What Is an HWID Ban? Everything You Need to Know in 2026
Complete guide to hardware ID bans — how HWID bans work, what anti-cheats check, and how to get unbanned with an HWID spoofer.
What Is an HWID Ban?
An HWID (Hardware ID) ban is a permanent ban tied to your computer's physical hardware rather than your game account. When you get HWID banned, creating a new account won't work — the game's anti-cheat recognizes your hardware and bans the new account too.
HWID bans are the most severe form of punishment in competitive gaming because they're designed to be permanent and unfixable through normal means.
How Do HWID Bans Work?
Anti-cheat systems like Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC), BattlEye, Ricochet, and Vanguard collect unique identifiers from your hardware components:
- Disk Serial Numbers — The unique serial on your hard drive or SSD
- MAC Address — Your network adapter's physical address
- SMBIOS Data — Motherboard manufacturer info, serial number, BIOS version
- Volume IDs — Windows partition volume serial numbers
- Monitor EDID — Your monitor's embedded identification data
When you get banned, these identifiers are stored in the anti-cheat's database. If you create a new account on the same hardware, the anti-cheat matches your identifiers against the banned list and immediately bans the new account.
Which Games Use HWID Bans?
| Game | Anti-Cheat | HWID Ban |
|---|---|---|
| Fortnite | Easy Anti-Cheat | Yes |
| PUBG | BattlEye | Yes |
| Overwatch 2 | Ricochet | Yes |
| Valorant | Vanguard | Yes (most aggressive) |
| Apex Legends | Easy Anti-Cheat | Yes |
| Escape from Tarkov | BattlEye | Yes |
How to Get Unbanned from an HWID Ban
There are really only two options:
1. Replace Your Hardware (Not Recommended)
You could physically replace every component the anti-cheat checks — new drive, new network card, reinstall Windows. Expensive, time-consuming, and you might miss an identifier.
2. Use an HWID Spoofer (Recommended)
An HWID spoofer changes what the anti-cheat sees when it queries your hardware. Instead of your real serial numbers, the spoofer returns fake ones. The anti-cheat thinks you're on a completely different machine.
Raw Spoofer works by intercepting hardware queries at the kernel level before the anti-cheat can read your real identifiers. Key features:
- One-click spoof — Changes all identifiers with a single click
- Seeding system — Maintain the same spoofed HWID across sessions
- Targeted cleaning — Removes anti-cheat ban traces without touching unnecessary system parts
- No reinstalls — Works without reinstalling Windows or any game
- Temporary — Resets on restart, so your real HWID is never permanently modified
Tips After Getting HWID Unbanned
- Create a new account — Don't use your banned account
- Use a different email — Some systems link accounts by email
- Play clean initially — Don't immediately use cheats on the new account
- Keep the spoofer running — Always spoof before launching the game
HWID banned? Raw Spoofer bypasses hardware bans for Fortnite, Valorant, Overwatch 2, PUBG, and more. One-click operation, no reinstalls needed.