It’s 8 PM on a Friday, you’ve got your snacks lined up, and you’re ready to grind your way up to Immortal in Valorant. You double click the game icon, wait for Vanguard to load, and get hit with a confusing pop-up saying you can’t play because UEFI Secure Boot is disabled. If that’s happened to you, you’re far from alone, and this guide will break down exactly what is UEFI Secure Boot for Valorant, why it’s required, and how to fix related issues without spending hours troubleshooting.
Why Riot Requires UEFI Secure Boot for Valorant Play
Riot’s Vanguard anti-cheat is one of the most strict kernel-level anti-cheat systems in mainstream gaming, and for good reason. Valorant’s competitive player base has long complained about cheaters using undetectable rootkits that load before your operating system boots, letting them run wallhacks, aimbots, and other cheats that Vanguard can’t pick up once Windows is running.
UEFI Secure Boot is a security feature built into most modern PC motherboards that only allows signed, trusted software to run during the boot process. UEFI Secure Boot blocks unauthorized firmware and operating system modifications from running at boot, which cuts off one of the most common access points for advanced cheat software.
I’ve been playing Valorant since its closed beta, and I’ve noticed a huge drop in obvious cheaters in ranked lobbies since the Secure Boot requirement rolled out globally. It’s not a perfect fix for all cheating, but it’s a massive barrier for the most sophisticated cheat makers that used to sell undetectable hacks for hundreds of dollars a month.
That doesn’t mean the requirement is without frustration, though. A lot of players with older PCs or custom Windows builds ran into unexpected errors when the rule first went live, and many still don’t understand why they have to mess with their BIOS settings just to play a game.
How to Check If Your PC Supports UEFI Secure Boot for Valorant
Before you start digging into your BIOS settings, you first need to confirm that your PC actually supports UEFI Secure Boot, and that it’s running in the right mode. Most PCs built after 2012 have UEFI support, but some users keep their systems in legacy BIOS compatibility mode for older software or hardware.
You can’t enable UEFI Secure Boot if your system is running in legacy BIOS compatibility mode, so you’ll need to convert your boot drive first if that’s the case for your setup. Checking your current mode only takes a few seconds:
- Type "System Information" in your Windows search bar and open the official app that pops up
- Look for the "BIOS Mode" entry on the right-hand side of the default System Summary tab
- If it says "UEFI", you’re ready to enable Secure Boot; if it says "Legacy", you’ll need to convert your MBR boot drive to GPT first using Microsoft’s free MBR2GPT tool
If your BIOS mode says Legacy and you don’t want to convert your drive, you can still switch to UEFI, but you’ll have to reinstall Windows entirely, which is a much bigger hassle. Converting with MBR2GPT takes less than 5 minutes for most users, and you won’t lose any of your files or installed software.
One thing to note: If you have a custom built PC with a very old motherboard (pre-2012), it may not support UEFI at all. In that case, you’ll need to upgrade your motherboard if you want to keep playing Valorant, since there’s no way around the Secure Boot requirement.
Safe Steps to Enable UEFI Secure Boot for Valorant
Once you’ve confirmed your PC is running in UEFI mode, enabling Secure Boot is a quick process that usually takes less than 10 minutes. That said, you should always be careful when changing BIOS settings, since wrong tweaks can stop your PC from booting properly.
Always back up your important files before making any changes to your BIOS settings, even though this process is low risk for most modern systems. It’s better to be safe than sorry if something goes wrong.
To enable Secure Boot, first restart your PC, and press the BIOS access key as soon as it turns on. The key varies by manufacturer: it’s usually Del for ASUS and MSI motherboards, F2 for Lenovo and Dell laptops, and F10 for HP devices. You can usually find the correct key listed on the first boot screen when you turn your PC on.
Once you’re in the BIOS menu, look for the Secure Boot option, which is usually under the Security, Boot, or Advanced tab. Every BIOS interface looks different, so you may need to look around a bit to find it. Once you find it, switch it from Disabled to Enabled, then look for the "Secure Boot Keys" option and set it to Factory Default if that option is available.
Save your changes and exit the BIOS, and your PC will restart normally. Once you boot back into Windows, launch Valorant, and the Secure Boot error should be gone.
If you use a custom Windows build with unsigned drivers, you may run into compatibility issues when you enable Secure Boot. Custom modded Windows versions often strip out security features and use unsigned drivers that Secure Boot blocks, so you’ll need to switch to a standard, official Windows installation to play Valorant if that’s your setup.
Common UEFI Secure Boot Errors for Valorant and Fixes
Even if you follow all the steps correctly, you may run into errors that stop you from playing. These are the most common issues I’ve helped my friends fix over the last year, and all have simple solutions that don’t require a PC upgrade.
The most common error is getting the "Secure Boot is disabled" pop-up even after you enabled it in BIOS. This almost always happens because you forgot to set your Secure Boot keys to factory default, or you left legacy boot mode enabled in your BIOS. Go back into your BIOS, double check that legacy mode is fully disabled, and reset the Secure Boot keys to default, and the error will usually go away.
Another common issue is getting a blue screen of death immediately after enabling Secure Boot. This happens when you have old, unsigned drivers running on your system that Secure Boot blocks. To fix this, go back into your BIOS and disable Secure Boot temporarily, then run all available Windows updates and update all your hardware drivers (especially your GPU and motherboard drivers) to the latest versions. Once all updates are installed, you can re-enable Secure Boot and it should work without issues.
If you get an error saying Secure Boot is not supported on your system, that means your motherboard is too old to support UEFI. There’s no workaround for this, so you’ll need to upgrade your motherboard if you want to keep playing Valorant.
Never download third-party tools claiming to bypass the UEFI Secure Boot requirement for Valorant. These tools almost always contain malware, or are actually cheat software that will get your Valorant account permanently banned as soon as Vanguard detects them. It’s not worth risking your account you’ve spent years climbing on just to avoid a 10 minute BIOS tweak.
Now you understand exactly what is UEFI Secure Boot for Valorant, why Riot implemented the requirement, and how to fix any issues you run into when enabling it. It can be a bit annoying to have to mess with your BIOS settings when you just want to jump into a game, but the payoff of far fewer cheaters in your lobbies makes it well worth the small amount of effort.
If you’re still running into issues after following all the steps in this guide, you can reach out to Riot’s support team for help with your specific setup. Most of the time, though, the fixes we covered will get you back in queue in less than 15 minutes, so you can get back to grinding your rank and winning those clutch 1v5 rounds.
