What should I do if I am unable to join a Football Manager 27 network game?
If you are unable to connect to a lobby or your network games suddenly stop working. First, please check the PlayFab server status (this is for both PC & Console). If the servers are working as expected and you're still having issues, please try the following:
Make sure you have allowed firewall permissions for Football Manager.
- Open Windows Security: Press the Windows key and search for "Windows Security," then select it from the results.
- Navigate to Firewall Settings: In the Windows Security window, click on "Firewall & network protection".
- Access App Permissions: Click on "Allow an app through firewall".
- Enable Changes: If the option is greyed out, click on "Change settings" to allow modifications.
- Add the Football Manager App: Click "Allow another app" and then "Browse".
- Locate the Executable: Navigate to your Football Manager installation folder, which is usually in the Steam directory (e.g., C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\[Football Manager title]), and select the Football Manager executable.
- Confirm and Add: Click "Open" and then "Add".
- Enable Network Permissions: Find Football Manager in the new list and make sure to check the boxes for both "Private" and "Public" network access.
- Save Changes: Click "OK" to save your settings.
Make sure you have allowed firewall permission for Football Manager:
- Go to the Apple menu > System Settings.
- Click Network in the sidebar, then click Firewall.
- If the firewall is off, turn on the toggle switch.
- Click "Options" (You may need to unlock the settings by clicking the lock icon and entering your password).
- Click the "+" button to add Football Manager to the list. Navigate to your Applications folder and select the Football Manager application. Click Add.
- Set the connection to allow by finding Football Manager in the list and clicking the drop-down arrow next to it. Select "Allow incoming connections".
- Click "OK" to save your changes.
If the above doesn't help, please try below troubleshooting methods:
- If you have a VPN installed, make sure it is disabled
- If possible we recommend users use an Ethernet connection
- Make sure your time zones and clocks on your machines are correct.
- Make sure the host is the user with the best internet connection - you can always check this with https://www.speedtest.net/
- On rare occasions, if your friends can't join your save game, the best way to solve this is to change the lobby setting to "Anyone Can Join" and add a password.
- Save the online game and reload the save. The client should then wait for a few seconds before searching for the lobby on the join online game page.
- On Epic, you will be asked for authentication with your default browser opening to the authentication permissions page when you launch the game the first time. You can always check this on Epic by signing into your account, and ensuring you have allowed this by clicking ‘account’ -> ‘connections’.
- If you are inviting your friends to a lobby, the best way would be to use the Steam (‘shift’ + ‘tab’) or Epic (‘shift’ and ‘F3’) overlays or via the game status page. For Windows Store, use the Xbox App or the game bar overlay.
- If playing on the Microsoft Store/Game Pass version of the game, you may be required to change some of your settings in order to find other players via cross-play. Please perform the following steps:
- Press your 'Windows' key and 'G' to bring up the Gamebar
- Click 'Settings' (the cog icon)
- Click on 'Accounts'
- Scroll down and click 'Manage Privacy Policy' which will ask you to open a new app
- Sign in to your account when prompted if you are not logged in
- Click 'Online Security on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows 10 devices'
- Allow the option under 'You can play with outside of Xbox Live'
- Restart your PC and launch FM from Windows Store/Game Pass
If the above instructions couldn’t resolve your issue, please submit a support ticket and provide your network logs from the host of the lobby and any clients joining the lobby, including which country/region you are playing in so our team can investigate your issue as quickly as possible.
Below are the instructions on how to get the logs (Please only send us the logs after trying all the other steps first).
You can find the "Logs" folder here:
- In File Explorer, type %localappdata% and press 'enter'
- Click on the folder "Sports Interactive"
- Click on the folder "Football Manager 27"
- Click on the folder "Logs"
- Copy these two logs MULTIPLAYER_CHANNEL.txt and USER_ACCOUNT_PLAYFAB_CHANNEL.txt
- Add you name to these logs for example “MULTIPLAYER_CHANNEL.txt john smith”
- Attach these logs with any network issue along with your save, images or videos
You can find the "Logs" folder here:
- Click on "Go" at the top bar on Desktop
- Hold down the 'Alt' key -> click on "Library"
- Click "Application Support" -> "Sports Interactive" -> [Football Manager title] -> "Logs"
- Copy these two logs MULTIPLAYER_CHANNEL.txt and USER_ACCOUNT_PLAYFAB_CHANNEL.txt
- Add you name to these logs for example “MULTIPLAYER_CHANNEL.txt john smith”
- Attach these logs with any network issue along with your save, images or videos
What should I do if In-game Editor isn’t appearing in Football Manager?
If you have purchased the In-game Editor (IGE) and it is not appearing in game, please try the following troubleshooting methods:
Generic troubleshooting methods:
- Make sure your IGE is same version as your Football Manager (FM) game. For example, you need to purchase IGE 27 if you want to use it for FM27.
- Check you are logged in to the same account that the purchase was made on. If you have bought FM27 and IGE 27 with two separate accounts, then the IGE won’t appear in game.
- Turn off any VPNs.
- Verify that the time zone and clocks on your machine are correct.
Steam specific:
- Try starting FM from inside the 'In-game Editor' Steam Store Page
- Re-verify the game files.
- Deauthorise any other machines your account is logged in
Epic specific:
- Verify game caches and restart Epic Launcher.
- Revoke FM’s Epic Store access. Once you’ve done so, the next time you launch Football Manager with you Epic Games account, you will be asked to authorise access for the game again – click ‘Allow’.
If the above hasn’t worked, please try configuring Anti-virus. Avast, Bullguard and BitDefender have all been known to cause problems in the past.
If you find nothing above helps, please submit a support ticket and provide the log files (see below) so our team can help.
Log files:
STORE_DIALOG_CHANNEL_01_11_2018_09_55_36.log
You can find the log files here:
PC - C:\Users\[Your Windows Username]\AppData\Local\Sports Interactive\[Football Manager title]\Logs
In order to access this folder, please ensure that the option ‘Show hidden files and folders’ is active:
- Go to ‘File Explorer’
- Select the ‘View’ tab -> 'Show'
- Tick ‘hidden items’
What should I do if I can’t access my Football Manager save game on cloud?
If you are unable to access save game on cloud, please make sure that your save game has completely synced to the Cloud and that you are using the same account that you saved the game on cloud with.
How to access cloud save?
- Click ‘Load game’ on the start screen.
- Select ‘Cloud’ from the top left drop down list.
- It should shows all save games that are saved on cloud.
- Select your desired save game and click ‘Save’ to load game.
If you still can’t access your save game on cloud, please visit Steam remote storage and login your account to download your save game.
Alternately, all cloud save games are located: C:\Users\[You Windows Username]\AppData\Local\Sports Interactive\[Football Manager title]\cloud\games
For more information about Steam cloud, please visit here.
For more information about Microsoft Cloud, please visit here.
- Make sure you have enable Cloud Saves via ‘Account’ (Top right) -> Settings.
- If you have been playing a cloud save game on multiple devices, make sure you have resolved any cloud save conflicts in the Epic Games Launcher.
If you have tried all the steps above and still having issues with accessing your cloud saves, please submit a support ticket and our team will try and help.
What should I do if my Mouse Cursor is not appearing in Football Manager on Epic?
This problem is usually caused by the program Overwolf. So please switch off the overlay for Football Manager.
If it still doesn’t work, we recommend completely uninstalling 'Overwolf' and all of its components.
If you still can't resolve the issue, please try the following:
- Go to Epic Games launcher folder \Portal\Extras\Overlay
- Create a new folder called 'backup'
- Please move the following files to the new folder you created:
- EOSOVH-Win32-Shipping.dll
- EOSOVH-Win64-Shipping.dll
- EOSOverlayRenderer-Win32-Shipping.exe
- EOSOverlayRenderer-Win64-Shipping.exe
- EOSOverlayVkLayer-Win32.json
- EOSOverlayVkLayer-Win64.json
If nothing above works, please submit a support request stating exactly what you've tried so far, and a member of our team will try to help.
Why can't I activate my Football Manager key on Steam or Epic?
If you have bought a boxed copy of FM26 and have trouble redeeming the game on Steam or Epic, please make sure you have activated the Activation code via the Football Manager redemption website.
If you’ve bought the game via a third-party retailer, we suggest you contact them directly.
If you’ve redeemed an Activation key via the Football Manager redemption website but still have issues activating it on the chosen platform, please check our redemption support FAQs for further assistance.
Otherwise, please submit a support ticket, and our team will try to help.
What should I do if the adjust screen safe zone appears when attempting to play Football Manager?
In order to stop this issue occurring, you can either remove any controller which is plugged into your system, or disable controllers being used for FM. Details on how to disable can be found below:
- Launch Steam with the controller plugged in and switch to 'Big Picture Mode' (click the controller icon near the top right-hand corner of Steam).
- Once in big picture mode, go to Library and click on [Football Manager title]
- From the left panel, select 'Manage Game'
- Listed within the preferences will be 'Controller Options', so within here disable the controller
- Once this is done, confirm your changes and exit 'Big Picture Mode'
If you find nothing above helps, please submit a support ticket and our team will try to help.
What should I do if the screen appears unusual when starting the game or I'm unable to click any buttons within Football Manager?
First, please try changing your in-game resolution via the in-game preferences to see if this resolves your issue.
If you can't navigate to any parts of the game due to a strange resolution, please follow the troubleshooting steps below.
For PC, you might have a very high or low 'zoom setting' in your Windows Display settings. You can view and change this by doing as described here.
If you’re still having issues, we’d recommend launching the game in Windowed mode as shown below:
- Open Steam and access your Games Library
- Right-click on [Football Manager title]-> Properties -> General -> Set Launch Options
- Type this in the box: -small_screen -windowed
- Click on OK, close the window and launch FM through Steam
- Open the Epic Launcher and go to ‘Settings’ on the left-hand panel
- Scroll down until you see [Football Manager title]
- Click the arrow to expand the selection
- Tick the ‘Additional Command Line Arguments’
- Type this in the box: -small_screen -windowed
- Click on OK, close the window and launch FM through the Epic Games launcher
If nothing above works, please submit a support request stating exactly what you've tried so far, and a member of our team will try to help.
What should I do if I am unable to save Football Manager successfully or the game crashes whilst saving?
If you’re having issues when saving the game or game crashes whilst saving, please try the following troubleshooting guide:
- Remove any custom graphics/files
- Remove Caches and Preferences
- Using the 'Save As' function and save game to a different location (e.g. Desktop) via 'FM Menu' -> 'Save As'
- Try saving your save game to 'Cloud', rather than 'Local'
- Make sure your anti-virus isn't interfering with FM
In some instances, the issues could be related to your documents folder being configured with a cloud drive (e.g. OneDrive). If this is the case, we recommend saving your game to your desktop, as this location is unlikely to encounter any issues which could be affecting your Documents folder. If you find this is working correctly, then there is a problem with your Documents setup or cloud drive.
If you have tried all the steps above and still having issues with accessing your cloud saves, please submit a support ticket and our team will try and help.
What should I do if the game screen displays strangely in Football Manager?
If you encountered a graphical issue such as in-game flickering, graphical corruption, letters appearing unusually, white/black screen, items not appearing in the correct position, or incorrect colours in Football Manager. We suggest you do the following:
- Remove custom graphics
- Remove Caches and Preferences
- Re-verify the game files
If you find the above instructions don’t solve your problem, please contact our team by submitting a support ticket.
What should I do if my mouse cursor moves independently when running Football Manager via Steam?
If you find your mouse cursor moves randomly or independently, it will be related to an additional controller being plugged in.
In order to stop this issue occurring, you can either remove any controller which is plugged into your system, or disable controllers being used for FM. Details on how to disable can be found below:
- Launch Steam with the controller plugged in and switch to 'Big Picture Mode' (click the controller icon near the top right-hand corner of Steam).
- Once in big picture mode, go to Library and click on Football Manager
- From the left panel, select 'Manage Game'
- Listed within the preferences will be 'Controller Options', so within here disable the controller
- Once this is done, confirm your changes and exit Big Picture Mode
If you find nothing above helps, please submit a support ticket and our team will try to help.
What should I do if my system appears to be overheating or working hard when running Football Manager?
Football Manager is an intensive demanding game, so we would expect it to take up resources when running, even on high-end systems. However, in some instances, you may be able to lessen the impact of the game’s performance on your system.
Very high resolution or using specific zoom settings may be more demanding on your GPU.
You can lower the demands on your system by lowering your ‘graphics quality’ settings via the in-game preferences. You can also adjust the options under ‘Match Day’ within preferences, including ‘Render Scale, Mesh Detail, Shadow Quality, Texture Quality and Anti-Aliasing’.
Outside of the game, if you are using an Nvidia graphic driver, please try the following:
- Open ‘Nvidia App’ -> 'Graphics' -> 'Global Settings' -> ‘Vertical Sync’
- Change the setting to ‘Use the 3D application setting’
You may also find if the system is overheating, that you may want to clear out your system fans and make sure they’re running on a surface where air can easily get in and out.
For those running in Retina, you may find that using the ‘low resolution’ option for the app improves the game performance. Details on how to do so below:
Steam
You have to right-click on the FM.app and select ‘Get Info’ which gives you an option to select ‘Open in Low Resolution’. The FM.app on Steam can be found as follows:
Library -> Application Support -> Steam -> Steamapps -> common
There are two other ways you can access the file via Steam:
- Open Steam and find Football Manager within your game library. Right-click on the game and select ‘Properties’ -> ‘Local Files’ -> ‘Browse Local Files’
- You can also access it directly by right-clicking on the game icon within your dock and following the ‘Get Info’ instructions above, however the game needs to be closed when doing so.
Epic
You have to right-click on the FM.app and select ‘Get Info’ which gives you an option to select ‘Open in Low Resolution’. The FM.app on Epic can be found as follows:
Users -> Shared -> Epic Games -> Football Manager
You can also access it directly by right-clicking on the game icon within your dock and following the ‘Get Info’ instructions above, however the game needs to be closed when doing so.
If nothing above works, please submit a support request stating exactly what you've tried so far, and a member of our team will try to help.
What should I do if my save game no longer loads in Football Manager?
If your system shuts down or crashes mid-save, then the file will be corrupted and cannot be fixed. Similarly, if your game has been forced closed for any reason, there is a chance of save game corruption.
There is also a chance for your game files to experience corruption if you shut down your system by pressing and holding the power button.
Football Manager automatically creates a backup save. Within your save game folder there should be a file called ‘last save overwrite backup.fm’. This save will be a copy of the save game you last saved over. We suggest you try this save first and see if it loads.
To make sure you don't have this issue again, we'd strongly recommend you set your auto save to weekly (or higher frequency) so you always have a recent backup in case of any problems:
- Load up Football Manager
- Click 'FM Menu' (cog icon next to the calendar near the top right corner) -> 'Preferences' -> 'Saves'
- Tick the 'Use Auto Saves'
- Change Every to 'Week' or 'Day'
- Click 'Confirm' in the bottom right of the 'Preferences' window
In addition, we also suggest making sure your Anti-Virus Program is correctly configured for FM.
If nothing above works, please submit a support request stating exactly what you've tried so far, and a member of our team will try to help.
What should I do if Football Manager is stuck on the loading screen?
If you launch the game and find it’s stuck on the loading screen, please follow the troubleshooting steps below:
- Remove all custom graphics/editor files
- Remove Caches and Preferences
- Verify Game Files
- Launch the game (still without custom files)
If the above still doesn't resolve your issue, we'd suggest you try create a new Sports Interactive\[Football Manager title] folder.
If nothing above works, please submit a support request stating exactly what you've tried so far, and a member of our team will try to help.