VAN 9007: Your Vanguard install is corrupted

VAN9007. Your Vanguard installation is corrupted. You must reinstall vanguard to play the game.

What a corrupted Vanguard install means

This one reads almost like its own fix. The message tells you the install is corrupted and that a reinstall is the way back in, and Riot's article agrees: the aim is to remove Vanguard completely, including the files it leaves behind, before it goes on again. Your game files aren't the target here, so there's no need to reinstall League (or VALORANT) first.

Riot's list is only two steps long. The second one matters because an ordinary uninstall can leave vgkbootstatus.dat in place, and Riot says a corrupted copy of that file is worth deleting so Vanguard writes a fresh one the next time the game starts. If the reinstall alone didn't clear 9007, that file is the next thing to go.

How it differs from VAN 9051 and VAN 57

VAN 9051 is Vanguard crashing on itself mid-run, and Riot tries a restart before any reinstall there. VAN 57 means Vanguard simply wasn't running when you pressed Play, which is usually a service setting. With 9007 Vanguard is telling you its install is broken, so a restart on its own isn't on Riot's list at all.

Riot doesn't list VAN 9007 on its main Vanguard error hub, though the code has its own article (last updated August 19, 2026). If both steps fail, Riot asks for a support ticket with your logs attached.

Riot's fix, in Riot's order

1. Uninstall Vanguard, restart, and let the game reinstall it

   1. Close the game and exit the Riot Client from the system tray.
   2. Right-click the red Vanguard icon in the tray, choose Advanced, then Uninstall Vanguard. If the icon isn't there, search Windows for Add or remove programs and uninstall Riot Vanguard from the list.
   3. Restart the PC. Vanguard is gone if its tray icon doesn't come back.
   4. Open the Riot Client and launch the game. It reinstalls Vanguard and will ask for one more restart before Play unlocks.

   Riot's guide: Uninstall Vanguard, restart, and let the game reinstall it

2. Delete vgkbootstatus.dat

   Vanguard writes this small file at boot to record whether it started properly. If it's stuck in a bad state, the same error comes back every restart. Close the game and client, open C:\Windows in File Explorer, search for vgkbootstatus.dat, delete it and restart. Vanguard makes a fresh one.

   Riot's guide: Delete vgkbootstatus.dat

Related errors

• VAN 9051
• VAN 57
• VAN -1
• VAN 216

Source: Riot Games Player Support, Error VAN 9007, updated August 19, 2026. Riot's steps are paraphrased here, not copied; checked September 25, 2026.