Using Windows 11 Xbox Fullscreen Experience 

Quick Tips

• The Xbox Full Screen Experience brings a console gaming flair to your PC.
• The tool is currently only available to Windows and Xbox Insiders.
• You will need the Xbox Insider Hub to get the most benefit from the feature.

Are you serious about your PC gaming? Well, so is Windows 11, and ready to help you take your experience to the next level: your full-screen experience. In this article, we’ll be looking at Windows 11 Xbox Fullscreen and how best to utilize it.

What Is the Fullscreen Experience?

Xbox and its parent company, Microsoft, have always been tied together. Windows 11 now brings handheld gaming functionality to the PC with Xbox Full Screen. This special screen overlay enables smoother navigation for those using controllers and gives the console experience to PC gamers, with the easy ability to switch right back to your Desktop.

That said, the experience is not yet widely available, and if you’re looking to get in on this early experience, you’ll need to join the Xbox Insider Hub and the Windows Insider Preview Build 26220.7271.

How to Use the Windows 11 Xbox Fullscreen

If you’re eager to experience Xbox Fullscreen on Windows 11, then there are a few things you need to do:

Become a Windows Insider

If you’re already signed in with your Microsoft Account, you can sign up to be a member of the Windows Insider Program for free and be first in line to test new features like this one. Joining the Beta Channel, or any of the more advanced ones (Dev and Canary), will have you sorted for the Xbox experience.

For joining, go to Settings and choose “Windows Update” from the sidebar. Choose your channel, and you’re good to go. Install any updates that come your way, which could take a while.

Use the Xbox Insider Hub

Your next step, if you haven’t done so already, is to download and install the Xbox Insider Hub from the Microsoft Store and sign in to your Microsoft Account. Open the app and do the following:

Step 1. Click “Previews” in the sidebar.

Step 2. Click “PC Gaming” and then opt into the previews. Click “Save” to exit.

Activate Your Fullscreen Gaming Experience

So, with that all out the way, you’re ready to start using the Xbox Full Screen experience. Here’s what you need to do:

Step 1. Open Settings (Win + I) and choose “Gaming” from the sidebar.

Step 2. Click “Full screen experience” in the main window.

Step 3. This isn’t compulsory, but if you’re keen, you can enable the full screen from startup by dragging the “Enter full screen experience in startup” slider to “On.” You’ll be launched straight into the action on startup.

Step 4. You can enter the Full Screen Experience by pressing (Win + G) to open the Game Bar and selecting “Enter full screen experience” or by pressing (Win + F11) to toggle between screens.

Step 5. A message will pop up recommending you to restart your machine to enter Windows 11 in full-screen mode and to free up RAM by closing desktop apps. The choice is yours, but restarting is better for performance.

Step 6. Press the Xbox Button on your controller to cycle between windows.

Step 7. From the main game screen, you can open games from Steam, other clients, and your PC easily. You can run multiple games, clients, and tabs at once, though keep in mind, this might eat up your RAM and processor resources.