Path not found / Can't find EA app shortcut
path not found. can't play offline. can't update app. can't do anything at all with this game. shortcut is gone
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Followed all the instructions from EA_Leeuw (twice now) and it still produces the same exact issue. Honestly it's unbelievable that this launcher is prone to so many issues all these years later.
EDIT: After much frustration and way too much time, I have finally managed to get it to launch. But before I share how... I really have to say that in all my years I have never seen a game storefront application literally gaslight me (until this evening).
Even when I told the installer to INSTALL it somewhere else, it still decided to revert back to the default installation path (no warnings, no errors, no messages whatsoever).
Even when I went to copy the root directory for the launcher, as per EA_mplsnow instructions, in order to paste it in a different location it STILL refused to copy the contents of said directory. Forcing me to make several attempts.
However, pasting the contents of the EA app to a different location didn't technically fix it. As even after doing that the shortcut (the one that auto installs onto your desktop) still gave me the same error so many others in this thread had.
So, I'm going to be posting my own solution that works for me, with the hopes that if someone else out there is struggling with this issue this issue then hopefully this is a much easier solution instead of being asked if you tried uninstalling/reinstalling for the 1000th time.
- Make a new folder, name it EA Desktop, and place it anywhere (your desktop works just fine)
- Go to the EA App's directory (C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\EA Desktop\EA Desktop)
- Copy the entire contents of this folder (File explorer says there's 162 items or about 550 MB worth of files) to the newly created folder you just made in the first step
- IMPORTANT: make sure EVERYTHING copies over to your new folder. Take your time and triple check it. For me it was being quite stubborn for some reason - From within your newly created folder (not the old one you copied the files from) try opening the EALauncher. If it works, then congrats! Right click the EALauncher and create a desktop shortcut of it to replace the OLD one (if it's still there)
- If this still doesn't work, then try to open the EA Desktop application instead. If that manages to open without issue, then simply choose to create a desktop shortcut of that file instead. Use this new shortcut to replace the old one that kept giving you all that unnecessary trouble.
It genuinely baffles me that this is still an issue, as people have been reporting this for a couple years at least. I do not believe, for a single second, that this is a windows issue as EAs application is the only one having this super specific issue. All the other game storefronts seem to operate just fine, but not this.
EA_Leeuw
Community Manager
Community ManagerHi VacantShortbus ,
I get why you’re frustrated -- but I want to be very clear about something important for everyone reading this:
What you’ve done is a workaround, not a proper fix.
You’ve essentially:
- Copied the EA App files to a different location
- Bypassed the broken install/registry state
- Launched the app manually from those copied files
That can make it appear fixed, but it doesn’t resolve the underlying issue:
- Windows still thinks the app is installed in the original (broken) location
- The installer still points to that same location
- Updates, repairs, or future installs may fail again or behave unpredictably
Where your assumptions don’t fully hold
- “It ignores install location” → more likely the installer is reading an existing install record (registry) and reusing it
- “It’s not Windows” → not that simple; this type of issue is usually a mismatch between files + registry + installer state, not just one component
- “Other launchers don’t do this” → they do, but often hide it better or clean up more aggressively
The actual issue (for clarity)
Everyone in this thread is hitting the same root problem:
- The install record still exists
- The files are partially missing or inaccessible
- So:
- Installer says “already installed”
- Shortcut says “path not found”
Your method works because it sidesteps the broken path, not because it fixes it.
Recommendation (for you and others)
If your current setup is working, you can keep using it for now.
But be aware:
- Updates may fail
- The app may break again after an update
- You may eventually need a clean removal (including leftover files/registry) to fully fix it
For other users, copying files around is not a safe or reliable approach, which is why we’re guiding them through a clean reinstall instead.
Appreciate you sharing what worked for you -- it helps surface edge cases -- but we need to keep recommendations here stable and safe for everyone, not just quick fixes.
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