How do you fix GTA Online Not Connecting? Common issues and fixes

There are a couple of easy ways to solve this problem.

Promotional image of GTA Online.
Image via Rockstar Games

With Grand Theft Auto 6 coming soon, plenty of new and returning players are jumping into GTA Online to experience the franchise and enjoy the new content Rockstar has added over the years. That also means any server issues like “GTA Online Not Connecting” will impact even more people. 

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Whether it be too many players overtaxing the GTA servers or other issues causing temporary server outages, seeing an error message like “GTA Online Not Connecting” means your time riding around Los Santos is going to be cut short or heavily limited. It also doesn’t help that Rockstar’s support website doesn’t feature answers for how to fix some prominent issues, though we do have a few ways you might be able to work around the problem. 

GTA Online Not Connecting error explained: How to fix GTA Online issues

GTA Online train
Servers can cause a pileup if things go wrong. Image via Rockstar Games

Check the GTA Online server status

The first thing you should resort to when running into the GTA Online Not Connecting issue is checking the game’s online server status. Rockstar makes this easy since the company hosts its own dedicated website for its games’ server statuses.  

By accessing this website, you can check the server status of all Rockstar titles, including GTA Online. If it shows a general outage for one or multiple games, you know it isn’t a problem on your end and will just need to wait for the developers to fix the servers.

Check your platform’s server status

Similarly to checking Rockstar’s server status, you should also check the status of the PlayStation, Xbox, Steam, and Epic online servers because those being down can also keep you from playing GTA Online. All of those platforms have their own servers and ways to check their current performance level—so if your platform of choice is having online issues, you can’t do much to fix it yourself. 

Check your internet connection

If the servers are up but you still can’t log into or launch GTA Online, it might be an issue with your own internet connection. This means you should try resetting your console or PC first, and, if that doesn’t solve the error, try to reset your internet router by unplugging the power cable.

If none of that helps, you can also try setting up a hotspot from your smartphone’s mobile internet to see if your original internet connection is your main problem.

Contact Rockstar support

If none of these methods have worked and Rockstar has not publicly acknowledged a different problem impacting servers, you should try to directly report the issue to Rockstar support. Otherwise, you just need to wait out the storm and hope servers go back up quickly.

Author
Image of Leonardo Biazzi
Leonardo Biazzi
Staff writer and CS:GO lead. Leonardo has been passionate about games since he was a kid and graduated in Journalism in 2018. Before Leonardo joined Dot Esports in 2019, he worked for Brazilian outlet Globo Esporte. Leonardo also worked for HLTV.org between 2020 and 2021 as a senior writer, until he returned to Dot Esports and became part of the staff team.
Author
Image of Cale Michael
Cale Michael
Lead Staff Writer for Dota 2, the FGC, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and more who has been writing for Dot Esports since 2018. Graduated with a degree in Journalism from Oklahoma Christian University and also previously covered the NBA. You can usually find him writing, reading, or watching an FGC tournament.