If you’re coming back to Overwatch after a few years away, one of the first questions you’re probably asking is do skins transfer from Overwatch 1 to 2. I’ve had dozens of friends reach out to ask this same question, especially after they remembered they dropped $20 on that limited edition Widowmaker skin back in 2019 that they only used twice. It’s totally normal to want to hold onto the cosmetics you earned or paid for, and Blizzard’s cross-progression rollout had a lot of moving parts that left many players confused. We’ll break down exactly what carries over, what doesn’t, and how to fix common issues if your items go missing.
Do Skins Transfer From Overwatch 1 to 2? The Short Answer
The short answer is almost all skins from Overwatch 1 carry over to Overwatch 2, as long as you link your original Overwatch 1 account to the correct Battle.net profile you use for the new game. This applies to every skin you earned through gameplay, bought from the in-game shop, or got as part of limited-time events, including the rare OWL skins you purchased with league tokens. But there are a small handful of exceptions, so you shouldn’t assume every single item you own will pop up automatically the first time you log in. I’ve personally had a few rare event skins take 24 hours to show up after I first logged into Overwatch 2 at launch, so patience is key if you don’t see everything right away. I even had a friend who thought they lost their 2018 Winter Games Mercy skin, but it showed up two days later after the account merge finished processing.
What Cosmetics Don’t Carry Over to Overwatch 2
While most of your collection will transfer smoothly, there are a few categories of items that won’t make the jump to the new game, and there’s no way to recover these right now. The list of excluded items is short, but it’s worth knowing what to expect before you log in so you don’t get surprised:
- Overwatch 1 Loot Boxes: Any unopened loot boxes you had in your Overwatch 1 inventory were automatically opened for you when Overwatch 2 launched, and their contents were added to your collection. You won’t see the boxes themselves in your Overwatch 2 inventory, but you didn’t lose the items inside them.
- Original Overwatch League Tokens earned before 2022: A small percentage of players reported old OWL tokens vanishing during the transfer, but Blizzard resolved most of these issues in the first few months after launch. If you still have missing tokens, you can submit a support ticket to request a review.
- Custom Game settings and saved highlight clips: These are stored locally on your device for Overwatch 1, so they don’t carry over to Overwatch 2’s cloud save system unless you manually transfer them.
Most players won’t lose any of their favorite skins, even the limited-time ones from events like the annual Halloween Terror or Summer Games. The only skins that ever get excluded are skins that were removed for copyright or content policy reasons, and those are extremely rare. As of 2024, fewer than 10 total skins have been removed from player inventories for policy reasons, so the odds of losing a skin you care about are very low.
Steps to Make Sure Your Skins Transfer Correctly
If you want to avoid losing any of your Overwatch 1 skins when you move to Overwatch 2, there are a few simple steps you can take before you log in for the first time. First, make sure you’re using the same Battle.net account you used to play Overwatch 1. If you made a new account for Overwatch 2, you won’t be able to transfer your old skins over to it, no matter how many support tickets you send. You can only merge one Overwatch 1 account per platform to your main Battle.net profile, so if you had accounts on both Xbox and PlayStation, you can merge both into one PC account to access all your skins in one place.
Next, check that you don’t have any active bans or restrictions on your old Overwatch 1 account. If your account was banned for toxic behavior or cheating, you won’t be able to access any of your old cosmetics in Overwatch 2, even if you make a new account. If you’re logging in from a new device, you’ll need to verify your identity through two-factor authentication before your full cosmetics collection loads. I forgot to do this when I logged in from a new laptop last year, and half my skins were missing for three hours until I confirmed my email address.
What to Do If Your Overwatch 1 Skins Are Missing in Overwatch 2
Even if you follow all the steps correctly, you might still find some of your skins are missing when you first log in. Don’t panic right away, because most missing skin issues resolve themselves within 24 to 48 hours of your first login, especially if you’re merging multiple accounts from different platforms. If your skins still haven’t showed up after two days, the first thing you should do is double-check that you’re logged into the correct Battle.net account. It’s surprisingly easy to mix up old alt accounts with your main one, especially if you haven’t played in a few years.
You can check your account merge status from the Overwatch 2 main menu under the “Account” section to confirm that your old Overwatch 1 account was successfully linked. If the merge is confirmed and you still have missing skins, you can submit a support ticket to Blizzard with a list of the specific items you’re missing, and approximate dates you earned or purchased them. Blizzard’s support team usually responds to these tickets within three to five business days, and they can restore most missing items as long as you can prove you owned them on your original account. Note that you can’t request transfers of skins from one account to another if they’re registered to different email addresses, even if you own both accounts. Blizzard has strict policies against cosmetic transfers to prevent fraud and account theft, so there’s no way around this rule.
At the end of the day, you don’t have to worry about losing most of your hard-earned or purchased skins when you make the switch to the new game. As long as you link your accounts correctly and follow the simple steps we outlined, you’ll be able to use all your favorite old cosmetics alongside all the new skins added to Overwatch 2. If you were asking do skins transfer from Overwatch 1 to 2 because you’re thinking of coming back after a break, now is a great time to jump back in, since Blizzard adds new events and cosmetics every month that pair perfectly with your old collection. Just remember to be patient if your items don’t show up right away, and reach out to support if you run into any issues that don’t resolve on their own.