How to fix Valorant's "black screen at startup" issue?

The dreaded black screen has been plaguing Valorant players recently, and as it stands, finding a solution to this issue is a tricky job.

Riot Games has a list of error codes associated with different issues the game has. While those do a fairly good job at fixing those issues, a black screen at startup has not made it to the list yet. In fact, the player does not get any error code if they encounter the black screen.

This issue stems from a wide number of potential causes. So, it sort of becomes a puzzle-solving game to pinpoint what exactly is the culprit behind the problem.

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Valorant black screen at startup issue is fixable in a multitude of ways

First things first, the user needs to make sure that their PC meets the minimum requirements as prescribed by the Valorant developers.

Valorant system requirements (Image via Serinose.com)

Operating System: Windows 7/8/10 64-bit

RAM: 4GB

VRAM: 1GB

Minimum system specs ~ 30 fps

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400

GPU: Intel HD 4000

Recommended system specs ~ 60 fps

CPU: Intel i3-4150

GPU: GeForce GT 730

High-end system specs – 144+ fps

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460

GPU: GeForce GTX 1050 Ti

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Updating Graphics Driver

With PC specs out of the way, Valorant players need to make sure their Graphics Card driver is up-to-date. Valorant gets updated on a regular basis with new features, content updates, and more.

Users running older GPU drivers tend to have the 'black screen at startup' issue much more often than users with current drivers.

The graphics driver update process is fairly simple. Nvidia GPU users can go to this webpage and AMD GPU users can navigate here to download the latest drivers for their respective graphics cards.

Installing a new Graphics driver and then restarting the system, more often than not, will fix the black screen on startup issues in Valorant.

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Reinstalling Valorant

If the graphics driver update does not resolve the issue, players can proceed with the following step. The next order of action should be uninstalling Valorant and installing it once more, to rule out the possibility of corrupted game files which can cause the black screen at startup.

The user should navigate to the Apps section of the control panel, which can be done by pressing the Start button and writing “Apps and Feature” in the search bar. Players will have to uninstall both Valorant and Riot Vanguard, and then restart their PC.

Post the process, players will have to download and install the game once again.

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Contacting Riot support

Valorant has no one-size-fits-all solution for the black screen at startup issue, as it can be caused by several factors. If updating the graphics driver and reinstalling Valordoes not resolve the issue, it is recommended that players contact Riot Support.

Riot’s support staff can investigate system logs, check what’s been causing the error for a particular system, and offer new solution methods to try out.