VALORANT Spectator Controls: Spectate, Observer and Replay

VALORANT spectator controls are not one universal set of binds. Watching a teammate after you die, joining a Custom Game as an Observer and reviewing a finished match in Replay are three different flows. Fixed lists such as “press 1, then V” are therefore unreliable. Your on-screen prompts and Settings > Controls show the binds active on your setup.

Post-death spectating

If you are eliminated while the round continues, you can follow a surviving teammate’s POV and use the displayed next/previous player prompts. This is regular spectating; it does not grant free-cam or broadcast tools. VALORANT also does not provide a general Watch button that lets you jump into any ongoing friend match from the friends list.

Custom Game Observer controls

The Observer slot is built for customs, scrims and broadcasts. Riot has documented player-number selection, free and cinematic cameras, projectile follow, aim lines and team outlines. Announced defaults included Shift + player number for a cinematic camera, F for Projectile Follow, R for aim lines, H/J/K/L for outline views and [ / ] for following the previous or next observer.

Those are published defaults, not a promise that every keyboard layout or current profile is identical. Check the Observer section in Controls before running a broadcast.

Replay controls are separate

Replay arrived on PC with Patch 11.06. In an eligible completed match you can switch among all ten first-person perspectives, use a third-person free cam, pause, jump on the timeline, skip rounds and change playback speed from 0.1x to 8x. The interface can also toggle the minimap and HUD or open the combat report.

If you died during a live round, you are spectating. If you joined a Custom Game Observer slot, you have observer tools. If you opened a recording from match history, you are in Replay. For related setup help, see the VALORANT minimap settings, keybind guide and chat commands.