How to enable Secure Boot for VALORANT

Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 skip hand-in-hand down the road next to VALORANT’s minimum system requirements as far as Vanguard is concerned. Yep, Riot’s trusty anti-cheat software simply won’t allow you to play VALORANT without verifying these Windows 11 security technologies. You just can’t do it.

But how the heck do you turn on Secure Boot, fix those irritating VAN9001 errors, and do away with the TPM issues that stop VALORANT from working on Windows 11?

Well, hold your horses and quit your crying, sunshine, we’ve got your answers right here. Stick with this guide and you’ll be playing VALORANT again in no time.

What is Secure Boot, anyway?

Secure Boot and TPM (more formally known as Trusted Platform Module) 2.0 are security technologies used by Windows 11. Think of them like gatekeepers that make sure any program your PC runs meets the highest standards of trust and safety.

VALORANT needs Secure Boot and TPM to run because they’re part of how Vanguard recognizes that your PC is a trustworthy and safe environment. Basically, it’s tied in with how Vanguard stops the bulk of cheaters.

And that’s about all the context you should need really.

Windows 11 should be running both Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 automatically, but if you can’t play VALORANT because of a VAN9001 or a VAN9003 error code, then you’ve got some work to do.

But don’t despair! It’s dead easy to fix a Secure Boot error…

How to turn on Secure Boot and TPM

Don’t be scared, but we’re going to lead you into some areas of your computer that can be pretty intimidating for any non-techies. But this is kind of like Frodo following Gollum through the Dead Marshes – follow our lead exactly and you’ll be just fine…

First, you need to find your computer’s designated BIOS key. This is usually one of the following: F1, F2, F10, F12, Del, or Esc. Here’s a list that should help you find your BIOS key.

Don’t panic if your mouse doesn’t work in the BIOS menu – it’s totally normal, just use your keyboard’s arrow keys to navigate around instead.

Ok, now for the real how-to…

1. Restart your computer.
2. Press your BIOS key while your computer is booting up (it helps to press it multiple times, as you only have a short window to press this key in and it’s pretty easy to miss otherwise!).
3. From the BIOS menu (see image example above), move to the Boot Options tab.
4. Now select Secure Boot and enable it.
5. Make sure the Boot Protocol/BIOS Mode value is UEFI and the Secure Boot is on/enabled.
6. Now head to the Security tab and make sure the TPM State is set to enabled.

Congrats! You just enabled Secure Boot and TPM. Can you feel it? You’re one boot-up away from playing VALORANT on Windows 11, agent. Just let your computer reload, fire up the game, and crush some clutches for us! 🔥

How to check your TPM 2.0 status

If you’re a nervous Nelly and want to double-check your ducks are all in line before trying to play VALORANT again after all that BIOS mumbo jumbo, here’s a way to check your TPM 2.0 status…

1. Press the Windows key.
2. Type “tpm.msc” (without the quote marks) and hit Enter.
3. Check the Status section.

If the Status says “The TPM is ready for use” (like in this image), pop the champagne because your Windows 11 PC is definitely ready to play VALORANT!

You’ve only got a problem if you see this error message: “Compatible TPM cannot be found: Compatible Trusted Platform Module (TPM) cannot be found on this computer.”

That means TPM is either unsupported or not enabled.

In that case, it’s back to the BIOS menu for you (unless you like not being able to play VALORANT?).

What to do if you can’t enable TPM?

The only way this should happen is if you somehow installed Windows 11 and bypassed the TPM check.

In the early days, you could downgrade to Windows 10 and get around this pesky problem. The chances of that happening now (over 2 years since Windows 11 was released) are slim.

A factory reset might help you out here, but just make sure you’ve got your files backed up before trying that! Failing that, try uninstalling and reinstalling VALORANT. Between those two, you just performed the ultimate “turn it on and off again”.

What if none of that worked?

Still can’t play VALORANT on Windows 11, eh? Hey, sometimes tech’s fickle like that!

Here are a few other things you can try…

1. Update to the latest version of Windows.
2. Run VALORANT in compatibility mode (right-click the game icon > Properties > Compatibility > enable > Apply).
3. Run VALORANT as administrator (right-click the game icon > Run as administrator).
4. Update your graphics drivers.