Xbox mode does not reinvent the PC gaming expertise, however it has just a few good touches.
2026 is the 12 months when Microsoft lastly appeared to note how nightmarish of an expertise Home windows 11 has turn into. Home windows 11 has obtained updates to make it suck much less and even new options to assist it really feel contemporary.
One of many greatest new additions to Home windows 11 is Xbox mode. It is exhausting to not see this as a response to Valve’s SteamOS, which is more and more spoken about in messianic tones by players hoping to leap ship from Microsoft’s slop-laden ecosystem. Whenever you activate Xbox mode on a PC, Home windows ditches the taskbar and adopts a controller-friendly structure, dropping you right into a redesigned Xbox app with all of your recreation libraries loaded up.
Xbox mode began touchdown on Home windows 11 PCs in Might, so everybody who often installs updates ought to have it by now. However easy methods to truly get it working is not apparent, and neither is easy methods to use it when you do. Earlier than we dive in, be sure to have a gamepad related — Xbox, PC and PlayStation controllers all work primarily based on our testing. It’ll additionally velocity up the method afterward when you open your digital storefront of selection now.
How you can allow and open Xbox mode in Home windows 11
Step one to utilizing Home windows 11’s Xbox mode is to make sure that it is turned on, which it will not be by default. To take action, open Settings through the use of the Win + I shortcut, then choose Gaming > Xbox mode.
Right here, when you see an Allow Xbox mode slider, allow it. You might also see a Select residence app part, the place you need to choose Xbox. In order for you faster entry to Xbox mode from the desktop, additionally allow Present Xbox mode in Activity View. And if you find yourself loving the characteristic and solely use your PC for gaming, Enter Xbox mode on startup will prevent a while.
Xbox mode is accessible by a number of paths. The keyboard shortcut Win + F11 toggles between the desktop and Xbox mode. You too can use Win + G to open the Sport Bar, click on the gear icon within the bar centered on the high of the display screen, then select Enter Xbox mode. Should you’re within the Xbox app, you may see a shortcut on the top-right of the house web page. Lastly, when you enabled the Activity View choice above, press Win + Tab and you may see an Xbox mode shortcut to the fitting of your open desktops on the backside of the display screen.
Whereas enjoying, urgent the Home windows key in your keyboard enters a process view the place you possibly can entry the Home windows desktop, in addition to shortcuts on the high of the display screen. To exit Xbox mode, return to the Xbox app residence display screen and click on the Exit Xbox mode button within the top-right. You too can use Win + F11 once more.
A standard false impression is that Xbox mode brings under-the-hood enhancements to efficiency whereas gaming, however Microsoft has made no such declare. That is dealt with by a separate toggle: Settings > Gaming > Sport Mode, which “turns issues off within the background” to enhance your gaming expertise. Whereas imprecise, it is price turning this on if you do not have it enabled already.
What Xbox mode does is get essentially the most computer-y elements of Home windows out of the best way, changing them with a full-screen expertise devoted to gaming that is pleasant to make use of with both a controller or keyboard and mouse. In different phrases, it is Microsoft’s reply to the Huge Image Mode in Steam.
What does Xbox mode truly do in Home windows 11?
You will profit most from Xbox mode when you have recreation libraries throughout a number of suppliers. Should you’ve received World of Warcraft, Fortnite and Counter-Strike in your PC, you want a minimum of three launchers to run them (Battle.web, Epic Video games and Steam, respectively). Xbox mode reveals you video games from all these libraries, in addition to Ubisoft Join and Humble Launcher, in a centralized place. We did not check different launchers just like the EA App. Should you do not see a selected title, you possibly can pull it into the Xbox app by deciding on the plus icon from the top-right of the Library tab.
Launching a recreation from the Xbox app sidesteps the necessity to open its launcher, as Xbox will merely goal the sport executable, which boots the required software program within the background. This course of wasn’t the quickest or smoothest in our testing. Though video games launch each time, we suggest opening third-party launchers earlier than beginning Xbox mode to hurry up the method.
Should you’re subscribed to Xbox Sport Cross, you’ll entry its library by Xbox mode. Surprisingly, the Cloud Gaming tab does not lock you to Microsoft’s providers. You may set Nvidia GeForce Now as your default streaming service within the Xbox app’s settings.
Finally, Xbox mode in its present kind is little greater than a souped-up Xbox app with controller mapping and some further settings to stop you from needing to work together with Home windows. It is extra helpful on handhelds and lounge PCs than on a standalone gaming PC. Regardless, with extra players switching to Linux than ever earlier than, it is good to see Microsoft exploring enhancements to the Home windows 11 gaming expertise.