You log into VALORANT only to find out that your friends are missing from your list. Did they all delete you overnight? Not only a coordinated move like that would be cruel, the odds are of that happening will be quite low.
Occasionally, the friends list in VALORANT stops working. This generally happens whenever the servers are under heavy load, especially during new patch releases. When more players than anticipated start flooding into the servers, it’s normal to see some hiccups here and there and the friends list bug is one of them.
When your friends list doesn’t work in VALORANT, you won’t be able to invite any of your friends to your squad. While this is a server-related error in most cases, there are a few solutions you can try out to fix it by yourself as well. Here’s how you can fix your not working friends list in VALORANT.
Relaunch VALORANT
Every time you log into VALORANT, you connect to the closest game server. When there’s a problem with that connection, your friends list may stop working. One of the best ways to fix a connectivity problem will always be relogging and relaunching the game does just that.
Once you exit out of your current session and launch the game for a second time, you’ll reestablish the connection between you and the game servers. You may need to repeat this process a couple of times, but if your friends list doesn’t start working, you may want to move onto some of the other fixes on our list.
Restart your router
Your friends list stops working due to connection problems. While the chances of them being on Riot’s side will be higher, it’ll be hard to dismiss the small possibility that your home connection may be the one to blame.
If you’ve noticed that your internet has been acting weird throughout the day before logging into VALORANT, it may be time to reset your router. Doing so will grant you a new connection line between you and your internet service provider (ISP). Once this happens, you may be able to bypass any connectivity issues you ran into before while playing VALORANT and your friends list may come back.
Change your DNS server or try out a different connection
There are only so many fixes you can try to troubleshoot your home network. Changing your DNS is one of them since most players use the default DNS addresses provided by their ISP.
Like normal game servers, DNS servers can also stop working properly from time to time. When this happens your connection may start feeling sluggish and you may start receiving errors in VALORANT. Replace your default DNS server with a commercially available one to see if it makes a difference. You may need to continue playing VALORANT with your new addresses for a little while, until your default DNS sorts itself out.
Alternatively, you can also try out a different connection. One of the fastest ways of doing this will be using your cellular data. Turn on the hotspot feature of your phone and connect your gaming device to your phone’s internet either through Wi-Fi or USB. If your friend list show up when you’re on cellular data but it disappears when you’re on mobile, you may need to call your ISP to see if there’s anything they can detect on their end.
Check the server status of VALORANT
Whenever the servers are down, you won’t be able to log into VALORANT in the first place. When there are minor outages, however, players can often launch VALORANT but the in-game functions stop working, making it impossible to play the game. Friends list not working is one of these errors.
You can check out the server status of VALORANT through Riot’s official website. The developer also keeps the fans updates on Twitter when errors are affecting a decent chunk of the player base. Keeping an eye on community hubs like Reddit when widespread errors occur can also be beneficial since there may be users sharing alternative solution methods that could fix their friend lists. Devs also tend to respond on community forums, meaning they’ll also be the fastest way to get news regarding an error.
If the servers are down and Riot says it is working on fixing the problem, nothing you’ll do will be able to get you back into the game. In certain cases, you’ll just need to wait for a fix which doesn’t take longer than a few hours. The timing heavily depends on the size of the issue, however.
Contact Riot support
If the servers are doing fine and you still can’t seem to get your friends list to work, you’ll have no choice but to contact Riot support. Create a support ticket and go through all the fixes you’ve tried out to fix the problem.
Providing video evidence can also help to fasten the process and a support associate should get back to you in a short time. Technical support specialists working at Riot may be able to provide additional fixes that can be right just for you.
