How to Fix Valorant Freezing During Gameplay

Valorant can freeze or stutter during matches, making the game unplayable and potentially costing you ranked games. Here are all the methods to fix freezing issues and get smooth gameplay.

Method 1: Update GPU Drivers

Outdated graphics drivers are the most common cause of freezing and stuttering in Valorant.

1. For NVIDIA: Open GeForce Experience and install the latest Game Ready driver.
2. For AMD: Open AMD Software and install the latest driver.
3. Restart your PC after installing.
4. Launch Valorant and test for freezing.

Method 2: Lower Graphics Settings

Even though Valorant is not very demanding, certain settings can cause freezing on lower-end hardware.

1. Open Valorant and go to Settings, then Video, then Graphics Quality.
2. Set Material Quality, Texture Quality, and Detail Quality to Low.
3. Disable Anti-Aliasing or set it to MSAA 2x.
4. Disable Vignette, VSync, and Improve Clarity.
5. Set the frame rate cap to your monitor’s refresh rate.

Method 3: Close Background Applications

Background applications compete for system resources and can cause Valorant to freeze during gameplay.

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
2. Close web browsers, streaming apps, and other games.
3. Disable Discord overlay and Steam overlay if active.
4. Close any recording or streaming software like OBS unless you need it.

Method 4: Disable Fullscreen Optimizations

Windows fullscreen optimizations can interfere with how Valorant renders frames and cause micro-freezes.

Windows fullscreen optimizations can interfere with how Valorant renders frames and cause micro-freezes.

1. Navigate to the Valorant installation folder (usually C:\Riot Games\VALORANT\live).
2. Find VALORANT-Win64-Shipping.exe.
3. Right-click it and select Properties.
4. Click the Compatibility tab.
5. Check Disable fullscreen optimizations.
6. Click Apply and OK.

Method 5: Set Valorant to High Priority

Setting Valorant to high priority in Task Manager tells Windows to allocate more CPU resources to the game.

1. Launch Valorant.
2. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
3. Click the Details tab.
4. Find VALORANT-Win64-Shipping.exe.
5. Right-click it and select Set priority, then High.
6. Click Change priority to confirm.

Method 6: Reinstall Vanguard Anti-Cheat

A corrupted Vanguard installation can cause performance issues including freezing.

1. Open Windows Settings, then Apps.
2. Find Riot Vanguard and uninstall it.
3. Restart your PC.
4. Launch Valorant. It will reinstall Vanguard automatically.
5. Restart your PC again and launch the game.

Method 7: Check for Overheating

Overheating causes your CPU and GPU to throttle their performance, which results in freezing and frame drops.

1. Download a temperature monitoring tool like HWMonitor or HWiNFO.
2. Play Valorant for 10 to 15 minutes while monitoring temperatures.
3. CPU temperatures should stay below 85°C and GPU below 80°C.
4. If temperatures are too high, clean dust from your PC fans and heatsinks.
5. Ensure your PC has adequate airflow and consider replacing thermal paste if the system is old.

Method 8: Reinstall Valorant

A clean reinstall removes all corrupted game files that may be causing freezing.

1. Uninstall Riot Vanguard from Windows Settings.
2. Uninstall Valorant from Windows Settings.
3. Restart your PC.
4. Download the latest installer from playvalorant.com.
5. Install and restart your PC once more.
6. Launch Valorant and test.