There’s nothing worse than getting hyped to drop into an Apex Legends match with your best crew, only to get stuck fumbling through menus for 10 minutes trying to find the “add friend” button. I’ve been there too: when I switched from PlayStation to PC last year, I clicked every icon in the lobby twice before I found the hidden friends menu. If you’re wondering how do you friend someone on Apex Legends, you’re not alone—Respawn’s crossplay setup works seamlessly most of the time, but the menu layout can be confusing for new and returning players alike. This guide covers every platform, common error fixes, and extra tips to keep your friends list organized so you can spend less time navigating menus and more time winning matches.
How Do You Friend Someone on Apex Legends Across All Platforms
The process for adding friends varies a little depending on what device you’re playing on, but all methods tie back to your EA account, since Apex uses EA’s backend for crossplay connections. If you're still confused about how do you friend someone on Apex Legends even after following these steps, try restarting your game first — most minor UI glitches disappear after a quick reboot.
PC (Steam & EA App): From the main lobby, look for the small two-person icon in the top right corner of your screen, right next to the settings cog. Click that icon to open your friends list, then select the “Add Friend” button near the top of the menu. You’ll need to enter their EA ID to send a request, even if they’re on a different platform. If they’re already on your Steam friends list and have their accounts linked, they’ll show up in your “Suggested Friends” tab automatically, so you don’t have to type their ID manually.
PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch: While in the main lobby, press the Options (PlayStation) or Menu (Xbox/Switch) button to open the side menu. Navigate to the Friends tab using the shoulder buttons, then select “Find Friend” from the top of the list. You can enter either their platform-specific gamertag (if they play on the same console as you) or their EA ID (for crossplay requests) to send an invite. Make sure you spell their ID correctly, even small typos will lead to a “user not found” error.
Apex Legends Mobile: From the main lobby, tap the two-person friends icon on the left edge of your screen. Tap the plus sign in the top right corner of the friends menu, then type in their in-game mobile ID or EA ID to send a request. You can also add players you recently matched with by tapping the “Recent Teammates” tab, which saves you the trouble of asking for their ID after a good match.
Common Friend Request Errors and How to Fix Them
Even if you follow all the steps correctly, you might run into glitches that stop your friend request from going through. Another common issue people run into when figuring out how do you friend someone on Apex Legends is mixing up their EA ID with their platform gamertag. Most errors are easy to fix with a few quick checks:
Friend request never arrives: This is the most common issue, and it’s almost always caused by one of three things: a typo in the EA ID, disabled crossplay, or strict privacy settings. First, double check that you typed their ID exactly as they shared it — EA IDs are case-insensitive, but extra spaces or misspelled words will send the request to the wrong person. If the ID is correct, ask your friend to check their privacy settings to make sure they allow incoming friend requests, and confirm both of you have crossplay enabled in the Gameplay settings tab.
“User not found” error: This usually happens if the player changed their EA ID in the last 72 hours, or their account is set to fully private. EA’s system takes a day or two to update ID changes across all platforms, so if your friend just rebranded their gamertag, wait a day and try again. If that doesn’t work, ask them to send you a friend request instead, or share their unique friend code, which you can find in the “My Profile” section of the friends menu.
Request disappears after you send it: Nine times out of ten, this means the other person declined your request, but it can also happen if there’s a temporary server glitch. If you’re sure the person would accept your invite, wait 10 minutes and try sending the request again, or restart your game to refresh your connection to Apex’s servers. If it still doesn’t work, you can try joining one of their public lobbies if they’re playing a casual match, then send the request from the in-game squad menu.
If you’re still having trouble after trying these fixes, run through this quick checklist to rule out common issues:
- Confirm both accounts have crossplay enabled in the gameplay settings menu
- Verify you are entering the correct EA ID, not just a platform-specific gamertag
- Check that neither account has incoming friend requests blocked in privacy settings
- Restart your game and router to fix temporary server connection glitches
Tips to Manage Your Apex Legends Friends List Effectively
Once you start adding a lot of players, your friends list can get messy fast, especially if you add random teammates who play well with you. There are a few small tricks you can use to keep your list organized so you don’t have to scroll through hundreds of names to find your regular squad.
Mute notifications for players you don’t play with often so you don’t get spammed with invite notifications when you’re trying to grind ranked. You can do this by right clicking their name on PC, or holding down X on their profile on console, and selecting “Mute Notifications”. You’ll still see them online if you want to invite them, but you won’t get popups every time they log on or send an invite.
You can also sort your friends into custom groups to keep your list organized. I have a group for my regular ranked squad, a group for casual friends I play with on weekends, and a group for random players I’ve met in matches who are really good at specific legends. This lets me pull up exactly who I want to play with in two clicks, instead of scrolling through 200+ names every time I log on.
Another useful tip: if you have a really good random teammate, add them right from the post-match scoreboard instead of waiting to ask for their ID. Most players will accept requests from people they just won a match with, and it saves you the trouble of typing out their ID later. You can do this by hovering over their name on the scoreboard and selecting “Send Friend Request” before you exit the post-match screen.
How to Invite Added Friends to Your Apex Squad
Adding a friend is only half the process — you still need to get them into your squad to play matches. The good news is this part is way simpler than adding them, even for crossplay groups.
Once your friend accepts your request, they’ll show up in your online friends list whenever they’re logged into Apex. To invite them, right click their name on PC, or press A on their profile on console, and select “Invite to Squad”. They’ll get a popup notification that they can accept or decline, and if they accept, they’ll join your lobby immediately. Crossplay squad invites work across all platforms as long as everyone has crossplay enabled, so you can play with your friends no matter what device they’re on.
If you’re playing ranked, keep in mind that you can only invite players who are within one rank tier of you. For example, if you’re Platinum, you can invite Gold or Diamond players, but you can’t invite Bronze or Master players to your ranked squad. This rule is in place to keep ranked matches fair, so don’t be surprised if you get an error when trying to invite a friend who’s a much higher or lower rank than you.
If invites aren’t going through, ask your friend to join your lobby directly instead. They can do this by finding your name in their friends list and selecting “Join Squad”, as long as your lobby isn’t set to private. You can also set your lobby to “Open” if you’re playing casual matches, so any of your friends can join without needing an invite first — this is perfect if you’re jumping between matches and don’t want to send out invites every time you log on.
Now that you know how do you friend someone on Apex Legends, you can stop wasting time clicking through menus and start dropping into Worlds Edge or Storm Point with your favorite squad. Don’t let silly menu glitches or wrong ID entries ruin your play session — use the fixes we covered to get requests sent and accepted fast, and keep your friends list organized so you can jump into matches as soon as everyone is online. I’ve used these tricks hundreds of times to add random players who carried me through ranked matches, and to link up with old friends who switched to different platforms, and they work every time. Next time you jump into a match, keep an eye out for players you gel with, and don’t hesitate to send them a request — you might just find your new permanent squadmate to grind wins with.