How to fix Vanguard VAN -1 error in League of Legends

Vanguard has made its way to League of Legends, and that means that its bugs and errors have as well. Here's how to fix the VAN -1 error code.

Vanguard is Riot Games' proprietary anti-cheat system, first designed for VALORANT and recently moved over to League of Legends. The system is notoriously kernel-level, having the highest level of access to a person's computer, and this means it comes with some very odd foibles. The VAN -1 error is an error that will stop you from getting into the League of Legends client, or will interrupt your patching when updating a computer to include League of Legends with Vanguard. Luckily, the solution is simple. Here's how to fix it.

The Van -1 error is pretty simple. It means while League of Legends was trying to launch, it couldn't find the Vanguard program. If you don't think you've uninstalled Vanguard, double check. If it's gone, the next thing to check here is whether you have enough space to reinstall Vanguard. As long as your PC isn't chock-full, then that shouldn't be a problem. If you're wondering exactly what Vanguard does before you install it, read more here.

Riot Games' best official solution is to just attempt to reinstall Vanguard. The easiest way to do this is to close League of Legends and try to patch again. If this doesn't work, try installing either of Riot Games' titles that include Vanguard. If you don't want to delete League of Legends but want to try to force your computer to install Vanguard, you can always install VALORANT.

If neither of these solutions work, and League of Legends continues to behave like you've uninstalled Vanguard, your best bet is to submit a ticket with Riot Games Support. This can be done by simply filing a request on Riot Games' official support ticket webpage. That's everything you need to know about how to solve the VAN -1 error in League of Legends.