How to Fix “VAC was Unable to Verify your Game Session” Error in CS GO

Introduction

Counter Strike Global Offensive (CS:GO) is a great way to spend your time, unfortunately it can be hard on the computer and there are many different problems that may arise. The most common problem is when you get kicked off of CS:GO and the error says “VAC was unable to verify your game session.”

Recently, I was unable to play Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) because the game said “VAC was unable to verify your game session”.

I had been playing with my friends all morning without any issues. We were wondering what happened and why we couldn’t play anymore. After hours of research, it turns out that Valve’s new protection technique called Valve anti-cheat system (VAC) got in trouble for blocking some legitimate players from playing CS:GO.

This post will show you some tips on how to fix VAC was unable to verify your game session so you can continue playing CS:GO without any interruptions.

Methods on How to Fix the “VAC was unable to verify the game session” Error in CS GO

It’s a frustrating feeling when you can’t log into CS:GO and VAC was unable to verify your game session pops up. There are many different ways to fix this issue, so we’ve compiled the best ones below and I strongly suggest that you try them until your problem is fixed

Method 01: Try to Reboot/Restart your PC

The Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) system is a feature of Counter Strike Global Offensive (CS:GO) that prevents cheating in multiplayer games.

It requires some items to function properly which is likely being used by other apps like an antivirus software but since it’s being used by other apps, VAC might not work properly, rendering itself vulnerable and causing the “VAC was unable to verify the game session” error.

The fix?

Go ahead and restart your PC and try running Steam again.

Method 02: Try to Restart Steam Client and Run it as Administrator

Sometimes, the Steam Client can be the culprit when it comes to computer errors. If rebooting your PC didn’t fix the problem, try restarting and logging out of the Steam client first before trying again. This is because if there are any server issues which might have caused a timeout then you will not experience an error that way as well.

If for some reason this doesn’t work either (or even worse), make sure that the Steam client has administrator privileges on your computer in order for it to function properly; giving it these accesses means that changes made by other programs won’t affect its performance

Method 03: Try to Log out then Re-Login to Steam

I’m guessing you’re not having any luck on the game server. I know it sounds crazy, but there’s a good chance that something changed in your operating system to make things act up here! The change might be causing some kind of indirect or direct execution for the VAC (Valve Anti-Cheat System) and this is stemming from an error with how we store errors in our database.

One easy troubleshooting solution to the  would be to log out and re-login into your Steam account – trust me, sometimes just logging out then relogging to your Steam account can do wonders when restoring accesses because they are often enabled by default at first login anyway even without storing data about them locally as well like Valve does. All right then; follow these steps:

Method 04: Repair and Fix the Steam Client May Work

The Steam client can be a big troublemaker sometimes. It’s possible that the issue is internal and not with your game or network connection, but if you’re encountering the “VAC was unable to verify your game session” error then there are some steps to take for troubleshooting it yourself. Don’t worry; I’ll give them to you right here!

Step 1: Type “cmd” or “command prompt” in Cortana

Step 2: Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter (to run command prompt as administrator)

Step 3: Press yes when User Account Control (UAC) appears

Step 4: Type “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\bin\SteamService.exe” /repair

Step 5: Wait until the process is finished

Method 05: Try to Verify integrity of Game Files

You might be able to fix the VAC error by checking if the integrity of game files are in order with those on Steam. If not, a corrupt file could have made its way into your system and caused all of these problems. You can determine whether or not you’re dealing with corrupted data right away by following these steps:

Step 1: Click “Library” which is located at the upper left corner of the Steam dashboard

Step 2: Hover on the Counter Strike Global Offensive, Press the right click button then select “Properties”

Step 3: Choose “Local Files”

Step 4: Select “Verify Integrity of Game Files”

It can be a long and tedious process to validate all of the game files on your game. But once it’s done, you’ll know everything is in order! If there are any missing or corrupted game files identified by Steam itself, just select “Ok” for them to start downloading again so they’re not preventing your games from working properly.

Method 06: Try to Verify if the DLL files are Correct

If verifying the integrity of game files did not work, then it’s possible that Valve Anti-Cheat System (VAC) has flagged your game sessions due to incorrect DLL.

If you find a Steam service DLL file in the Program Files folder located on Local Disk C, and another one is found further down where Steam is installed, and both are the same, then there won’t be any problem with verifying games.

Go to the first DLL file, which is normally in this location C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Bin

The second DLL is found here C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Steam

The DLL file in question is Steamservice.dll

The issue will arise when two files are different. If this is what happened to you, copy whichever of the two files seem appropriate for use as a replacement for the other.

Method 07: Try to Exclude the game from your Antivirus Programs

I know you don’t want to hear about this when your computer is already giving you a headache, but the anti-virus software might be causing the “VAC unable to verify the game session” error message.

It’s constantly scanning and repairing stuff in the background without asking for permission and it could have messed up VAC settings too which can cause more errors like that one.

One easy way to solve this issue is by simply adding steam onto the exclusion list on your antivirus software–just go into its settings menu and pick ‘exclude’ then select ‘Steam.’ The process varies if you have different types of security programs but all you need do here is just choose “Excluded File” followed by selecting “Steam.”

Method 08: Conflicting Background Applications Could be the Culprit

If you are trying to launch CS GO and the “VAC unable to verify the game session” is flagging you, there’s a good chance that it might be because of the VPN/Proxy software. So what you can do is to stop them from running in the background

Method 09: Try to Keep your Drivers up to date

The “VAC was unable to verify your game session” may also happen when your device drivers are outdated or missing. Installing the latest driver updates can fix this problem and get you back to kicking butt in no time!

Method 10: Try to Update your Windows

Installing Windows 10 updates in your computer is important for your overall operating system framework and app performance, as it can remove vulnerabilities, update drivers to improve efficiency or fix other issues that may be causing you problems.

It’s possible an error like “VAC was unable to verify the game session” could also disappear after installing these updates

Method 11: Try to Reinstall the Game (CS:GO)

It is still possible that the error code “VAC was unable to verify the game session” might be fixed by simply reinstalling Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). So what you can do is uninstall the game directory first, then do a new installation process after wiping out all caches and stored old files, however I strongly suggest that you try out other solution first.

Final Words

The “VAC unable to verify the game session error” code has been plaguing CS:GO players for years. The cause of this issue is unclear, as it could be due to human or technical errors.

This annoying error isn’t a result from getting banned by Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC), contrary to some users’ initial thoughts when they get their first taste of that frustratingly unhelpful message, though your computer may have already had malware installed on it which prevented you from playing in any case!

Hopefully these solution and fixes enumerated above will help resolve and alleviate the annoyance caused by this pesky problem once and for all so we can enjoy our games without any further interruptions