Do not reinstall the game—that rarely fixes this issue, because the problem is cache-related, not the game files themselves.
Alternatively, changing both to and restarting has successfully forced the data to sync for many users. starcraft 2 preparing game data exclusive
| Scenario | Typical Duration | Exclusive Access Required? | |----------|----------------|----------------------------| | First launch after installation | 5–20 minutes | Yes – builds full shader cache & CASC index | | After a major game patch (e.g., 5.0 → 5.1) | 2–10 minutes | Yes – rewrites archive headers | | Graphics driver update | 1–5 minutes | Yes – invalidates shader cache | | Switching between DirectX 9/11/12 backends | 1–3 minutes | Yes – recompiles shaders for new API | | Launching a custom arcade map with new assets | 30–60 seconds | No – shared read‑only mode | Do not reinstall the game—that rarely fixes this
Close the Battle.net App and all background processes (check Task Manager). because the problem is cache-related