How to fix VALORANT crashing and freezing issues

It’s more annoying than getting shanked in the back, stuck with a team of selfish players, and thrown into the same map for your matches again and again, all rolled into one. And we’re here to help you fix it. Yes, friend, we’re talking about VALORANT crashing, freezing, and everything in between!

You’re not alone if your VALORANT keeps crashing on you, but don’t rage quit just yet! We’ll have you back and playing the world’s premier tactical team FPS in no time.

(and when you’re bagging those thrifty rounds and climbing the ranks like a pro, remember who helped get you back in the action, yeah?)

VALORANT glitch-be-gone

You’ll find a bunch of different ways to stop VALORANT from crashing or freezing just up ahead. We wish we could point you right at the one that’ll fix the problem, but that’s not how troubleshooting works!

Instead, we’ve arranged this list of 10 fixes from quickest and easiest to most complicated or time-consuming to try.

Our advice? Start at the top, work your way down, and when you reach a fix that stops VAL from bugging out on you, bookmark this page for later, close it down, and go to town… on the enemy team.

Whether it’s a mid-game crash or problems launching to begin with, these fixes should help eliminate the problem. No more mid-game becoming a sitting duck and letting your team down for you… 🦆

Fix 1 – check your specs

If your computer’s specs don’t meet VALORANT’s minimum system requirements, it’s a fair bet that might be the cause of your crashing woes.

These are the minimum requirements your rig will need to huff out 30 FPS gameplay:

If you are trying to play VALORANT on a low-end computer that barely meets these specs, try using these easygoing settings. That should give your potato PC a fighting chance of running the game without freezing on you.

Fix 2 – ixnay any greedy programs

Your computer has a limited amount of processing power, and if it’s using that power to run a bunch of other programs then that might be causing VALORANT to freeze or full-on crash.

Try closing down any windows or programs that aren’t absolutely essential before you launch the game.

Here’s how to do that and make sure you’re also stopping any sneaky background programs from interfering, too…

1. Right-click on your taskbar (or press control + alt + delete) and click on Task Manager.

2. Click on the Memory column to sort the list of Processes by those taking up the most memory.

3. Select any memory-hungry processes and click the “End task” button to close them down.

With all your memory-hungry programs closed down, you’ve got a much better chance of VALORANT not crashing next time.

Fix 3 – run as administrator

Next time you go to play VALORANT, try this…

1. Right-click the game’s icon (from your desktop or Start menu).
2. Click “Run as administrator”.

If that stops the game from freezing or crashing, then follow these steps to permanently run the game in this mode…

1. Right-click the game’s icon (from your desktop or the file location).

2. Open the Compatibility tab.

3. Select the option “Run this program as an administrator”.

4. Click the Apply button.

After that, every time you load VALORANT normally, it’ll fire up in administrator mode.

Fix 4 – restart your router

A dodgy internet signal can easily cause crashes. And don’t assume that because your phone’s connected just fine that your computer is too.

The easiest way to fix a shaky internet connection is to unplug the router’s power cable, wait a few seconds, then plug it back in. This is a hard reset, and will knock out your internet for a few minutes while the router figures itself out again.

Your computer should reconnect automatically when the internet is restored.

Consider doing a quick speed test before you launch VALORANT again, just to make sure your computer’s getting a strong connection.

Fix 5 – update your graphics driver

A faulty or outdated GPU could be the culprit causing your VALORANT to crash, especially if it’s not something you’ve ever looked at before.

Here’s the easiest way to update this…

1. Open your computer’s Start menu.
2. Type in “device manager” (without the quote marks) and hit Enter.
3. Expand Display adaptors.
4. Right-click your GPU and click “update driver.
5. Select “Search automatically for drivers”.

After that, your computer will search for any driver updates. Follow any on-screen prompts from the Driver Wizard to update your driver if it finds any. If not, move on to the next fix.

Fix 6 – install any pending Windows updates

Yep, it’s time to stop ignoring those updates every time they pop up. An out-of-date Windows OS can cause VALORANT to crash and freeze mid-game or when launching.

Open your Start menu and click as if you’re going to turn your computer off. If you see any options to turn off or restart and install updates, do it (we’d suggest using the restart option).

That should take care of all the essential Windows updates that may be causing your problems.

You should probably check your Settings, too. Here’s how…

1. Open your Start menu.
2. Type “settings” (without quote marks) and hit Enter.
3. Open the Windows Update tab.
4. Download and install any available updates.

Fix 7 – stop the overclock(ing)

Yes, overclocking can crank up the gaming power of your computer… in theory. But it could also be causing VALORANT to crash, especially if you’re overclocking utilities like MSI Afterburner.

Chances are, if you enabled overclocking then you know how to disable it. But in case you forgot, here’s a quick rundown to guide you along…

1. Restart your PC and enter the BIOS menu by pressing your BIOS key.
2. Go to the Advanced tab and open the Performance settings.
3. Disable the Overclocking setting.
4. Save your changes and let your PC load as normal.

Fix 8 – adjust your antivirus settings

Some sources might suggest temporarily disabling your antivirus altogether, but that sounds a bit drastic for our liking!

Still, it’s worth checking your antivirus and firewall settings to make sure they’re not interfering and causing VALORANT to crash.

Fix 9 – uninstall and reinstall everything

It’s the ultimate “turn it off and on again” solution for all your crashing and freezing problems. And you need to make sure you uninstall both VALORANT and Riot’s anti-cheat software, Vanguard.

Here’s how to do that…

1. Open your Start menu.
2. Type “uninstall” (without the quote marks) and hit Enter.
3. Find VALORANT and Riot Vanguard in the list of programs and click to Uninstall each.

When they’re both fully uninstalled, download and install the game again.

Fix 10 – clean boot

This one might be intimidating for the less technically savvy gamers out there, but if all else has failed, a clean boot could save your bacon.

Here’s how to clean boot your PC so it only runs the most essential services…

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Type “run” (without the quote marks) and hit Enter.
3. Type “msconfig” (still without the quotes) and hit Enter.
4. Click on the Services tab.
5. Select the option “Hide all Microsoft services”.
6. Deselect all the remaining listed services, except those relevant to your video and sound cards (things like NVIDIA, Intel, AMD, or Realtek).
7. Click the OK button to save and close the window.
8. Check Task Manager and close any programs there that might still be causing problems.
9. Restart your computer.

Hopefully by now, VALORANT should run as as smooth as a whistle.

If it’s still crashing and freezing on you, we suggest you beseech the Gaming Gods for their mercy and try disabling programs one by one until you figure out which one dares cause you such heartache.