Before you step onto Summoner’s Rift for the first time, you need to get the game onto your drive, and there are a few mistakes here that can cost you time for no reason or, worse, compromise your computer’s security. This guide covers where to download League of Legends, how the installation works, how much space it takes, how to choose a region and language, and what to do when the installation gets stuck or crashes.
Where to download League of Legends
The only safe source is the official Riot Games download page, leagueoflegends.com/en-us/download/. It offers the Riot Client installer for both Windows and Mac, and the game itself is only downloaded through the client after you launch it for the first time.
Don’t use sites offering League of Legends downloads outside Riot Games’ official domain, even if they claim to have a “faster” or “trimmed-down” version of the installer. With games whose anticheat runs in the system kernel, like Vanguard, it’s especially risky to put anything on your computer that can’t prove it comes directly from Riot. It’s not just the risk of a virus in the installer: a modified client or bypassing the official installation path can be flagged by the anticheat as an attempt to cheat. You can read more about how Vanguard works and why it’s so sensitive to outside interference in the article Vanguard: what it is and why it stops your game from running.
How the installation works, step by step
- Download the Riot Client installer from the official page and run it, ideally straight from the root of the C: drive, not from the Downloads folder or the desktop, where the installer sometimes can’t extract properly because of permissions.
- Run the installer as administrator (right-click it and choose “Run as administrator”) so missing permissions don’t get in the way of the installation.
- Choose a region based on where you want to play. For a new account, the region is chosen during registration and directly affects which server you’ll connect to.
- Let Riot Client download and install League of Legends. The installer is small, and it downloads the game itself and its files only after the first launch.
- Once the download finishes, the Vanguard anticheat is installed automatically as well. You can’t get into the game without it (see the Vanguard article above).
- Log in with your Riot Games account, or create a new one, and the game is ready to launch.
How much space the installation takes
The installer and the downloaded data take up about 16 GB, but after extracting and installing the client, expect the actual used space to be around 22 to 24 GB. Riot lists 16 GB of free space as the official minimum, but in practice it pays to have extra room on your drive: updates during the download and after installation need temporary space for new files, extraction and replacing old versions, not just the final size of the patch.
A safe buffer is at least 25 GB of free space before you even start the installation. It also saves you future trouble with error 004 (the patch doesn’t finish due to lack of space), which is covered in more detail in the article the most common LoL launch errors.
System requirements
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10 (build 19041 or newer) or Windows 11 with TPM 2.0 | Windows 11 with TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot |
| Processor | Intel Core i3-530 or AMD A6-3650 | Intel Core i5 (newer generation) or AMD Ryzen 3 |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA GeForce 400 series or AMD Radeon HD 6570 | NVIDIA GeForce 560 or AMD Radeon HD 6950 or better |
| RAM | 2 GB | 4 GB or more |
| Free disk space | 16 GB (expect more in practice) | 16 GB or more, ideally an SSD |
What matters most has nothing to do with graphics card or processor performance: without a TPM 2.0 chip and without UEFI, League of Legends won’t launch at all because of the Vanguard anticheat, even if the rest of your setup easily meets the requirements. Older computers without UEFI support (pure legacy BIOS) therefore can’t run the game, no matter how powerful their processor is.
What happens after the first installation: updates
League of Legends is updated regularly, usually on a two-week patch cycle, and Riot Client starts downloading and installing the new version automatically as soon as you open the client. Most regular patches are hundreds of megabytes, occasionally over a gigabyte for bigger changes (a new champion, a game mode, a seasonal reset). That’s why it pays to keep a permanent buffer of free space on your drive rather than using it all up during the first installation. It saves you recurring trouble with error 004, described in the article the most common LoL launch errors.
Updates run in the background while Riot Client is open, so you don’t need to start them manually. Just let the client run for a while now and then before jumping straight into a game.
How to choose a region and language
The region determines which game server (EUNE, EUW, NA and others) your account connects to, and you choose it when registering a new account. It’s part of where you’ll play, not just a cosmetic choice. What differs between regions and how a possible transfer to another server works is covered in detail in the article language, EUNE and servers. Transferring an existing account between regions is neither free nor instant, so it pays to think the region through when you create the account.
You choose the client and game language in the settings after logging in, independently of the region, picking from the language versions available in the Riot Client settings.
What to do when the installation crashes or freezes
- Check the free space on your drive. The most common cause of a stuck or crashing installation is a lack of space, see the section on disk requirements above.
- Run both the installer and Riot Client as administrator. Missing permissions can stall the installation without a clear error message.
- Move the installer to the root of the C: drive. An installation launched from the desktop or a deeply nested Downloads folder sometimes runs into file path problems.
- Check your antivirus and firewall. Third-party security software can block the installation process or Vanguard without clearly telling you.
- Use the Hextech Repair Tool. Riot’s official tool can fix a broken installation without you having to delete files manually.
- As a last step, try a clean reinstall. Uninstall League of Legends through Windows Settings, delete the leftover Riot Games folder (default location C:Riot Games), restart your computer and download the installer again from the official page.
If the installation crashes with a specific error code, check the table in the article the most common LoL launch errors. For codes like error 004, you’ll find the exact steps depending on what the error says.
FAQ
Only from the official page leagueoflegends.com/en-us/download/. Don’t use installers from other sources, you risk malware as well as problems with the Vanguard anticheat.
Riot lists a minimum of 16 GB, but after installation expect 22 to 24 GB in reality. A safe buffer before installing is at least 25 GB of free space because of updates and temporary files during patching.
No. The Vanguard anticheat requires TPM 2.0 as a hard requirement, and without it the game won’t start, even if the rest of your computer exceeds the specs comfortably.
Yes, the region is tied to the account and determines which server you connect to. Transferring an existing account to another region later costs money and has a waiting period, so it pays to choose carefully right at the start.
Most often it’s a lack of disk space or missing administrator permissions. Check both, or use the official Hextech Repair Tool instead of fixing it manually.
No. The Vanguard anticheat doesn’t support Linux, so the game won’t launch through Wine or Proton. The Vanguard article covers this in more detail.
Information verified as of 18 August 2026. What to do when the game won’t launch after installation because of the anticheat is described in Vanguard: what it is and why it stops your game from running and the most common LoL launch errors. Ping and connection problems after installation are covered in ping, lag and connection in LoL, and choosing a region and language is broken down in detail in language, EUNE and servers. You’ll find the whole hub in the League of Legends section.