How To

4 Ways to Fix Uplay Failed to Start Download Error (2023)

Several Users on the Uplay network report this annoying issue while downloading new games or updates in Uplay. Sometimes, partial data get a download, and then suddenly, the download fails to display the error Uplay Failed to Start Download due to network issues.

Run Ubisoft Connect PC as an administrator to fix the problem. Disable any antivirus software that is currently active on your PC. When you right-click Uplay, choose “Run as administrator.” Start the download/update process. Make sure the launcher is not configured to launch in offline mode. Try installing the game once again after connecting to Ubisoft Connect PC.

Seeing the number of complaints, we can conclude that Network connectivity isn’t an issue. The reason behind the download failure isn’t out yet. Some possible causes and fixes to the error are below.

Table of Contents

4 Ways to Solve Uplay Failed to Start Download

Unstable Internet Connection

The games and updates are to get download are very bulky in size at times (up to 15 GB or even more). Hence a reliable and speedy internet connection is major for downloads.

Although it might take minutes or hours to complete the download depending upon your internet speed, some downloads are very sensitive. And if Uplay Failed to Start Download error occurs, disconnection for even some fractions of a second may lead to download failure.

Hence, before looking for further troubleshooting, one must ensure that unstable internet isn’t an issue. Following are some tips to check this out:

Run Speed tests of your internet and make sure the speeds aren’t extremely low.
If you are on a wireless connection, try downloading using a wired connection.
Disable all other devices on the network and then begin the download.

If the above tips help you eliminate Uplay failed to start download error, then it’s good, but if it doesn’t, you will be assured that the problem isn’t in the network but somewhere else.

Administrative Permissions

Sometimes, administrative access is required to perform internal actions to fix the failure to start downloading uplay. Uplay might not display it as a reason for the download failure. Try doing the following steps:

Temporarily disable any antivirus Running on your system.
Right Click on Uplay and select ‘Run as administrator.’
Initiate the download/Update.
If this does not help, try step-3.

Complex Directories

The directory where the file is being downloaded might reason for the error in some cases. It is observed that not using the default install path might cause problems in the process due to the presence of some unwanted files on the custom directory that you’ve set.

If you haven’t installed uplay on the default drive (C/ in most cases), try reinstalling Uplay in the default drive and initiate the download. This might eliminate the error if the directory problem eliminates, Uplay failed to start the download.

Even after trying the above solution, if you’re failing to download the updates, there might be an issue with the files you are downloading. Sometimes, the files to download contain some names with some special characters in them, which might cause incompatibility even if the default path is set.

Try the following changes to see if it eliminates the error:

When you begin the download, it will ask you to choose the download path. Choose a simple path and then initiate the download. Or

Install uplay in the simplest path possible. (E.g. C:/Uplay)

Then try to initiate the download and see if it eliminates the error.

Enable Port Forwarding

Port Forwarding is an application of NAT or Network Address Translation, which redirects a communication request from one address and port number combination to another while the packets are traversing a network gateway, such as a router or firewall. This is an alternative to solve Uplay Failed to Start Download error. If you are using a router, try enabling port forwarding. The ports are 80, 443, 13000, 14000, and 14008.

The aspects above are some of the possible causes for Uplay Failed to start download error. If trying all these doesn’t help you fix the error, that might be some problem between their servers and your device.

You can visit Uplay forums and contact the support team to get further assistance.