NERFPLZ.LOL
League of Legends error

VAN 9006: Vanguard wants Windows 20H1 or later

Riot VanguardLeague + VALORANT

The message

VAN9006: This version of Vanguard requires Windows 20H1 or later and may not function as expected. See the Vanguard notification center in the tray for more details.

What it means

Your Windows is older than the 20H1 release Vanguard requires. League and VALORANT both check for it, since they share Vanguard.

What to try first

Install all pending Windows updates, restart when asked, and keep going until Windows Update has nothing left.

Is it you or Riot? If lots of players are hitting this at once, it's probably the servers. Check League server status before you start reinstalling things.

How 9006 reads next to 9004

Side by side, the two messages differ only in their wording. VAN 9004 tells you to update your operating system to "Windows 10 20H1 or newer". VAN 9006 leaves out the "10", says "20H1 or later", and adds that Vanguard "may not function as expected". Both close by pointing you to the Vanguard notification center in the tray.

Riot doesn't treat that extra phrase as a separate problem. Its VAN 9006 article defines the code with exactly the sentence it uses for 9004 (Vanguard needs Windows 10 20H1 or newer and can't find it on your PC), and the fix underneath is word for word the same. The two articles were last updated a day apart, too (July 16 and July 17, 2026).

What the update does for Vanguard

Vanguard depends on security parts and system services that Windows ships in its updates, going by Riot's article. So there's nothing to reconfigure in Vanguard itself. Get Windows current, restart, and try again. For the exact check that failed, open the red Vanguard icon in the system tray. Riot says that's where Vanguard names the requirement and links help for it.

Riot's fix, in Riot's order

  1. Install every pending Windows update

    Open Settings, then Windows Update, and keep installing and restarting until it says you're up to date. Vanguard's checks lean on security components that ship in those updates, and optional driver updates are worth a look while you're there.

Other wordings of the same error

  • VAN 9006
  • Error VAN 9006
  • VAN 9006 Windows 20H1
  • Vanguard requires Windows 20H1 or later

Source: Riot Games Player Support, Error VAN 9006, updated July 17, 2026. Riot's steps are paraphrased here, not copied; checked September 25, 2026.