Why can’t I uninstall VALORANT?

Valorant

December 28, 2024

Tarun Sayal

Uninstalling VALORANT is an ideal option if you want to take a peaceful break after a frustrating rank push journey. However, imagine you’re trying to uninstall VALORANT and find yourself stuck at a random error that prevents you from deleting the game. It’s inarguably an annoying state, but worry not, we’ve laid every possible reason behind why you can’t uninstall VALORANT and how to get rid of this issue.

Why won’t VALORANT uninstall?

Image Credit: Riot Games

One of the primary reasons you can’t uninstall VALORANT from your system is none other than its anti-cheat software called Vanguard. As the name suggests, the game developers use this software to detect cheaters and maintain a fair environment for everyone.

However, the catch is, unlike other games, the Vanguard anti-cheat runs separately from VALORANT in the background, which means it’ll remain in action even if you close the game. Now this entire process eventually acts as a barrier when you’re trying to uninstall VALORANT.

Steps to fix

As mentioned earlier, if Vanguard is running in the background, your system won’t allow you to uninstall VALORANT. As a result, you’ll either have to turn off it first or remove it from your system. Simply follow these steps to do that:

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open the Task Manager.
Look for “Riot Vanguard” in the list of processes.
Right-click on it and select End Task.
Open the Control Panel on your computer.
Go to Programs and Features (or Add/Remove Programs).
Find Riot Vanguard in the list and click Uninstall.
Go back to the Control Panel after removing anti-cheat.
Locate VALORANT in the program list and click Uninstall.

That’s it. We’d suggest using third-party uninstaller software like Revo Uninstaller which will forcefully delete all the files associated with VALORANT if you still encounter any error. Don’t worry, your progress or in-game purchases won’t be affected because your data is stored on Riot Games’ server.

We know many of you’re waiting for the highly anticipated Gifting feature to surprise your VALORANT buddies with glorious skins. Check out when this feature is coming out.