If you’ve ever whiffed an easy Widowmaker headshot or struggled to track a fast-moving Tracer across King’s Row, you’ve almost certainly wondered can you change your crosshair in Overwatch 2. The default crosshair that comes preloaded with the game is designed to work for every hero and every playstyle, which means it doesn’t work particularly well for any of them. I spent my first 25 hours in Overwatch 2 sticking with the default, convinced my terrible aim was just a skill issue, until a teammate told me to spend 10 minutes adjusting my crosshair. My hit rate jumped almost 30% that same day.
Can You Change Your Crosshair in Overwatch 2, and Is It Worth It?
The short answer is yes, you can fully customize your crosshair in Overwatch 2 across all platforms, including PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch. All customization options are available for free, no battle pass purchase or unlock required, and adjusting your crosshair is completely allowed in competitive play with zero risk of account penalties. The only catch is that you’ll need to spend a little time testing settings to find what works for you, instead of just copying the first pro player setup you find online.
Many new players brush off crosshair customization as a waste of time, but even small changes can have a huge impact on your performance. The default crosshair is thick, low-contrast, and has dynamic bloom that expands when you shoot, which can make it hard to tell exactly where your bullets will land. If you main a hitscan hero that relies on precise aim, that extra visual clutter can cost you dozens of eliminations per match. For support and tank players, a clearer crosshair can make it easier to land heals or stuns on fast-moving teammates and enemies.
You don’t have to completely overhaul your crosshair to see benefits either. Even just switching the color from white to bright green or purple to make it stand out against map backgrounds can make a noticeable difference after just a few matches. I switched my crosshair color first, before changing any other settings, and immediately stopped losing track of my aim point during chaotic team fights on Ilios.
Step-by-Step Guide to Changing Your Crosshair in Overwatch 2
Adjusting your crosshair only takes a couple of minutes, even if you’ve never opened the settings menu before. Start by opening the main menu from the home screen or in between matches, then select the “Controls” tab from the top of the settings menu. From there, scroll down to the “Crosshair” section, where you’ll find every possible adjustment option sorted by category. You can choose to adjust a global crosshair that applies to all heroes, or select individual heroes from the dropdown menu to create custom crosshairs for specific characters.
There are dozens of small tweaks you can make, but we recommend starting with the core settings first to get a baseline you’re comfortable with:
- Crosshair type (dot, circle, cross, square, or custom with outline and gap options)
- Thickness, opacity, and size to match your screen resolution and viewing distance
- Color contrast to stand out against every map background and enemy hero skin
- Dynamic scaling options that adjust when you shoot, move, or aim down sights
You can save up to 5 separate crosshair presets so you don’t have to re-adjust every time you switch between main heroes with different playstyles. For example, you can save one preset for hitscan dps, one for projectile dps, one for support, and one for tanks, then switch between them in 2 clicks from the hero select screen. That saves a ton of time if you regularly fill different roles in quick play or competitive.
We recommend testing every change in the Practice Range first before jumping into a public match. Even small tweaks like reducing crosshair thickness by 1px can throw off your muscle memory for the first 10 to 15 minutes of play. Spend a few minutes shooting training bots and moving around the range after every adjustment to make sure the crosshair feels natural, not distracting.
Best Crosshair Settings for Common Overwatch 2 Playstyles
There’s no one “best” crosshair that works for every player, but there are general guidelines you can follow based on the role and heroes you play most often. For hitscan heroes like Widowmaker, Ashe, Tracer, and Soldier: 76, you’ll want a small, high-contrast crosshair with no bloom or dynamic scaling. These heroes rely on precise, consistent aim, so you don’t want your crosshair expanding or moving when you shoot. I use a 2px thick green cross with no center dot for Tracer, and it lets me track fast moving targets without blocking my view of their hitbox.
For projectile heroes like Pharah, Junkrat, Kiriko, and Hanzo, you can get away with a slightly larger crosshair with a small center gap. Projectile bullets have travel time, so you don’t need pixel-perfect aim the way you do with hitscan heroes, and the gap can help you judge leading distance for moving targets. Just don’t make the gap too large, or you’ll struggle to hit close-range shots when enemies run straight at you.
For tank and support heroes that don’t rely on super precise aim, you can use a slightly larger, more visible crosshair that’s easy to track during chaotic team fights. Tanks like Reinhardt and Winston only need to aim roughly at enemies to land shots, so a bigger crosshair won’t hurt your performance, and will make it easier to keep track of your aim point when there are 10 different abilities going off at once. Stay away from neon white or yellow crosshairs if you play a lot of Control maps -- most of these have bright, snow or light-colored backgrounds that will make your crosshair disappear mid-fight.
Turn off crosshair shake for hitscan heroes if you want consistent aim. The visual recoil effect doesn’t change your actual bullet spread, but it can make it look like your aim is moving when it isn’t, which throws off your focus during long-range duels. You can leave crosshair shake on for projectile and tank heroes if you like the visual feedback, but it’s almost always a net negative for hitscan play.
Common Crosshair Customization Mistakes to Avoid
The biggest mistake new players make when customizing their crosshair is making it way too big. It’s tempting to crank up the size so you can always see it, but a crosshair that’s too large will block 20% or more of your screen, making it impossible to see small enemy heads peeking around corners. If you can cover an entire training bot’s head with your crosshair when you’re standing 10 meters away in the Practice Range, it’s too big.
Another common mistake is copying pro player settings exactly. Pro players use different monitor resolutions, DPI, in-game sensitivity, and brightness settings than you, so a crosshair that looks perfect on their setup might be tiny, blurry, or invisible on yours. You can use pro settings as a starting point, but always adjust them to fit your own screen and preferences instead of using them as-is. I tried using a popular pro Widowmaker crosshair for a week once, and my hit rate dropped 25% because it was so small I could barely see it on my 1080p monitor.
Don’t change your crosshair every other match either. Muscle memory takes 10 to 20 hours of play to fully build, so if you’re adjusting your settings every time you have a bad match, you’ll never get consistent aim. If you’re struggling with hits, try adjusting your sensitivity first before you mess with your crosshair, and wait at least a week of regular play before you make major changes to your crosshair setup. Never use a crosshair that matches the dominant color of the heroes you main -- if you main red-themed heroes like Ashe or Reaper, a red crosshair will blend into your own character model when you’re aiming down sights.
At the end of the day, the perfect crosshair is entirely personal, so don’t stress about making it “correct” on your first try. Now that you know the answer to can you change your crosshair in Overwatch 2, you can spend 10 minutes in the settings menu testing small tweaks to find what works for you. I still make tiny adjustments to my own crosshair every couple of months when new maps come out with unusual background colors, and it always helps me stay consistent. The only thing that matters is that you feel comfortable with it, and that it helps you hit more shots and have more fun playing.