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Why Are My Friends Not Appearing Online in Overwatch 2?

Friends appearing offline in Overwatch 2 may be a Battle.net presence setting or a stale friends list. Here’s how to check both—and what to know if status changes after launch.
WorldOverwatch 2? Length2 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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If friends appear offline in Overwatch 2, first check Battle.net presence: either player may have selected Appear Offline, which hides them from Blizzard friends while they remain connected. If the Battle.net friends list is stuck loading or showing stale information, fully exit and relaunch the Battle.net desktop app. Overwatch’s Career Profile Visibility setting is separate and does not control online status.

First, identify whose status looks wrong and where

The right fix depends on whether you appear offline to friends or you cannot see friends online, and whether the problem is in Battle.net or Overwatch.

  • Friends see you as offline: check your Battle.net status, including the mobile app.
  • You see friends as offline, or the list will not load: check their status and refresh your Battle.net desktop app.
  • Status changes after launching Overwatch: check it again in-game; players have reported this behavior, but its cause is not confirmed.

Check Battle.net status for both players

Blizzard says Appear Offline shows a player as offline to Blizzard friends while they remain connected to Battle.net. So an offline label does not necessarily mean the person has disconnected.

If friends see you as offline

  1. In the Battle.net desktop app, open the status menu under your avatar.
  2. Select Online if you want your Blizzard friends to see you as online.
  3. If your desktop status disagrees with what friends see, log out of the Battle.net mobile app and check again. Blizzard notes that mobile status can interfere with desktop status and that the desktop app has priority.

If a friend appears offline to you

Ask them to check their Battle.net status and select Online if they want to appear online. If they intentionally use Appear Offline, they remain connected but are hidden from the Blizzard friends list.

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Refresh a Battle.net friends list that is stale or stuck

If a BattleTag or Real ID list is stuck at “Retrieving details…” or shows friends offline even though they are online, Blizzard Support recommends logging out, fully exiting the Battle.net desktop app, then launching it again and signing in.

  1. Log out of the Battle.net desktop app.
  2. Fully exit the app; closing a window without quitting may leave it running.
  3. Launch Battle.net again and sign in.

If the list still will not load, Blizzard’s support guidance directs users to the Battle.net Desktop App Bug Report forum.

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Career Profile Visibility does not change online status

Overwatch 2’s Career Profile Visibility setting controls who can view profile and career-stat information, not whether you appear online. Blizzard’s instructions place it at Options > Social, with Public, Private, Friends Only, and Groups Only choices. Changing this setting will not resolve a Battle.net presence discrepancy.

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If your status switches to Online after Overwatch launches

Players reported in February 2026 that Appear Offline switched to Online after launching Overwatch or during play, including after setting it in the game’s Social menu. A May 2026 Technical Support forum post described a similar symptom on console. These reports do not establish an official diagnosis, a confirmed widespread bug, or a guaranteed workaround.

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Check your status again after entering the game. If it reproducibly changes, report the behavior through Blizzard’s Overwatch Bug Report forum, noting your platform and when the status changes.

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