REMOVAL GUIDE · VALORANT
How to uninstall Valorant and Riot Vanguard completely
Valorant takes two uninstalls, not one: the game itself and Riot Vanguard, Riot's game security software, which has its own entry in Windows. Close the Riot Client first, which Riot says is required, uninstall the game from Installed apps, then remove Riot Vanguard from its tray icon or from the apps list, and restart. Riot's test for success is simple: after the restart, the Vanguard icon is no longer in the system tray. Two things are worth knowing before you start. Vanguard is shared: Riot requires it for most of its games, so removing it also stops League of Legends from starting until it is installed again. And it returns by design: launching the Riot Client or a game that needs it installs Vanguard again automatically. Riot's uninstall articles remove software from this PC and do not mention your Riot account.
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AT A GLANCE
| Check | What it means | Reversible? |
|---|---|---|
| Riot Client closed and gone from the system tray | Riot states that closing the Riot Client is required to uninstall its games | Yes: open it again |
| The game is gone from Installed apps | The game is uninstalled; Riot notes that this step may need a restart | Yes: download it again from Riot |
| Riot Vanguard is gone from the apps list | The second entry is removed | Yes: the Riot Client or a game that needs it installs it again |
| No Vanguard icon in the system tray after a restart | Riot's own test that Vanguard is fully uninstalled | Read-only check |
| sc.exe query vgc and sc.exe query vgk both answer that the service does not exist | The two services Riot's manual steps name are no longer registered | Read-only check |
The official way: close the Riot Client, remove the game, then Riot Vanguard
Riot documents this in two support articles, one for uninstalling its games and one for uninstalling Vanguard, and does not state an order between the two. This guide takes the game first and Vanguard second; either way, every Riot game and the Riot Client must be closed before you begin. Riot's Vanguard article says to use a Windows account with administrator access.
Close every Riot game and the Riot Client
Close any game launched from the Riot Client, then the client itself. If its icon is still in the system tray, in the bottom-right corner of the screen, right-click it and select Exit.
Uninstall the game
Press the Windows key, type Installed apps and open it. Choose VALORANT and select Uninstall. Riot notes that you may need to restart the computer to perform this step.
Uninstall Riot Vanguard
Riot gives two routes. From the system tray: right-click the Riot Vanguard icon, select Advanced, then Uninstall Vanguard, and follow the prompts. From Windows: open Add or remove programs, find Riot Vanguard in the app list and uninstall it. Use the Windows route if the icon is not in the tray.
Restart, then look at the tray
Riot's test: Vanguard has been fully uninstalled if it does not show in your system tray after a computer restart.
Only if Vanguard will not uninstall: Riot's manual steps
Riot's article gives these two lines for the case where Vanguard refuses to uninstall, with all Riot software closed: open Command Prompt as administrator, run them, restart, then delete the Riot Vanguard folder under Program Files. They delete the two service entries Riot names, and they are not needed when the normal uninstall worked.
cmdsc delete vgc sc delete vgkCheck the result (read-only)
Each line should answer that the specified service does not exist as an installed service. These commands only read; they change nothing.
PowerShellsc.exe query vgc sc.exe query vgk
What can stay behind, and what brings it back
Riot's clean uninstall steps for the game, written for troubleshooting, name the folders that hold its cache: VALORANT and Riot Client under C:\Riot Games, and Riot Games and VALORANT under your local AppData folder. Its Vanguard article names a Riot Vanguard folder under Program Files and two services, vgc and vgk. Riot's pages do not list registry keys or scheduled tasks, so this guide names none. These read-only PowerShell lines show which of those folders and entries still exist on this PC. If you installed the game on another drive, the first two paths will differ.
Test-Path 'C:\Riot Games\VALORANT', 'C:\Riot Games\Riot Client'
Test-Path (Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA 'Riot Games'), (Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA 'VALORANT')
Test-Path (Join-Path $env:ProgramFiles 'Riot Vanguard')
Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*',
'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*',
'HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
Where-Object DisplayName -match 'VALORANT|Riot' | Format-Table DisplayName, DisplayVersionUsually safe to act on
- Riot Vanguard still in the apps list or the tray after a restart: close all Riot software, use Riot's manual steps above, then restart again.
- Folders from Riot's clean uninstall list still present, and you are not reinstalling: delete them as Riot's steps describe, empty the Recycle Bin and restart.
- Vanguard back after you opened the Riot Client: that is the behaviour Riot documents, not a failed removal. If you no longer play any Riot game and the apps list shows a Riot Client entry, uninstall that too.
Your data and settings: keep
- Your Riot account: the uninstall articles do not mention it, and deleting an account is a separate request on Riot's support site.
- Riot Vanguard itself, if you still play League of Legends or another Riot game that requires it: Riot says most of its games need it.
- Secure Boot, TPM 2.0 and the other Windows security features Riot's requirements mention: they belong to Windows, and Riot's uninstall steps do not ask you to turn them off.
Why it starts with Windows, and Riot's on-demand option
Riot describes Vanguard as a client that runs while its games are active together with a kernel mode driver, and as usually an on-boot application: if you turn it off and later want to play, you have to restart the computer. That is why its icon sits in the tray when no game is open. If that is your only reason for removing it, Riot documents an alternative. Vanguard Pre-Check is an optional feature that starts Vanguard when you launch a Riot game and shuts it down after you finish playing. Riot lists its requirements as Windows 11 version 25H2 or newer, Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, IOMMU, Virtualization-Based Security and Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity, and the Vanguard tray icon shows whether your PC meets them.
What a restore point does and does not cover
Microsoft describes restore points as snapshots of system files, installed applications, the Windows registry and system settings, taken without affecting personal data. That also means a restore point is not a backup of your files. System Protection is not enabled by default, so on a PC where nobody switched it on, a request for a restore point fails; you turn it on under Create a restore point, Configure. And when an app asks for a restore point while one made in the previous 24 hours already exists, Windows skips the new one and still reports success. For this removal a restore point is not the way back: Riot's own route is to launch the Riot Client, or download the game again, and let it reinstall what it needs.
How PC Tweaker Uninstaller helps
It lists every Riot entry that Windows registers in one place and says how many other programs from the same publisher are installed, so the second entry is hard to miss. An entry named Riot Client is rated Review instead of Safe, because removing a launcher affects the games installed through it. Before anything runs, the brief shows the exact command each entry registered and whether it needs administrator rights, and the Removal Ledger records the method and the result. It runs the uninstaller each entry registered and nothing more: it does not delete services or drivers, so it does not replace Riot's manual steps when Vanguard refuses to uninstall, and it does not stop the Riot Client from installing Vanguard again. We have not run this removal on a test PC with the game installed, so this section describes what the app's source does for any program, not a result measured on this one. Its leftover scan matches folders, shortcuts and registry keys only when they are named exactly after the program, and pre-selects only items inside the install folder Windows recorded; anything matched by name alone is shown but never pre-selected. It does not list services or scheduled tasks. Cleaning leftover files and folders is free; cleaning registry keys and startup entries is Pro. Before an elevated removal it asks Windows for a restore point and records the outcome in the Removal Ledger. Because of the 24-hour rule above, Windows sometimes keeps an earlier point instead of making a new one. From version 0.13.8 the receipt says created only when it has verified a new point, and otherwise says that Windows reused the one from a given date; earlier versions could report created in that case.
Common questions
Does uninstalling Valorant remove Riot Vanguard?
Not as one step in Riot's instructions. Riot documents the two separately: the game is uninstalled from Installed apps, and Riot Vanguard from its tray icon (Advanced, Uninstall Vanguard) or from its own entry in the apps list. Check the list after removing the game, and restart when both are gone.
Why does Riot Vanguard come back after I uninstall it?
Because Riot installs it again on purpose: its support page says that launching the Riot Client or any game that depends on Vanguard reinstalls it automatically. Riot requires it for most of its games, League of Legends included, so it stays away only while no Riot software that needs it is launched.
How do I know Vanguard is completely uninstalled?
Riot's test is the system tray: Vanguard is fully uninstalled if its icon does not show there after a restart. For a second, read-only check, run sc.exe query vgc and sc.exe query vgk in PowerShell: both should answer that the service does not exist.
What if Riot Vanguard won't uninstall?
Riot documents a manual route for that case. With all Riot software closed, open Command Prompt as administrator, run sc delete vgc and then sc delete vgk, restart the computer, and delete the Riot Vanguard folder under Program Files.
Does uninstalling Valorant delete my Riot account?
Riot's uninstall articles only remove software from this PC and do not mention the account. Deleting a Riot account is a separate request, listed under Privacy & Data Protection on Riot's support site.
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