VALORANT won't update
A stalled VALORANT update is nearly always the Riot Client rather than your connection — particularly if other downloads on the same machine are running fine.
What causes it
The patch is queued behind a stuck client process
A previous session that didn't close cleanly can hold the download open, so a new one never progresses.
Partially downloaded files are corrupted
An interrupted patch leaves fragments the client can't resume from, and it retries the same broken state.
Vanguard is blocking the patcher
Vanguard verifies files as they're written, and a conflict there stalls the patch rather than failing outright.
Not enough disk space
Patching needs headroom beyond the final size, because it writes new files before removing old ones.
How to fix it
In order — the earlier steps are both quicker and more likely to work, so there’s no reason to skip ahead.
- 1
Fully close the Riot Client
End every Riot process in Task Manager rather than closing the window, then reopen. This alone clears most stalls.
- 2
Restart the machine
Clears both a stuck patcher and a Vanguard driver in a bad state, which are the two most common causes together.
- 3
Check available disk space
Make sure there's noticeably more free space than the patch size. A patch that appears to stall near the end is often simply out of room.
- 4
Run the Riot Client as administrator
Permission failures when writing to the install directory can silently stall a patch rather than throwing an error.
Common questions
Why is my VALORANT update stuck at 0%?
Usually a stuck client process from a previous session holding the download open. Ending every Riot process in Task Manager and reopening fixes it more often than anything else.
Will reinstalling fix a failed update?
It generally works, but it's the slowest option and rarely necessary — try closing the client properly and restarting first, since those resolve most cases in a fraction of the time.