Gab Hernandez 
Gamers tired of playing Valorant may want to uninstall the game from their machine, but Riot Games doesn’t make it easy; many even find they can’t delete it. Thankfully, the solution is simple.
Riot has no shortage of critics, whether about the community, balance patches, or some other ongoing issue. However, one problem many Valorant players have encountered has nothing to do with the game but the program. Few would say that the Valorant client is anything but a massive improvement over League of Legends. There is an area that’s been consistently troublesome, though.
Since its launch, players tired of Valorant found it difficult to uninstall the game completely from their system. Many reported incidents of uninstalling the game, only for the Riot client to automatically reinstall it upon restarting the PC. Others can’t even find the option to uninstall on the Riot client. Thankfully, the solution is deceptively simple.
How to uninstall Valorant on PC
Disable the Riot Client and Riot Vanguard before uninstalling Valorant via the Windows settings.
Uninstalling any game is usually simple on a PC. For example, if a player wants to uninstall a Steam game, they simply have to right-click on it from the Library, select Manage, and Uninstall.
It’s not the same experience for Valorant players. Users must uninstall Valorant through Windows for the most wholesome experience. Follow the steps below to avoid the headaches that typically accompany a Valorant uninstallation process:
- Close Valorant if it’s still open
- Click on the system tray button in the bottom right corner
- Look for the Riot Client icon
- Right-click and select Quit on the Riot Client
- If this doesn’t work, open Task Manager and close the process from there
- Repeat the process for Riot Vanguard
- Open the Start Menu
- Select Settings
- Go to Apps
- Scroll down to Valorant
- Select Uninstall
After that process, the player is finally free from Valorant’s grasp. As for why the process for uninstalling Valorant is so involved, it has everything to do with Riot’s Vanguard. The anti-cheat software has come under heavy criticism from many fans for allowing Riot to access user systems on the kernel level.
While Riot reports that Vanguard has resulted in a downward trend of cheating, critics voice concerns over what may happen if malicious actors take control of Riot Vanguard. While such an incident has yet to happen, some players have reported Vanguard allegedly bricking their machines.
Whatever the case, it does make Valorant harder to uninstall than most other games.
Why can’t I uninstall Valorant?
Players will be unable to uninstall Valorant if Vanguard or the Riot Client are running.
The Valorant client is tied up with other programs, including the Riot Client and the Vanguard anti-cheat program. As such, all three need to be completely closed to uninstall Valorant. Those who find themselves unable to uninstall Valorant should make sure to close down everything, then try to delete it again.
