How to get a Valorant replay file (.vrf) for analysis
Unlike CS2, Valorant does not make you download anything: the game writes a replay of each match to your own disk as it is played. Those .vrf files are the raw material for any serious aim analysis. Here is where they are, which modes produce them, and what to do with one once you have it.
Where the replay files are
Valorant stores replays inside its local data folder. On Windows, paste this into the Explorer address bar:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\VALORANT\Saved\DemosYou will find one .vrf file per recorded match, typically 50–80 MB, named with the match id and a timestamp. Sort the folder by date to find last night’s games. The same matches are listed in the client under Career → Replays where the feature is enabled; the files on disk are what that tab plays back.
Which matches are recorded
- Recorded: the standard queues — competitive, unrated and premier.
- Not recorded: the Range, custom games and practice modes.
- Time-limited: the game rotates old replays out after a while, so copy the files you want to keep somewhere else before they disappear.
The replay system rolled out region by region; if the Replays tab is missing from your client, check whether the folder above exists and contains recent files — the recording side may already be active for you.
Why there is no “download” button
CS2 demos are recorded server-side and fetched on request (see how to download a CS2 demo). Valorant replays are recorded by your client, so they only exist on the PC you played on — there is nothing to fetch, but also nothing to recover if that PC deleted them. Play on a friend’s machine and the replay stays there.
What to do with the file
Watching it in the client is useful, but reviewing every kill frame by frame by hand takes hours per match. A parser does the same work in seconds: upload the file to the AimFinder replay analyzer and it reconstructs every kill — flick size, overshoot or undershoot, correction time, crosshair placement — then derives the sensitivity your aim actually performs best at.
- Upload the
.vrfas it is: no renaming, no unpacking. - Pick yourself in the roster. Replays carry agent picks and account ids rather than display names, so find your row by agent and kill count; your pick is remembered for the next replay.
- Enter the sensitivity and DPI you used in that match — the analysis is interpreted at that setting.
One match is a decent first look; two or three recent matches give the per-kill statistics enough volume to be trustworthy — see what replay analysis can and cannot measure for why sample size matters.
Privacy note
A replay contains the whole match (all ten players), but nothing from your computer — no settings, no hardware info, no mouse data. AimFinder decodes the file on its server, keeps only the per-kill aim numbers for the player you selected, and deletes the file itself right after parsing. Nothing runs next to the game, so Vanguard never sees any of it (details in the privacy policy).