When I first started playing Honkai Star Rail, I spent 20 minutes clicking through every menu tab trying to find where to send a friend request to my roommate. We wanted to team up to beat the tough weekly Echo of War boss, but I had no clue how the game’s friend system worked. If you’re in the same boat, this guide breaks down exactly how to add friend on Honkai Star Rail, plus all the little details most new players miss that can save you a ton of frustration.
How to Add Friend on Honkai Star Rail: Full Step-by-Step Walkthrough
The process of adding friends works almost exactly the same across PC, mobile, and PS5 versions of the game, so you don’t have to learn different steps for different devices. First, open your in-game menu by tapping the phone icon in the top left corner of your screen, or pressing the ESC key on PC. Scroll through the menu options until you see the “Friends” icon, marked with a little two-person silhouette, and tap it. Once you get the hang of how to add friend on Honkai Star Rail, you can send requests to multiple players in just a couple of minutes.
Once you’re on the friends page, you’ll see a tab labeled “Add Friend” near the top of the screen. Click that, and you’ll be taken to a search bar where you can input the other player’s UID. UID is the only identifier for HSR players across all platforms, so you can’t search for someone using their in-game display name, since multiple players can use the same name. You can find your own UID listed right below your profile picture on the main friends page, so you can copy and send it to people who want to add you.
After you input the correct UID, you’ll see the other player’s profile preview, including their display name, Trailblaze Level, and main showcase character. Double check that it’s the right person, then click the “Send Request” button. You can add a short 30-character message to your request if you want, which is helpful if you’re adding a stranger you met in a co-op lobby. The request will stay pending for 7 days, after which it expires automatically if the other player doesn’t accept it.
You don’t have to be online at the same time to send or accept friend requests, so you can send requests to players you meet in random co-op matches even if they leave the lobby before you get a chance to ask for their UID. Just pull up the match history tab to find their UID after the game ends.
Common Issues You Might Face When Adding HSR Friends (And Fixes)
Even if you follow the steps perfectly, you might run into errors that stop you from adding friends. Most of these issues have simple fixes, and you don’t need to contact customer support for 90% of them.
Double check if the player you’re trying to add is on the same regional server as you first, because this is the most common mistake new players make. Honkai Star Rail does not support cross-server friend connections as of the latest update, so if you’re on the North America server and your friend is on the Asia server, you won’t be able to find their UID no matter how many times you type it in. You can check your server by looking at the small tag next to your UID on your profile page.
Other common issues include the other player’s friends list being full, or them having friend requests turned off in their privacy settings. If you keep getting an error message when sending requests, try these quick fixes:
- If you can’t find a UID, first confirm both of you are on the same server (NA, EU, Asia, HK/TW/MO) as cross-server friend adds are not supported yet
- If your friend request is not received, ask the other player to check their hidden request folder, which is often missed by new players who only check their main notifications tab
- If you keep getting error messages when sending requests, restart your game to clear temporary cache issues that block social features
If none of these fixes work, it’s possible the player you’re trying to add has blocked you, or their account has been temporarily suspended. You can try adding a different friend to test if the issue is on your end or theirs.
Smart Ways to Find Active Honkai Star Rail Friends to Play With
Adding your real life friends who play the game is great, but if you don’t know anyone else who plays HSR, you can find tons of active players in official and fan-run communities. The key is to look for players who are on the same server as you, and have similar play schedules so you can team up for content when you’re both online.
Prioritize adding players who regularly clear Simulated Universe and Forgotten Hall content if you want consistent co-op help, because these players usually log in daily and have built strong teams that can carry you through tough boss fights. You can find these players in the official Honkai Star Rail Discord server’s “looking for group” channels, where people post their UIDs and what content they need help with. The r/HonkaiStarRail subreddit also has weekly friend request megathreads where you can post your UID and find other players on your server.
You can also add players you meet in random co-op lobbies if they play well. Most players are happy to accept friend requests from people they just played a successful match with, especially if you leave a short message saying you liked their team build. Don’t add too many random players without checking their activity level though, because the friends list only has a 60 person limit, and you don’t want to waste slots on players who only log in once a month.
So if you’re looking for friends to help you farm relics or beat tough story bosses, these communities are the best place to find them. I’ve found 12 active friends from the official Discord, and we run weekly Echo of War runs together every weekend, which saves me a ton of time waiting for random matchups.
Best Practices for Managing Your HSR Friends List Long-Term
Once you start adding friends, it’s important to keep your list organized so you can find the people you want to play with quickly, and free up space for new active players. You don’t have to do a full list audit every week, but a quick check once a month is enough to keep it running smoothly.
Set your friend request privacy to “Friends of Friends” if you don’t want random requests from players you don’t know. This is especially helpful if you post your UID publicly in community threads, because it stops people from spamming you with requests to join their inactive guilds or beg for free pulls. If you do want to accept requests from strangers, you can leave the setting on “Open”, but make sure to check the request messages before you accept.
Leave a short note with your in-game name when sending a friend request to strangers, so they know why you’re adding them. For example, if you met them in a Simulated Universe run, write “Cool Ruan Mei build from SU run” so they recognize you. Requests with personal messages are 3x more likely to be accepted than blank requests, in my experience.
Every 30 days, go through your friends list and remove players who have been offline for 20 days or more, unless you know them in real life. Most players who take a break from HSR for that long either quit the game or won’t be active enough to help you with co-op content, so freeing up their spot lets you add new active players. You can also add custom notes to your friends’ profiles to remember what they’re good at, like “great for Echo of War runs” so you know who to message when you need help with specific content.
Learning how to add friend on Honkai Star Rail is a small skill that makes a huge difference in your overall game experience. You can beat tougher content faster, farm relics and materials more efficiently, and even make new friends who share your love for the game’s story and characters. Don’t get discouraged if you run into small errors when adding friends at first, most of them have super simple fixes that take 30 seconds to sort out. Once you build up a list of active friends, you’ll wonder how you ever played the game without them.
