diff --git a/Software/PC_Application/appwindow.cpp b/Software/PC_Application/appwindow.cpp
index ef25f9e..dc92e3e 100644
--- a/Software/PC_Application/appwindow.cpp
+++ b/Software/PC_Application/appwindow.cpp
@@ -1117,6 +1117,8 @@ void AppWindow::LoadSetup(QString filename)
     } catch (exception &e) {
         InformationBox::ShowError("Error", "Failed to parse the setup file (" + QString(e.what()) + ")");
         qWarning() << "Parsing of setup file failed: " << e.what();
+        file.close();
+        return;
     }
     file.close();
     LoadSetup(j);
@@ -1170,6 +1172,10 @@ void AppWindow::LoadSetup(nlohmann::json j)
             break;
         }
     }
+    // if no mode is activated, there might have been a problem with the setup file. Activate the first mode anyway, to prevent invalid GUI state
+    if(!Mode::getActiveMode() && Mode::getModes().size() > 0) {
+        Mode::getModes()[0]->activate();
+    }
 }
 
 Device *&AppWindow::getDevice()