League of Legends Installation Guide

Set up guide for League of Legends. Learn how to download and play LoL on different platforms and LoL system requirements.

One of the secrets behind LoL’s enormous success is the game’s accessibility. LoL is completely free, available worldwide, and can be set up with ease. Between the main game and the modified version, LoL is also available on multiple platforms. The system requirements are minimal, so it’s fairly easy to find a device that can run League.

Below, we’ll explain in detail how to install League of Legends on PC. We’ll also cover the various versions of the game for platforms such as Android and iOs.

How to Install League of Legends on PC

The trusty PC is the original platform where it all started. The game is primarily played on computers, and it was designed to be played with a keyboard and mouse. League of Legends: Wild Rift is the exception to this rule, and we’ll cover that later.

Installing LoL on PC is a quick and simple process, and everything you need to do to set up the game can be done in minutes. Before we begin, though, make sure that your computer meets the League of Legends system requirements.

  • • CPU: Intel Core i3-530 / AMD A6-3650
  • RAM: 2 GB
  • OS: Windows 7
  • Video Card: NVidia GeForce 9600GT / AMD Radeon HD 6570 / Intel HD 4600 Integrated Graphics (DirectX 10)
  • Pixel Shader: 4.0
  • Vertex Shader: 4.0
  • Free Disk Space: 16 GB

As you can see, the requirements are fairly modest and most modern devices should have no problems running LoL. That said, it is highly recommended that your specs are better than the bare minimum. The better your hardware, the smaller the chances that you’ll encounter difficulties such as FPS drops and lag.

With that out of the way, let’s move on.

Steps to Install LoL on PC

  1. Head over to the official League of Legends website and click the big PLAY FOR FREE button in the middle of the screen.
  2. Enter your e-mail address. Make sure you enter a valid e-mail address because it will be tied to your LoL account. Click next.
  3. Fill out your date of birth. League of Legends has an age rating of PEGI 12+. You must be over the age of 12 to play League.
  4. Provide your Username and Password. Agree to the Riot Games Terms of Service and Privacy Notice.
  5. You’ve successfully created your LoL account! Click the Download for Windows button.
  6. You will first download and set up the League of Legends launcher. Open the file you just downloaded and click Install. You can also click on Advanced Options to choose where you want to install League of Legends and the Launcher.
  7. Wait a few seconds for the installation to complete. Once it’s over, the Launcher will start automatically.
  8. Log in with the username and password of the League of Legends account you just created. Agree to the Terms of Service.
  9. Your League of Legends download should start automatically. You can check the progress at the bottom-left of the screen.
  10. Once your download is complete, click the large blue PLAY NOW button at the bottom to play.

Congratulations! You can now play League of Legends on PC by opening the launcher any time you want.

Can I Play League of Legends Without Installing?

Yes and no. The official League of Legends requires a client and full installation of the game to play properly. However, there is a way to circumvent this by using cloud gaming services. Such services allow you to play games without installing them by connecting to a different machine via the internet. This theoretically allows you to play League of Legends in your browser.

In other words, you can play League of Legends without installing but you’ll need to make some compromises. Cloud-based gaming is still a relatively new and underdeveloped idea. Playing games this way requires an excellent and stable internet connection. Apparently, it’s better if you happen to live near a data center. However, even the best ways to play League of Legends without installation have notable lag and latency issues. That might be fine for slower-paced games, but Lol is quite timing and reflex-intensive.

The most popular game streaming service for League of Legends is Vortex. However, you should also note that most of these services are not free and require a monthly subscription.

League of Legends on Steam

Currently, you cannot download or play League of Legends on steam. LoL was available on Valve’s platform up to around 2012. However, it has since been removed for several reasons.

Riot Games cites that opting to remove LoL from Steam was a mutual decision between them and Valve. This news came in the wake of the release of Dota 2, and it would not make sense for Valve to keep Dota’s biggest competitor on their own platform.

As such, League of Legends on PC is available strictly from the Riot Games client. There are no plans to change the current distribution model, and we will likely never see LoL on Steam again.

League of Legends on iOS

The main League of Legends game is available on Microsoft Windows and OS X, which includes personal computers but not iOS phones and tablets.

If you’re looking to install League of Legends on Mac, check out the guide steps listed above. The process is identical to the Windows PC version. The website will recognize that you’re using an OS X device and automatically offer you the correct version of the game.

If you’re looking to strictly play League of Legends on iOS, you can try out League of Legends: Wild Rift. This is a slightly modified version of League of Legends for phones, including both Android and iOS. You can easily find it in the Apple Store and install it from there. Note that you can use the same Riot Games account to play League of Legends: Wild Rift.

Can You Play LoL Without a Mouse?

Technically, yes. However, that would be much more difficult in practice.

You could technically run the game while using the mouse pad. You can control the game as usual and everything will work fine. However, the mouse pad is simply not suitable for the complex and quick movements required to properly play League. Of course, you may get more mileage with some mouse pads than others, most notably with the high-quality, sensitive pads on Mac devices. In the long run, though, you will not be able to stand up to a player with a mouse.

Also, you could play League of Legends with a controller, like on a console. You would need a third-party program to properly map the controller buttons, though. This method would still be a massive handicap compared to the mouse and keyboard. Alternatively, you can just play LoL: Rifts. As mentioned above, this is a modified version of the game for smartphones. It was designed to be played on touchscreens, which is probably your best option to play LoL without a mouse.