VALORANT fixes
Troubleshooting for the problems that stop people playing. Most of them trace back to Riot Vanguard rather than the game — which is why the usual advice of reinstalling VALORANT so often changes nothing.
VALORANT won't open
VALORANT failing to launch almost always traces back to Riot Vanguard. Here's how to work out which cause you have, and fix it.
VALORANT won't launch
The game sits on the Riot Client, or nothing happens at all when you press play. Here's what causes it and the order to try fixes in.
VALORANT Secure Boot error
Vanguard requires Secure Boot on Windows 11. Here's how to check whether yours is on, and what to do about it.
VALORANT won't update
A patch that sits at 0%, stalls partway or fails repeatedly. The usual causes and the order to work through them.
VALORANT connection error
Connection errors, disconnects and 'there was an error connecting to the platform'. What causes them and what actually helps.
VALORANT FPS drops
Frame drops, stuttering and low client FPS. What causes them, and the settings that actually make a difference.
Why Vanguard causes most of these
Vanguard is kernel-level anti-cheat that loads as a driver at boot, before Windows finishes starting. That gives it hard requirements the game itself doesn’t have — Secure Boot, TPM, a clean boot chain — and it means a full restart is genuinely necessary after it updates, rather than the reflex advice it sounds like.
It also explains why reinstalling VALORANT rarely helps. If Vanguard is the component failing, replacing the game around it changes nothing.