Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minutePC Slower Than It Used to Be?
A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11If VALORANT opens to a black screen and then fails to load, restart your Windows PC first. If that does not help, Riot says a clean reinstall of your graphics drivers might resolve the issue. Choose the next step based on what you see: a black screen after a game update calls for a different path from an explicit Vanguard or dependency error.
Start with a PC restart
Riot’s support result for black-screen launch trouble after patch 10.05 recommends restarting the PC first. That advice is specific to the reported patch-related symptom; it does not establish that patch 10.05 is current or that the same issue is affecting every player now.
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- Close VALORANT and the Riot Client if they are still open.
- Restart Windows from Start > Power > Restart.
- After Windows loads, open the Riot Client and try launching VALORANT again.
If the game still stops at a black screen, move on to the graphics-driver step rather than applying every possible fix at once. Riot’s Installation and Technical Support guidance says a clean driver reinstall might resolve the patch-related problem; it is not a guaranteed cure.
If the black screen persists, cleanly reinstall your graphics driver
Use the current instructions from your graphics-card manufacturer for a clean driver installation. The available Riot guidance does not specify one driver version, removal utility, or installation procedure, so avoid relying on an unofficial driver updater or a guessed sequence of steps. Restart Windows after installing the driver, then try the game again.
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Choose the next fix by the error you see
VALORANT crashes or fails to launch without a Vanguard error
For broader launch crashes, Riot lists several troubleshooting options: clear the game’s local cache, clean boot Windows, add firewall exceptions, check whether third-party antivirus software is interfering, update graphics drivers, or reinstall VALORANT and Vanguard. These are general launch-crash options, not fixes Riot identifies as certain cures for every black screen.
- Change one thing at a time and retry the game so you can identify whether it helped.
- Use Riot’s instructions for cache, clean boot, firewall, antivirus, and reinstall steps rather than changing security settings at random.
- If the options do not resolve the launch problem, contact Riot Support. Riot’s listed general troubleshooting appears in its localized Launch Troubleshooting article, published 19 March 2026.
You see a Vanguard or dependency error
Follow the error-specific route only when VALORANT displays a dependency or anti-cheat error. Riot recommends checking for Windows updates and, if needed, reinstalling both Vanguard and VALORANT, restarting, and running the installer with administrator privileges. These steps are tied to that error context; a black screen by itself is not evidence that Vanguard needs to be reinstalled.
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See Riot’s dependency and anti-cheat error guidance for the steps that apply to your message.
When to stop troubleshooting
If restarting, a clean graphics-driver reinstall, and the applicable Riot troubleshooting steps do not restore the launch, send a support request to Riot. Include the exact error text, when the black screen occurs, and whether the problem began after an update; those details help distinguish a general launch crash from a specific anti-cheat or dependency failure.
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