Why does my Valorant keep crashing?

• Valorant keeps crashing if you do not have the right hardware or have out of date OS or drivers.
• The first thing you should do is check if you meet all the system requirements and do not have faulty hardware.
• If updating your OS, drivers and DirectX does not work, try reinstalling the game.

Valorant keeps crashing for some users and if you are one of them, finding the right solutions can be tricky. Usually, system updates and driver updates do the trick while at other times, faulty hardware may be at play. If Valorant keeps crashing despite updates and reinstall, you should consider getting your hardware checked. But if the issue is exclusive to Valorant and no other games, check out our list of possible solutions. Valorant keeps crashing if you have too many background apps or other third-party software that may be conflicting with the game’s anti-cheat software. There have been instances of random overlay apps that are completely legit, causing Vanguard to force-close Valorant. 

Why Valorant Keeps Crashing and Why Should You Try These Fixes?

Valorant requires updated drivers and other software to run optimally. You can get by with slightly old drivers and Windows versions but outdated drivers can easily cause your game to crash. If your system does not meet the required specifications, Valorant will be unable to run properly without major compromises which include poor performance or even crashes. For best performance, you should ideally be on the latest version of Windows and have the latest drivers for all your hardware. 

Valorant Keeps Crashing: Fixes For Constant Crashes

Here are the most important fixes you need to try in case Valorant keeps crashing for you. 

1. Restart your system

Perhaps the easiest method, with the best shot of fixing Valorant Crashes is just restarting your system. This method is especially effective against Error Code 57 which shows up if the Vanguard anti-cheat system has not been initialized.

If Valorant's Anti Cheat has not been initialized, Error Code 57 pops up

2. Check If You Meet Valorant's System Requirements

Ensure that you meet the system requirements.

If you are not sure if you meet the game’s system requirements, cross-check your computer’s hardware with the minimum and recommended specifications listed by Riot Games. If you do not meet the minimum requirements and Valorant keeps crashing, consider a system upgrade. If you do meet the requirements, read on to try other possible solutions. 

3. Update Windows

We recommend updating to the latest version of Windows 10

Valorant's anti-cheat works best when you have the latest versions of Windows installed on your system. So if your OS is not updated, consider updating to the latest version. Valorant works on Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10. You can find the appropriate tools to update your OS from the official Microsoft support page here. 

Once your copy of Windows is updated, restart your PC and see if Valorant stops crashing. 

4. Update Graphics Drivers

You may also be having issues due to buggy or outdated graphics drivers. Some players reported that Valorant won’t launch because their graphics drivers were little out of date. Hence you can try to update the driver for your graphics card, manually or automatically.

1. Update Your Graphics Card Drivers
2. If you don’t know which graphics card: 
   • Press [Windows Key] + R (this will open up a "Run" window).
   • Type dxdiag and then hit Enter.
   • Select the Display tab.
3. Once you know which graphics card you have, you can download its appropriate drivers from here: 
   • AMD:http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/auto-detect-tool
   • NVIDIA:http://www.geforce.com/drivers
   • Intel:http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect?iid=dc_iduu

5. Update DirectX

DirectX is a set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) developed by Microsoft that is needed to run Valorant. Check the following link to ensure it is updated: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/179113

6. Reset Your Graphics Card Settings

Reset your Nvidia settings

NVIDIA CONTROL PANEL (for NVIDIA cards) 

1. Right-click on your Desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel.
2. Select Manage 3D Settings.
3. Click on Restore Defaults.

CATALYST CONTROL CENTER (for AMD cards)

1. Right-click on your Desktop and select Catalyst Control Center (also called VISION centre).
2. Select Preferences.
3. Click on Restore Factory Defaults.

7. Adjust In-Game Video Settings

Try changing Valorant's in-Game Video settings to the following to reduce the load on your system.

• Multithreaded Rendering: Off
• Material Quality: Low
• Texture Quality: Low
• Detail Quality: Low
• UI Quality: Low
• Vignette: Off
• VSync: Off
• Anti-Aliasing: Off
• Anisotropic Filtering: 1x
• Improve Quality: Off
• Bloom: Off
• Distortion: Off
• First Person Shadows: Off

If these settings end up fixing your issue, it means that your system is either not capable of running the game in higher settings or that one of your PC's components is malfunctioning.

8. Run In Compatibility Mode

Try running Valorant in compatibility mode. 

• On your desktop, right-click the Valorant icon and select Properties.
• Select the Compatibility tab. Under the Compatibility mode section, check the box before Run this program in compatibility mode. Set it to Windows 8 or Windows 7. Click OK to finish.
• Restart your PC. 
• Right-click on your Valorant Icon and click on Run as Administrator. 

9. Close All Riot Related Processes

Close all Riot processes from the Task Manager.

• Right-click on your Taskbar
• Click on Task Manager 
• Find all processes with the Riot Games or Valorant logo.
• Right-click on each of the programs and click on End Task.

10. Reinstall Valorant 

Reinstalling Valorant should be kept as a last resort.

• Search 'Valorant' in the Windows search bar on the bottom left of your screen.
• Right-click on the Valorant icon.
• Click on Uninstall
• In the new menu, right-click on Valorant and click on uninstall again. 
• Download Valorant again from the official website at https://playvalorant.com/en-us/ 

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