It’s frustrating when League of Legends is slow, laggy, or freezing. It would be very difficult for your character to avoid danger in this scenario. But you’re not alone here; there are gamers reporting this “Lag Issue” every single day. Don’t worry. In this guide, you can go down the troubleshooting list and see which one is your final solution.

  1. Reconfigure the game settings
  2. Cool down your computer
  3. Clean up junk/temp files
  4. Update your device drivers
  5. Alter your DNS server
  6. Perform a clean reboot

Before you troubleshoot League of Legends, please note that the League client lag is a bit different from the in-game lag or FPS drops. When the League client is laggy, you’re likely to have a network issue; If you’re experiencing low frame rates (FPS) in LoL, you’ll have to boost your computer performance to fix it. Since many people confuse them two, we’ll provide you with fixes for both “Lag” and “Low FPS” in League of Legends.

More importantly, League of Legends hasn’t yet been optimized to run on Windows 11 so far. A variety of related issues, which cannot be fixed yet, may occur if you use Windows 11. Therefore, it’s better to play LoL on Windows 10. If you doubt if your computer supports the game, you can first check League’s system requirements.

1. Reconfigure the game settings

If your computer build meets only the minimum requirements to play League of Legends, you may still see the in-game performance issue or the so-called “laggy”. In this case, you can Enable Low Spec mode and choose to Close Client During Game to improve performance.

To do this:

  1. Launch League of Legends and click on the gear icon located in the upper right corner.
  2. Then, choose Enable Low Spec Mode and Close client during the game, and click DONE to save changes.
  3. Sign in to your LoL account and start a game.

Choosing the proper video options in-game helps your game run faster. If you prefer high visual quality, you’ll need to find a balance between quality and performance. You can start by setting each option to its lowest value. To do this:

  1. Press the ESC key to open Settings while in the game. From there, you can choose the resolution that matches your desktop resolution. For example, if you cannot run the game smoothly at 1280×720, you can try 1024×768 or lower.
  2. From the left panel, select VIDEO. Then, in the Graphics section, drag the slider to Low which increases performance. If your PC isn’t powerful enough, then you can either choose Very Low. For more recommended settings:
    Character Quality: Very Low
    Environment Quality: Very Low
    Shadows: Off
    Effects Quality: Very Low
    Frame Rate Cap: 60 FPS
    Wait for Vertical Sync: Unchecked
    Anti-Aliasing: Unchecked
  3. In addition, you can adjust some of the interface settings to reduce your hardware’s stress. To access these options, select INTERFACE from the left panel. Then, do the following changes:
    Uncheck Enable HUD animations
    Uncheck Show Target Frame on attack
    Uncheck Enable line missile display
    Uncheck Show Attack Range
  4. When done, click Okay to save changes.

Now, re-launch League of Legends and check if it still “lags”. If it doesn’t run smoothly, kindly move on to the next fix.

2. Cool down your computer

In a computer system, heat is generated as it operates, but overheating can slow down your computer, causing your League of Legends to lag/freeze. Therefore, once you feel that LoL isn’t running smoothly, make sure that your computer is in a cool environment. Also, cleaning your computer’s vents and fans with compressed air will improve airflow and should keep your machine at a lower temperature.

However, it is recommended that you consult relevant documentation, or ask a technician for help when opening the case and cleaning your hardware components, as doing so may violate the warranty.

When your computer’s temperature cools down, check if the issue persists. If LoL still lags/freezes, move on to the next solution.

3. Clean up junk/temp files

There are various types of “junk” files created by your computer while installing apps, updating, and performing other tasks. They can also be files that have been deleted but are still in your recycle bin. These files can not only slow down your PC but also cause applications, such as League of Legends, to lag or freeze.

Hence, if you see “lag” or low FPS in LoL, try to clean up the junk files. To do so:

  1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and I together to open Windows Settings.
  2. Select System > Storage > Temporary files.
  3. Next, check the boxes next to the files you want to delete and click Remove files. Be sure to check if there are any important files in the Download folder. If there are, uncheck this option first and navigate to the location of the files, and then move them to somewhere else in another Drive.
  4. Once done, restart your computer.

Now, check if Lol runs smoothly. If not, continue with the next solution.

4. Update your device drivers

When League of Legends keeps “lagging” or freezing, you should check for driver updates, especially for the graphics driver, since an up-to-date graphics driver always ensures the best gaming performance and fewer bugs. Also, if you encounter a lag issue that is network-related, you should update your network driver as well. Here’s what you can do (please note that the following screenshots are taken on Windows 11, but the instructions work on Windows 10 as well):

To update your display card driver:

  1. On your keyboard, press the Windows key and X at the same time, select Device Manager.
  2. Double-click to expand the category Display adapters. Then right-click your graphic card driver and click Update driver (the name of the device can be different on your computer).
  3. Then click Search automatically for updated driver software.
  4. Wait for Windows to find the latest driver available for you.
  5. When the driver update is done, restart your computer for the change to take effect.
  6. Then check and see if the problem is fixed.

To update your network driver:

  1. Once again, press the Windows key and X at the same time, select Device Manager.
  2. Double-click to expand the category Network adapters. Then right-click your network adapter and click Update driver (the name of the device can be different on your computer).
  3. Then click Search automatically for updated driver software.
  4. Wait for Windows to find the latest driver available for you.
  5. When the driver update is done, restart your computer for the change to take effect.
  6. Then check and see if the problem is fixed.

If Windows says that it’s already found the latest driver for you, so no newer drivers are found, then you should consider updating your device drivers in a different way with the help of Driver Techie.

Its ever-growing driver database allows you to always have access to the latest device drivers that you need. More importantly, Driver Techie simplifies the driver update process, so all it takes is just 3 clicks (for Pro users), and all your drivers are updated.

To use Driver Techie to find you the latest drivers:

  1. Download and install Driver Techie, then launch it.
  2. Click Scan Now.
  3. After the scan, select all the drivers you need to update and click Update All. Then all your drivers will be updated automatically without you having to do anything else.

Please note that Update All is available for Pro subscribers only, otherwise, you can only manually update the driver one at a time. To see how to manually update the drivers one by one, please check this post.

If you’re a Pro user of Driver Techie, and need our technical support to help with the League of Legends lag problem, please feel free to contact <support@drivertechie.com>.

5. Alter your DNS server

League of Legends can be “lagging” due to a poor network environment, as we’d mentioned before we started troubleshooting. It is recommended that you switch your ISP’s DNS server to Google Public DNS in order to improve the condition of your network. As a result, you will be able to enjoy better online security as well as a faster resolution time.

Before doing so, please flush your DNS as follows:

  1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R together to invoke the Run prompt. Type cmd and press Shift, Ctrl, and Enter together to open Command Prompt with administrative permissions.
  2. Paste each of the following command lines at a time and press the Enter key to execute:
    ipconfig /flushdns
    ipconfig /registerdns
    ipconfig /release
    ipconfig /renew
    (Note that there is a space in each of the commands.)

Once done, close the command prompt and proceed with the following steps:

  1. In the Windows search box, type View Network Connections and hit Enter on your keyboard.
  2. Right-click your network adapter and select Properties.
  3. Click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and select Properties.
  4. Select Obtain an IP address automatically and Use the following DNS server Addresses. Input 8.8.8.8 in the Preferred DNS server address and then 8.8.4.4 in the Alternative DNS server address.
  5. Click OK and close the pages.
  6. Check if the issue persists.

Now, re-launch LoL and check if the issue persists. If so, go through the next solution.

6. Perform a clean reboot

Sometimes third-party software conflicts can cause your LoL to run slowly, and programs automatically running at startup may consume the system resources and internet data without your knowledge. In this case, we recommend a clean boot environment for your League of Legends.

To do so:

  1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R together to invoke the Run prompt. Type MSConfig and press Enter.
  2. From the top menu, select the Services tab, check Hide all Microsoft services, and then click Disable all.
  3. Now, click the Startup tab from the top menu and click Open Task Manager. Click each of the tasks and click Disable.
  4. Now, back to the System Configuration page and click the OK button to reboot your computer.

Re-launch LoL to see if it runs properly. Hopefully, your LoL should be running without “lagging” or low FPS issues. Furthermore, you can try an ethernet if your Wi-Fi connection is unstable or the signal is weak. If you have any ideas or follow-up questions, please feel free to leave a comment below.