The Riot client is one of the most ridiculous gaming clients currently in existence. Everything about it sucks, but it's the only way to play Valorant. So if the Riot Client is stuck on Update, Preparing Download, Installing, or a progress bar that never moves, this article will guide you through a few different things you can do to fix the problem. Annoyingly, you'll probably need to try more than one fix to solve the problem, so don't give up early.

How to Fix the Update Button Not Working in Riot Client

Since Riot process can remain active even after the window closes, you'll want to close all of the background stuff manually. This usually happens after a crash or something, but can also happen if you manually close the Riot Client.

  • Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
  • End any Riot-related processes you see, including Riot Client, RiotClientServices, LeagueClient, VALORANT, Vanguard, or Vanguard Installer.
  • Restart your PC if you had to close several Riot or Vanguard processes.
  • Open the Riot Client directly from the Start menu or desktop shortcut instead of launching only through a game shortcut.

Note: If all Riot games are stuck at the same time, check Riot’s Service Status page for your region before doing anything locally. If Riot is showing any sort of outage or maintenance, trying to fix anything locally is a waste of time.

Run Riot’s repair option and check disk space

If the update starts, resets, or returns to the same Update button, the local install is probably broken or corrupted.

  • Open the Riot Client.
  • Click your profile icon > Settings > select the affected game > choose Repair if the option is available.
  • Make sure the drive where the game is installed has enough free space. For League of Legends, leave at least 8 GB free before patching or repairing.
  • After the repair finishes, close the client completely.
  • Right-click the Riot Client shortcut and choose Run as administrator for one update attempt.

Fix Riot Client “Update” Button Stuck

Remove VPN or proxy interference and reset DNS

If you are using a VPN Proxy or some kind of similar override, disable it and see if everything works again once it has been disabled. If everything starts working after doing this, you have found your problem. Now you can work on finding a VPN or Proxy that works with the game.

Reinstall Riot Vanguard if the affected game requires it

Don't bother with this step unless it's for a Vanguard-supported game like VALORANT or League of Legends, or if the client keeps trying to install Vanguard.

  • Close Riot Client and all Riot games.
  • Go to Settings > Apps > Installed apps.
  • Uninstall Riot Vanguard.
  • Restart the PC.
  • Open Riot Client and launch the affected game so Vanguard can reinstall.
  • Restart again after Vanguard finishes installing.

Remove leftover Riot files and reinstall

If nothing else in this guide has worked for you, it's time for a clean install after removing and left over junk files.

  • Uninstall the affected Riot game. If every Riot title is affected, uninstall Riot Client too.
  • Delete leftover folders in C:\Riot Games for the affected game or client.
  • Press Windows + R, type %localappdata%, and delete the Riot Games folder if it still exists.
  • Restart the PC.
  • Download a fresh installer from Riot and reinstall.

How to Fix Riot Client Update Button Stuck