launch the game via the R launcher then steam starts complaining.
This is ridiculous. I payed good money for a new GPU and for the game, I EXPECT IT TO ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ WORK.
Game runs fine otherwise, ahad some gfx errors but they went away and iv'e been playing with no crashes, but i can't launch the damn game at all now.

[Sachith Perera]

Don't run steam at all. Just launch rockstar launcher and launch it from there.

[~.~FE~.~ Mickypheonix]

This is an easy fix , don't panic
go to your start menu and select shut down/sign out ,select restart but hold down the shift key when you click on restart when the pc starts , go to troubleshoot , select the way windows starts then i think from memory its no 4 safe mode , let pc start in safe mode then when on desktop simply go back to start menu and restart as normal , runing instance of game will be no more and you can play the game , this works it has happened to me multiple times as my pc is not super stable and every now and again my game locks up and when i kill the game it says the annoying "another instance is already running" , this works 100% of the time for me without issue , i hope this helps

[O]

Originally posted by ~.~FE~.~ Mickypheonix:

This is an easy fix , don't panic
go to your start menu and select shut down/sign out ,select restart but hold down the shift key when you click on restart when the pc starts , go to troubleshoot , select the way windows starts then i think from memory its no 4 safe mode , let pc start in safe mode then when on desktop simply go back to start menu and restart as normal , runing instance of game will be no more and you can play the game , this works it has happened to me multiple times as my pc is not super stable and every now and again my game locks up and when i kill the game it says the annoying "another instance is already running" , this works 100% of the time for me without issue , i hope this helps

This solution works in 2021.

[Jaunitta 🌸]

Open the task manager and end process on any instances of it.
Rightclick the taskbar.

[ieno]

didn't work for me sadly, anyone else know a solution? i had the same issue but it's changed - now i start rdr2 from steam and it just says playing for a few seconds then goes back to normal?

[Buca]

Originally posted by ~.~FE~.~ Mickypheonix:

This is an easy fix , don't panic
go to your start menu and select shut down/sign out ,select restart but hold down the shift key when you click on restart when the pc starts , go to troubleshoot , select the way windows starts then i think from memory its no 4 safe mode , let pc start in safe mode then when on desktop simply go back to start menu and restart as normal , runing instance of game will be no more and you can play the game , this works it has happened to me multiple times as my pc is not super stable and every now and again my game locks up and when i kill the game it says the annoying "another instance is already running" , this works 100% of the time for me without issue , i hope this helps

Works as of Sept 16 2023
I also have a ton of mods, and this happens when i start up with no internet connection

[TotallyGameTamer]

Originally posted by Sachith Perera:

Don't run steam at all. Just launch rockstar launcher and launch it from there.

I agree

Skip steam, start the rockstar launcher, and when prompted enter your password and remember me.