Valorant Error Code 57 – Vanguard Not Initialized [FIXED]

Similar to other online-focused first-person-shooter games, Valorant isn’t exempt from running into its fair share of error codes. The Valorant Error Code Van 68 debacle is sheer proof of the latter statement, not to mention other problems where the game crashes completely. Another notorious matter is when players start experiencing the Valorant error code 57 which renders their game useless. Fret not though, since this article will go over all the possible fixes to this problem that you’re facing. 

How To Fix Valorant Error Code 57

It’s important that you know what exactly is the cause of the Valorant error code 57 before you get into fixing it. Understanding the problem makes it easier to solve it, so we’re going to do cover just that now. 

Whenever you try launching the game, an error prompt shows up that says, “Vanguard Not Initialized.” This statement is accompanied by an explanation, which is, “Vanguard Anti-Cheat has not been initialized. If this is your first time playing you will need to reboot your computer to continue. If you see this message frequently you may need to update your drivers.” 

The error code 57 arises when a specific application that’s tied to the main configuration of the game fails to start up properly. This particular service is the developer’s very own anti-cheat engine called Riot Vanguard. In addition to a mere faulty startup, a glitch might be causing the game not to identify Vanguard and assume that it’s simply missing.

Some players might even get the error code 57 if they are trying to remove the anti-cheat engine from their copy of the game. Other causes include corruption of game files, and a defective DNS range on your Windows PC. The most sizable chances are that the Riot Vanguard service is malfunctioning, so fixing that isn’t too difficult. Speaking of which, let’s kickstart our list of fixes now. Do follow each solution as instructed for the best results.  

Restart Valorant 

We’re going to start off with something quite plain here. This is in accordance with one of the causes of the error code and that is a glitched, faulty anti-cheat tool. Riot Vanguard might have gone missing according to the analysis of your game client, but that could be flat-out false. All that this issue warrants is a simple restart of the Valorant game client and that should do the trick for us.

A restart would prompt the anti-cheat engine to load up again and this is recommended to do so by the official support page of Riot Games as well. Therefore, close the application and start it up again by searching for it in the Windows Start menu. We recommend not using the desktop shortcut key of Valorant because we’re trying to run it as an administrator now, as specified in the screenshot below. Admin privileges are bound to take away half the potential errors a game or an application could face moving forward and we need all the help we can get at the present.

Restarting the game client should do the trick for the vast majority of the players since the error code isn’t exceedingly deep-rooted. However, if doing so hasn’t worked for you and the error prompt still appears on your PC, it’s time to take other measures.

Remove Unwanted Background Processes 

A hefty number of background processes might be bogging down the Valorant application that you have on your PC. If you’ve got too many applications fired up at one given time, the game client might be having an exceedingly tough time loading up properly. This is one of the reasons you’ll see the Valorant error popping up on your screen. 

Fixing this is nothing but difficult. All you have to do is launch the Task Manager on your PC by either using the “Ctrl,”Shift,” and “Esc” shortcut key combination or by accessing it from the Taskbar if you have it pinned there. Once done, evaluate how much CPU and RAM is being utilized by the various system processes.

Anything above 70% of CPU and Memory usage is undesirable. Evaluate what process can be removed from the background in the Task Manager and make changes accordingly. 

The following image is an example of how to end a task in the Task Manager. You’ll first have to select a process from the list embedded and then click on “End task” to finalize the process. 

That’s all about the second possible solution for fixing the Van error code 57. Freeing up some space on your PC always bodes well for performance, not to mention being a problem-solver for the title in question. However, if your system resources weren’t under heavy load or clearing out the background processes hasn’t done the trick for you, read on as we explore other options that we have. 

Reboot the PC

Many users have fixed the error code 57 just by restarting their PC, so there’s no reason that you shouldn’t do the same. Click on the Windows icon present at the bottom-left corner of the screen and select the “Power” button. That should present you with multiple options, but clicking on “Restart” will do just fine. 

Doing so should now be giving you a working fix to the Valorant error 57. You have to follow the solutions listed ahead if rebooting your PC didn’t work out as well. 

• Excited to play Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare but just encountered the Dev Error 6178? Find out how to fix it here. 

Flush the Cache of Your DNS

Flushing your DNS is another way that can potentially solve the error. This has worked for a niche number of users, so there is a possibility that it will work for you as well. Flushing the cache of the DNS basically configures your network settings and makes them perform more optimally. Any unwanted DNS records or IP addresses simply go down the drain, leaving you with a crisp and clean DNS that works like a charm. 

The following is a step-by-step tutorial that will show you how to flush your DNS on your Windows PC. 

1. The first step is to open up the Command Prompt as all of the work is going to carry on from there. You can do this painlessly as you bring up the “Run” program by simultaneously pressing the “Windows” and “R” keys. Type in “cmd” next and let the “Enter” key do its job to get to the next step.

2. Type in the following command in the Command Prompt and press the “Enter” key to continue. 

ipconfig /flushDNS

3. You’re quite not done yet. The next command that you have to enter is given below. Use it to get to the next step. 

ipconfig /renew

That’s about it for this step. Flushing the DNS on your device can come in handy for a number of reasons. It can also fix the FFXIV Launcher Error 30413, should you ever get unfortunate enough to run into it on the action RPG. After you’re done, try launching Valorant again to see if it works now. Has the issue still not gone away? Keep on reading for more fixes.

Optimize the VGC Service’s Startup Type

VGC is a specialized anti-cheat tool, as you’ve understood by now that can be easily found in the “Services” application. It will be installed on those PCs that have Valorant installed on them. This essential feature is now required to make the game run since the developer wants to keep everything fair and square. Therefore, it’s imperative that we have Vanguard or VGC on the ready.

We are going to verify whether the error is surfacing because of the VGC service being disabled. Several players were able to fix this situation by simply enabling this program from the Services section of your Windows PC, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t confirm this right away too.

The following is a tutorial that will walk you through the process of optimizing the VGC service’s startup type, so you won’t have to get confused during any step of the way. Be sure to follow each process as advised to boost your chances of fixing the “Vanguard Not Initialized” error.

How to Optimize VGC’s Startup on a Windows PC 

The steps listed ahead are going to take it from here.

1. Begin by launching the Services app on your Windows 10 PC. You can do that by searching for it through the Windows Start menu. Run the application as an administrator for the best results. Check out the following screenshot for a visual explanation.  

2. A window comprising many different types of services will launch after you click on the “Services” application. You will have to look for VGC here so scroll down all the way down until you find the service. All the entries are listed alphabetically order so checking out the services whose names are starting with the letter “V” can turn out to be helpful. Right-click the VGC service and click on “Properties” as soon as you find it to get to the next step.

3. The rest of the procedure is simple and undemanding. All you have to do now is to click on the bar beside “Startup” and that would reveal a drop-down menu. Click on “Automatic” next and then select “Start.” If the VGC service had been stopped earlier, it will now be rendered to start just like before again. A small prompt will appear that will supposedly turn the service on. 

4. Click on “OK” next to finish the process. You’re now free to close the window that you’re on to check out whether the game works now or not.

That is all about optimizing the VGC service’s startup type on your Windows 10 PC. Many players have fixed the error code by making sure their VGC settings check out. You really shouldn’t be having much of a problem now that you’ve directly tended to the Riot Vanguard program. 

However, it’s advised to restart your computer after the procedure above to apply the changes you’ve made. Have you finally got the game to work now or is still giving you the same, stubborn issue as before? Continue reading for more thorough fixes and don’t lose hope just yet. 

Enable VGC From the System Configuration Application

There’s another way to check whether VGC is functional on your computer or is it still staying dormant. This fix is in collaboration with that of the previous one, so it should be pretty quick to deal with on your end. The gist of it is that you have to open a specific application on your Windows PC, scour it for the Riot Vanguard service, and confirm if it’s enabled and working. 

The following steps are going to take you through the whole procedure.

1. Begin by going to the Windows Search bar and looking up a program called “System Configuration.” Be sure to run it as an administrator to achieve the best results. 

2. You now have to click on the “Services” tab on the window and scroll down the list of services until you find “vgc.” Make sure that the box beside it is checked. If you’re seeing “Stopped” under the “Status” column, you’ve diagnosed what was causing the error. Once you’ve ticked the box, click on “Apply” and then select “OK.” Continue reading below for what to do next. 

3. A “Restart Your PC” prompt will appear as soon as you click on the “OK” button. Simply follow what the instructions tell you to and reboot your device. That’s about it for this fix.

Try launching Valorant again to see if the issue has been resolved now. There’s a fat chance that you won’t be seeing the error code 57 prompt from here on out, but you never know how bull-headed an error can sometimes get. If doing none of the above has fixed the game for you, then it appears you have to uninstall the install the VGC service on your PC back again. Let’s talk about that in the following section. 

Reinstall the VGC and VGK Services on Your Windows PC

We’re now going to get ourselves into a fairly complicated solution of the Valorant error 57. Rest assured though because the instructions you’ll be given are going to be easy-to-understand. The game isn’t able to detect that Riot Vanguard is running on your PC and that can be due to a number of reasons not worth investing our time and effort into. What we can do, in this case, is to simply uninstall Vanguard from our system and prompt the game client to install it again.

This is one of the best fixes for this Valorant error code and has worked for a ton of people. You’ll have to do everything manually though, so let’s get started without any further delay. The following steps are going to take it from here.

1. Begin by opening up the Command Prompt on your Windows PC. This program can be dug out using the Windows Search bar, so type in “Command Prompt” in there and get it done. Click on “Run as administrator” just in case since we truly don’t want any other hurdles at the moment. 

2. You should now have the application launched on your device. Type in the following command to delete Riot Vanguard from the system.

delete vgc

3. The next step is to input another command in the program to accompany the deletion of Riot Vanguard. Use the command given below and insert it directly into the Command Prompt. Press the “Enter” key when you’re done.

4. Once the command line operation responds to you with successful feedback, close the Command Prompt since its work is done here. You now have to restart your PC to apply the changes that you have just made. Click on the “Power” button in your Windows Start menu and then choose “Restart” to forward this tutorial. 

5. Once you have your PC restarted and fully functional, the next step is to venture into your “File Explorer” application and find a folder called “Program Files.” You’ll typically find it in your Local Disk (C:) section, but the folder can be present in other areas of your device depending on whether you’ve changed the file destination yourself or not. Click on “Program Files” once you’ve found it to continue.

6. The next step is to look for a folder called Riot Vanguard within your Program Files. You’ll have to scroll a bit down to pinpoint it precisely, but don’t worry about not finding it at all. If you’ve had Valorant installed on your PC, the Riot Vanguard folder is bound to be on the device. Right-click on it and simply select “Delete” to remove all of its contents and rid the system off Valorant’s anti-cheat tool.

7. Some players have had a minor issue at this present. Despite restarting the PC in one of the preceding steps, the system prompts them that one or two processes that are currently using the Riot Vanguard folder are still opened. This means that you have to close any relevant programs to continue from here on out. If you get a similar prompt, which you might will, click on “Cancel” to close the prompt and move to the next step.

8. You’ll now simply open the Task Manager on your PC using the aforementioned shortcut keys and look for a process called “Vanguard tray notification.” Once done, click on it and then select “End task.” This will close the relevant program that was previously hindering the Riot Vanguard folder from being deleted. Simply repeat Step 6, get to the folder in question again, and delete it. The process should now be trouble-free.

9. Having done every step that has been listed above, move on to launching Valorant now. Be sure to run it as an administrator—we keep repeating this simple step since many players often forget it. Search for Valorant using the Windows Start menu or launch it using the desktop shortcut to get to the next step.

10. You’re going to notice the “Installing Riot Vanguard” prompt as soon as you start the game in the bottom-right corner of the screen. This more or less affirms that you successfully deleted Vanguard from your system and it’s now being downloaded from scratch. 

11. You can click on the vividly apparent “Play” button within the game launcher when Riot Vanguard finishes installing. As soon as you do, you will be met with the Valorant error prompt again, but don’t get on pins and needles just yet. You’ll do exactly what the error tells you to do now for the changes to take effect. Click on “Reboot Computer” to finally get to the bottom of this issue. 

That’s about it for this long, lengthy fix to the error. You should be greeted with positive results when you’ve done rebooting your computer and are about to launch the game. Deleting VGC and letting the game install it back again is a working fix for the issue at hand. However, in the exceptionally unlikely case that you still haven’t found your way with the game, continue reading for one final solution. 

Reinstall the Game

If nothing else has worked so far, then it appears that we have to turn to the good old reinstall method that almost always works for a ton of games, including Street Fighter V and Destiny 2. Reinstalling Valorant has helped resolve the error code 57 for several players, so if you’ve exhausted other options and are left with no silver linings, better give reinstall a shot.

You can easily remove the application from your Windows PC by going into your device’s settings and clicking on “Apps.” It will be almost effortless to uninstall Valorant from there on out. You’ll hopefully fix the error code by implementing this measure.

We’ve covered the best working fixes for the error code in question that are certainly going to solve the issue for you. If any of the listed solutions have worked, please let us and other answer-seekers know down in the comments section.

We’d love to hear your feedback. As always, eXputer wishes you happy gaming!

• Similar Read: Fix Modern Warfare Dev Error 6068.