Riot Games changed the rules on Valorant’s anti-cheat this year, and that has quietly broken most of the old uninstall advice floating around forums. Since Vanguard On-Demand shipped on June 24, 2026, the driver no longer loads at every Windows boot. Instead it activates only while you’re playing, and it leans on Windows 11 25H2 security features (Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, Virtualization-Based Security, and Memory Integrity) to prove your kernel hasn’t been tampered with. That’s good news for privacy and system stability, but it also means a “complete” uninstall now involves more than deleting a service and a folder. If Vanguard toggled on Memory Integrity or VBS while it was installed, those settings can stay flipped on after you remove the anti-cheat, sometimes causing slowdowns in older games, VM software, or emulators.

This tutorial walks through removing Valorant, the Riot Client, and both Vanguard services (vgc and vgk) from a Windows 11 machine, then checking and, if needed, reversing the security settings Vanguard’s on-demand mode depends on. It’s written for the current Vanguard build as of September 13, 2026, and covers Windows 11 25H2 as the baseline, with notes for anyone still on Windows 10 or an earlier Windows 11 feature update.

None of this is difficult once you know the order of operations, but the order matters. Delete the Vanguard services before the folders, reboot between the two, and check the security settings last, not first. Do it out of order and you’ll end up chasing “file in use” errors or wondering why Windows Security still shows Memory Integrity as enabled after you thought you removed everything tied to Valorant. The sections below cover the full removal (Steps 1-6), the security-settings decision most guides skip (Steps 7-9), an optional deep-clean for shared machines (Step 10), and a script you can save for next time.

Why uninstalling Valorant got more complicated in 2026

For most of Valorant’s life, Vanguard ran as an always-on kernel driver that loaded before Windows itself finished booting. Uninstalling it was simple in theory: stop the services, delete the folder, reboot. In practice, plenty of players hit stuck services or leftover registry entries, which is why so many troubleshooting guides exist for this one anti-cheat.

Riot’s announcement of Vanguard On-Demand changed the underlying model. According to Riot Games’ official post, the anti-cheat now only loads while Valorant is actively running, provided your PC meets a specific hardware and software bar: Windows 11 version 25H2 or later, UEFI Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, Virtualization-Based Security (VBS), Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity (HVCI, shown in Windows as Memory Integrity), and IOMMU, all enabled at the same time. Riot’s own support documentation on Vanguard Security Requirements describes Memory Integrity as a core requirement, not an optional hardening step, because it uses hardware-backed virtualization to stop unsigned or tampered kernel drivers, including cheat drivers, from loading.

That dependency cuts both ways for anyone trying to fully remove Valorant. If Vanguard’s pre-check enabled VBS or Memory Integrity for you automatically, deleting the Vanguard services alone won’t touch those Windows Security settings. They’ll stay on, which is usually fine for security but can conflict with older anti-cheat systems in other games, certain virtualization software, or hardware that saw a performance hit under HVCI. This guide treats “full removal” as two separate jobs: removing Riot’s software, and deciding what to do with the Windows security features it required.

Windows 10 vs Windows 11 25H2: what actually changes for uninstall

If you’re still on Windows 10 or an older Windows 11 feature update, none of the On-Demand behavior applies to you, and that’s worth knowing before you start troubleshooting. Vanguard On-Demand mode is gated specifically to Windows 11 version 25H2 or later with the full VBS, HVCI, Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, and IOMMU stack enabled. If any one of those pieces is missing, Riot’s pre-check falls back to the legacy always-on driver behavior, the same model Vanguard has used since Valorant launched in 2020.

Practically, this means the removal commands in Steps 3 and 6 are identical either way, since the service names (vgc, vgk) and folder paths haven’t changed. What differs is Step 7 onward: if you’re on the legacy configuration, Vanguard never touched your VBS or Memory Integrity settings in the first place, so there’s nothing to check or revert. You can skip straight from Step 6 to the troubleshooting section if that’s your situation. If you’re not sure which mode you were on, the quickest tell is whether you ever saw a Vanguard process running in Task Manager while Valorant was closed. Under On-Demand, that shouldn’t happen. Under the legacy driver, it’s the default state.

Prerequisites and versions

Before starting, confirm what you’re working with. The steps below were verified against the following baseline as of September 2026:

  • Windows 11, version 25H2 or later (required for Vanguard On-Demand mode – Windows 10 and earlier 11 builds still run legacy always-on Vanguard)
  • Administrator account on the PC (a standard user account cannot delete Windows services)
  • Riot Client and Valorant already closed, including any background processes in Task Manager
  • Command Prompt or PowerShell, both run as Administrator
  • About 20-30 minutes, plus one or two restarts
  • A backup of anything you’d hate to lose — this process touches system services and, optionally, Windows security settings

If you’re not sure which Windows 11 build you’re on, press Windows key + R, type winver, and hit Enter. The version number appears in the pop-up window.

Step 1: Close Valorant, Riot Client, and background processes

Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and check for any of the following still running: Valorant.exe, RiotClientServices.exe, VALORANT-Win64-Shipping.exe, or vgtray.exe. End each one from Task Manager if it’s active. Vanguard’s uninstall commands will fail silently or throw “access denied” errors if the game or client still has a handle open on its files.

This is also the point to note whether Vanguard is currently running in the background at all. Under On-Demand mode, Vanguard should not be listed as a running process when you’re not in a match, since the whole point of the update is that it no longer loads at boot. If you see vgc.exe or vgk-related entries running with no game open, your installation may still be on the legacy always-on configuration, which affects a couple of steps later on.

It’s worth checking your Downloads folder and desktop for old Valorant or Vanguard installer files too. They won’t block the uninstall, but keeping a stale installer around is a common reason people accidentally reinstall the anti-cheat weeks later while looking for something else, then wonder why Vanguard is back.

Step 2: Uninstall Valorant through Windows Settings

Start with the standard app removal, which clears the bulk of the game’s files:

  1. Open Settings (Windows key + I)
  2. Go to Apps > Installed apps
  3. Search for “VALORANT” in the list
  4. Click the three-dot menu next to it and select Uninstall
  5. Confirm the uninstall prompt and wait for it to finish

This step removes the game client and most of its local data, but it does not remove the Riot Client, the Vanguard services, or any of the leftover folders under Program Files and ProgramData. Those need separate handling, which is where most “I uninstalled Valorant but it’s still here” complaints come from.

You can also start the uninstall from inside the Riot Client itself, under the Valorant tile’s settings menu, which some players find more reliable than the Windows Settings route when the client is already open. Either path removes the same files, so use whichever is already in front of you.

Step 3: Remove the Vanguard services with the command line

Vanguard installs two Windows services: vgc (the user-mode component) and vgk (the kernel-mode driver). Riot’s own support article, Uninstall and Disable Vanguard, documents the official removal command. Open Command Prompt as Administrator (search “cmd”, right-click, Run as administrator) and run:

sc stop vgc
sc stop vgk
sc delete vgc
sc delete vgk

The stop commands may return an error if the services are already inactive, which is expected under On-Demand mode and not a problem. What matters is that both delete commands report [SC] DeleteService SUCCESS. Restart the PC once both services are deleted, since Windows won’t fully release the driver files until after a reboot.

Step 4: Delete leftover Vanguard and Riot folders

After the restart, open File Explorer and check these locations, deleting any that remain:

  • C:\Program Files\Riot Vanguard
  • C:\ProgramData\Riot Games\Vanguard
  • C:\Riot Games\VALORANT (or wherever you installed the game)
  • C:\Users\[your username]\AppData\Local\VALORANT
  • C:\ProgramData\Riot Games (only delete this if you’re also removing League of Legends or the Riot Client entirely)

If Windows tells you a file is in use when you try to delete the Riot Vanguard folder, it usually means a reboot didn’t fully happen or a related process is still active. Reboot again and retry before assuming something is corrupted.

Step 5: Remove the Riot Client (optional, only if you don’t play other Riot games)

If League of Legends, Legends of Runeterra, or 2XKO are also installed through the same Riot Client, skip this step entirely. Removing the client will break those games too. If Valorant was the only reason you had Riot Client installed, uninstall it the same way as any Windows app: Settings > Apps > Installed apps, search “Riot Client,” and select Uninstall.

Step 6: Verify removal with PowerShell

Rather than manually checking each folder and service, run one verification block as Administrator in PowerShell:

Get-Service -Name vgc, vgk -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Test-Path "C:\Program Files\Riot Vanguard"
Test-Path "C:\ProgramData\Riot Games\Vanguard"
Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\vgk" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

A clean removal returns nothing for the Get-Service call, False for both Test-Path checks, and an error for the registry lookup (meaning the key no longer exists). If any of those checks come back positive, go back to Step 3 and confirm the sc delete commands actually succeeded, since a failed delete often gets silently skipped if a service was still marked as running.

Step 7: Check whether Vanguard changed your VBS and Memory Integrity settings

This is the step most uninstall guides skip, and it’s the one that matters most if you’re troubleshooting a performance change after removing Valorant. Press Windows key + R, type msinfo32, and press Enter. Scroll to the bottom of the System Summary page and look for the “Virtualization-based security” line. It will show either Running or Not enabled, along with which services are active under it (Riot’s own support guide walks through this exact check in its Enable Memory Integrity (HVCI/VBS) article, aimed at getting the feature turned on rather than off, but the same window works for confirming its current state either way).

Separately, open Windows Security, go to Device security > Core isolation details, and check whether Memory integrity is toggled on. If it’s on and you don’t remember enabling it yourself, there’s a reasonable chance Vanguard’s pre-check flipped it during setup, since Riot’s Vanguard Security Requirements page lists Memory Integrity as something the anti-cheat actively enforces on eligible hardware.

Step 8: Decide whether to keep VBS and Memory Integrity enabled

This is a judgment call, not a bug to fix. Memory Integrity and VBS are legitimate Windows security features that Microsoft has recommended enabling by default on supported hardware for years, independent of Valorant. Leaving them on protects against a real class of kernel-level attacks. The table below breaks down when it makes sense to leave them enabled versus turn them back off.

ScenarioRecommendationWhy
You uninstalled Valorant but still play other online gamesKeep VBS/Memory Integrity onMost modern anti-cheat systems (EAC, BattlEye) work fine alongside it, and it adds real kernel protection
You run older games with legacy or DRM-heavy anti-cheatTest case by caseA small number of older titles have known compatibility issues with HVCI
You use Hyper-V, WSL2, or VirtualBox with nested virtualizationKeep VBS on, test VM performanceVBS shares the same hypervisor layer, and conflicts are less common than they used to be but can still appear with older hypervisor builds
You noticed a measurable FPS drop in CPU-bound games after enabling itConsider disabling Memory Integrity onlyHVCI can cost single-digit percentage FPS in some CPU-limited titles, though GPU-bound games are rarely affected
You’re not sure and don’t game competitively elsewhereLeave it enabledThe security benefit generally outweighs the small performance cost on modern CPUs

If you land on “leave it enabled” after reading the table, you can stop here and skip to the troubleshooting section further down. Nothing about removing Valorant requires you to also strip out Windows security features that happen to benefit other software too.

Step 9: Turn off Memory Integrity, if you decide to

If you’ve weighed the tradeoffs and want to revert to your pre-Vanguard configuration, the toggle is in the same place you checked it in Step 7:

  1. Open Windows Security
  2. Go to Device security > Core isolation details
  3. Switch Memory integrity to Off
  4. Restart when prompted — this setting doesn’t apply until reboot

Disabling VBS itself (as opposed to just Memory Integrity) usually requires a Group Policy or registry change rather than a single toggle, since VBS underpins several other Windows features like Credential Guard. Most people only need to touch Memory Integrity, and should leave the underlying VBS platform alone unless they have a specific reason to disable it entirely.

Step 10: Clean up registry leftovers (advanced, optional)

For most players, Steps 3 through 6 are enough. If you’re rebuilding a shared or managed machine and want a fully clean slate, a small number of registry keys can survive a standard uninstall. Back up the registry first with reg export HKLM backup.reg, then check these paths in regedit:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\vgk
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\vgc
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Riot Games

If the sc delete commands from Step 3 completed successfully, the Services\vgk and Services\vgc keys should already be gone, and the PowerShell check in Step 6 will confirm it. Only touch these manually if verification still shows them present after two clean reboots.

Confirming your Riot account and progress are unaffected

Every step in this guide is local to your PC. None of it touches your Riot account, rank, skins, or Valorant Points balance, since all of that lives on Riot’s servers rather than on your machine. Uninstalling the game and Vanguard, deleting the local folders, and even wiping the registry keys from Step 10 has no bearing on your account standing. You can log back into a fresh install later and pick up exactly where you left off, provided you sign in with the same Riot account credentials.

The one thing that can look like account data but isn’t is local video settings, keybinds, and crosshair profiles, which are stored in the AppData folder deleted in Step 4. If you want to preserve a custom crosshair code or keybind layout before uninstalling, write it down or export it through Valorant’s in-game settings menu first, since those are stored locally and won’t survive a full removal.

Common pitfalls when uninstalling Valorant and Vanguard

A handful of mistakes account for most failed uninstall attempts. Here’s what to watch for.

  • Running Command Prompt without Administrator rights. The sc delete commands fail silently or return “Access is denied” if the prompt wasn’t elevated. Always right-click and choose Run as administrator.
  • Not closing the Riot Client fully. The Riot Client often minimizes to the system tray rather than closing. Check the tray icons, not just the taskbar.
  • Skipping the reboot between service deletion and folder deletion. Windows keeps a lock on driver files until the next boot, even after the service is deleted.
  • Assuming Vanguard is still always-on. If you’re on Windows 11 25H2 with the full security stack enabled, Vanguard now behaves differently than the legacy version most old guides were written for. Don’t expect to see it running when Valorant is closed.
  • Confusing VBS with antivirus. Memory Integrity and Windows Defender are separate systems. Disabling one doesn’t disable the other.
  • Deleting the shared Riot Games folder while other Riot titles are installed. This breaks League of Legends or 2XKO installs that share the same client and account data.
  • Not checking Task Manager for orphaned processes. A crashed uninstall can leave RiotClientServices.exe running in the background, blocking file deletion.
  • Ignoring antivirus quarantine. Some third-party antivirus tools flag Vanguard’s driver files during deletion and re-lock them. Temporarily pause real-time protection if deletion keeps failing.

What a clean uninstall looks like: expected output

After following all the steps above on a Windows 11 25H2 machine, here’s the output you should see from the verification command in Step 6:

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Get-Service -Name vgc, vgk -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Test-Path "C:\Program Files\Riot Vanguard"
False
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Test-Path "C:\ProgramData\Riot Games\Vanguard"
False
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\vgk" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>

No service objects returned, both path checks return False, and the registry query returns nothing. That’s a confirmed clean removal of both the services and the associated files.

Troubleshooting: 8+ common problems and fixes

Even with the steps above, a few specific errors come up often enough to warrant their own fixes. Most of these trace back to timing (running a command before a reboot completed) or permissions (a step that quietly needs Administrator rights but didn’t get them), so check those two things first before assuming something deeper is wrong.

ProblemLikely causeFix
“The specified service does not exist” when running sc deleteService was already removed or was never installed under that exact nameRun the PowerShell check from Step 6 to confirm current state, no action needed if it’s already gone
“Access is denied” on sc delete or sc stopCommand Prompt wasn’t run as AdministratorClose the window, reopen with Run as administrator, and retry
Riot Vanguard folder won’t delete, “file in use”A related process or the driver itself is still loadedReboot, then delete the folder before launching any Riot software
Valorant uninstalls but Riot Client reinstalls it automaticallyRiot Client sync feature reinstalling from your libraryUninstall through the Riot Client’s own game management screen first, then remove the client
Memory Integrity toggle is grayed outManaged by Group Policy or an organization’s MDM profileOn a work or school PC, contact IT, since the setting is locked at the policy level, not per-user
PC won’t boot to desktop after disabling Memory IntegrityRare driver incompatibility exposed after HVCI is turned offBoot into Safe Mode, re-enable Memory Integrity, and update GPU/chipset drivers before retrying
vgk registry key still present after rebootsc delete ran but Windows Update or System Restore recreated itRe-run the Step 3 commands and confirm no pending restart is queued from Windows Update
“Can’t uninstall Valorant, Riot Client is still running”Background Riot Client process not visible in the main windowOpen Task Manager, end RiotClientServices.exe and RiotClientUx.exe, then retry the uninstall
Uninstall works but disk space doesn’t free upWindows Update cache or shader cache left behind in a separate folderRun Disk Cleanup and check for a leftover VALORANT folder on any secondary drive you installed to

Advanced tips for IT admins and shared machines

If you’re managing more than one PC, whether that’s a household with several gaming rigs or a lab of machines at a school or LAN center, a few extra habits save time.

First, script the removal instead of clicking through it manually on each machine. The commands from Steps 3 and 6 can be combined into a single PowerShell script and pushed through a remote management tool or a simple batch job run at login. Second, standardize on whether Memory Integrity should stay on or off across the fleet before you start, rather than deciding machine by machine, since a mixed configuration makes future troubleshooting harder. Third, if the machines are joined to a domain, check Group Policy first. Memory Integrity and VBS settings pushed through Group Policy will override anything you set locally and will simply revert on the next policy refresh, which explains the “grayed out toggle” issue in the troubleshooting table above.

Finally, keep a record of which machines were on legacy always-on Vanguard versus On-Demand mode before the uninstall. If any of them need Valorant reinstalled later for testing or event use, that history saves a round of re-diagnosing a driver conflict that was actually just a version difference.

Handling multi-user PCs and family shared computers

Vanguard’s services and drivers are installed at the machine level, not the user account level, which trips people up on shared family PCs. If one account uninstalls Valorant and Vanguard, it affects every account on that machine, including anyone else’s saved Valorant progress if they were sharing the same Riot account (which Riot’s terms don’t actually support, but plenty of households do it anyway with separate logins on one PC).

Before running the removal commands on a shared machine, check with anyone else who uses it. If a sibling or roommate still plays Valorant under their own Windows account, uninstalling through Settings will remove the game for them too, since there’s only one installation per machine regardless of how many Windows profiles exist. The Memory Integrity decision in Step 8 is similarly machine-wide: turning it off affects every account, not just the one you’re logged into when you make the change.

Gaming cafes and LAN centers run into a related issue at larger scale: dozens of machines, all sharing the same image, all needing the same security posture. In that setting it’s worth deciding on a written policy (Memory Integrity on or off, fleet-wide) before deploying it to a single machine, rather than discovering the inconsistency later when one PC behaves differently from the rest during a tournament weekend.

Complete working script: full removal in one pass

For anyone comfortable with PowerShell, here’s a combined script that runs the service removal and verification in sequence. Save it as a .ps1 file and run it from an elevated PowerShell window. Close Valorant and Riot Client first.

If Windows blocks the script from running with an execution policy error, that’s expected on a default configuration, since PowerShell restricts unsigned scripts out of the box. Run Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass in the same elevated window first, which lifts the restriction only for that session rather than changing your system-wide policy permanently.

# Run as Administrator. Close Valorant and Riot Client before running.

Write-Host "Stopping Vanguard services..."
Stop-Service -Name vgc -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Stop-Service -Name vgk -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Write-Host "Deleting Vanguard services..."
sc.exe delete vgc
sc.exe delete vgk

Write-Host "Please reboot now, then run the verification block below."
Write-Host "-----"
Write-Host "Verification (run after reboot):"
Write-Host 'Get-Service -Name vgc, vgk -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue'
Write-Host 'Test-Path "C:\Program Files\Riot Vanguard"'
Write-Host 'Test-Path "C:\ProgramData\Riot Games\Vanguard"'

After the reboot, manually delete the remaining folders from Step 4, then run the verification commands from Step 6 to confirm a clean removal. This two-stage approach (script, reboot, manual cleanup, verify) mirrors exactly what Riot’s own support documentation recommends, just consolidated into fewer steps than clicking through each one individually.

How this compares to the pre-2026 always-on Vanguard removal

If you’ve uninstalled Vanguard before under the older always-on model, most of the mechanics here will look familiar: the same vgc and vgk services, the same Program Files folder, the same sc delete commands. What’s different is the security-feature layer added by On-Demand mode. Under the legacy model, Vanguard didn’t require VBS or Memory Integrity at all, it simply ran as a standard always-on kernel driver. There was nothing extra to check afterward, because Vanguard wasn’t tied to those Windows features in the first place.

Under On-Demand mode, the anti-cheat’s entire security model depends on that Windows 11 25H2 hardware-and-software baseline. That’s a meaningful tradeoff: less background footprint while you’re not gaming, in exchange for a setup step (and, on uninstall, a potential cleanup step) that touches core Windows security settings rather than just game files. Coverage from Tom’s Hardware described the shift as trading always-on presence for a security model that leans more heavily on the operating system itself, which is a reasonable way to think about why uninstalling now involves an extra decision point that didn’t exist two years ago.

Should you reinstall Valorant later without repeating all of this?

If you’re uninstalling temporarily, for example to free up disk space during a slow season or before a competitive event, know that a fresh install will re-run Vanguard’s pre-check and may re-enable Memory Integrity and VBS again if you turned them off in Step 9. That’s expected behavior, not a bug: Riot’s Vanguard Security Requirements documentation treats those settings as a baseline for the software to function under On-Demand mode, so the pre-check reasserts them on setup rather than assuming your prior configuration.

If you’d rather not go through the full cycle again, consider leaving Memory Integrity enabled even after uninstalling, unless you’ve confirmed a specific compatibility problem with another program. It saves a step on reinstall and, per Microsoft’s own hardware security guidance, provides a real security benefit independent of whether Valorant is installed at all.

Why this matters beyond Valorant

Vanguard isn’t the only anti-cheat leaning on hardware-backed Windows security. As kernel-level cheat drivers have gotten harder to detect with traditional signature scanning, more anti-cheat vendors have started requiring the same VBS and HVCI protections Riot now depends on. That means the removal pattern in this guide (services, folders, registry, then a separate check of Windows security settings) is a reasonable template for other kernel-driver anti-cheat systems too, not just Vanguard.

It’s also a reminder that “uninstalling” software with kernel-level access was never quite as simple as dragging an icon to the Recycle Bin, and that gap has only widened as anti-cheat and DRM systems reach deeper into the operating system to do their job. Checking what a program changed at the system level, not just what files it dropped in Program Files, is a habit worth keeping for any software that installs a driver, whether that’s an anti-cheat tool, a VPN client, or a peripheral’s control software.

A quick pre-uninstall checklist

Before you start Step 1, run through this short list so you don’t have to backtrack partway through:

  • Note your Windows build number (winver) so you know whether legacy or On-Demand Vanguard applies to you
  • Export or write down any custom crosshair codes, keybinds, or video settings you want to keep
  • Close Valorant, Riot Client, and check Task Manager for background processes
  • Confirm you’re logged into an Administrator account, not a standard user profile
  • Check whether anyone else on a shared PC still plays Valorant before uninstalling
  • Have about 20-30 minutes free, since this involves at least one restart

Frequently asked questions

Does uninstalling Valorant also remove Vanguard automatically?
No. Uninstalling the game through Windows Settings removes VALORANT’s own files but leaves the vgc and vgk services and the Riot Vanguard folder in place. You need to run the sc delete commands from Step 3 separately.

Will removing Vanguard also disable Memory Integrity or VBS?
Not automatically. Deleting the Vanguard services doesn’t revert Windows Security settings. If Vanguard’s pre-check turned on Memory Integrity, it stays on until you manually switch it off in Windows Security > Device security > Core isolation details.

Is it safe to leave Memory Integrity and VBS enabled after uninstalling Valorant?
Yes. Both are standard Windows 11 security features, not anti-cheat-specific tools, and Microsoft recommends enabling them on supported hardware regardless of what games you play. Leaving them on protects against kernel-level attacks even without Valorant installed.

Why can’t I uninstall Valorant because “Riot Client is still running”?
This usually means RiotClientServices.exe or RiotClientUx.exe is still active in the background, often minimized to the system tray. End both processes in Task Manager, then retry the uninstall.

Does Vanguard still run at every Windows boot in 2026?
Not if you’re on Windows 11 25H2 or later with the full security stack (Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, VBS, HVCI, IOMMU) enabled and you have Vanguard On-Demand active. On that configuration, Vanguard only loads while Valorant is running. Machines on Windows 10 or earlier Windows 11 builds still use the legacy always-on driver.

I uninstalled Valorant, but my PC feels slower in other games. Is that related?
It’s possible, though not guaranteed. If Memory Integrity was enabled by Vanguard’s pre-check, some CPU-bound titles can see a small FPS impact from HVCI. Check Windows Security > Device security > Core isolation details, and test disabling Memory Integrity if you suspect it’s the cause, following Step 9 above.

Can I remove just Valorant and keep Vanguard installed for another Riot game?
Vanguard is specific to Valorant. Other Riot titles like League of Legends don’t use it. If you plan to reinstall Valorant later, you can skip the Vanguard removal steps and just uninstall the game itself, though this leaves the anti-cheat driver on your system in the meantime.

What’s the difference between disabling Memory Integrity and disabling VBS entirely?
Memory Integrity (HVCI) is one feature built on top of the broader VBS platform. Turning off Memory Integrity in Windows Security is a single toggle. Disabling VBS itself typically requires a Group Policy or registry change and affects other features like Credential Guard, so most users only need to touch the Memory Integrity toggle.

Does uninstalling Vanguard remove any anti-cheat bans I’ve already received?
No. Vanguard bans are tied to your Riot account and hardware ID, not to files stored locally on your PC. Removing the software has no effect on account-level enforcement actions from Riot.

My antivirus flagged the Vanguard driver files during removal. Is that normal?
It can happen. Kernel-level drivers with deep system access sometimes trip heuristic detection in third-party antivirus tools, even when the driver itself is legitimate. If deletion keeps failing with a lock error tied to your antivirus, pause real-time protection temporarily, complete Steps 3 and 4, then turn protection back on.