You can now enable new portable Xbox gaming UI on regular Windows 11

The latest Windows 11 Insider build 25H2, available in the Release Preview channel, includes the new full-screen Xbox app game UI. It has been created for Windows-based portable gaming consoles. Officially, it will be a limited-time exclusive to the ROG Xbox Ally series consoles from ASUS and Microsoft. But Reddit users found a way to enable it on any other portable gaming device running Windows 11.

The advantage of the new Xbox Game Mode is that Windows 11 bypasses the Explorer shell (explorer.exe) and prevents numerous background processes, freeing up approximately 2GB of RAM. This memory becomes available for gaming, which improves performance.

With the new Game Mode, the system immediately loads the Xbox app, which brings together all your games from the Microsoft Store, Steam, Battle.net, and other services. The interface is fully optimized for portable consoles and includes a redesigned Game Bar and a more user-friendly task switcher.

It's worth noting that users still have the option to go to a regular desktop mode. However, Microsoft cautions that it's recommended to use a mouse, keyboard, or touchscreen in this mode.

⚠ Enabling the new Xbox gaming mode on Windows 11 requires Registry editing and ViVeTool commands, so you must be very careful. Enabling hidden and pre-release features may negatively affect system stability. You have been warned.

Enable Xbox Gaming Mode on Windows 11

1. Update to  Windows 11 version 25H2 . This version is currently available through the Windows Insider program in the Release Preview ring. This method may also work on newer builds, such as those in the Dev ring.
2. Check the "Settings" > "Gaming" > "Fullscreen" section. If it exists, select "Xbox" as the home app and enable the "Enter fullscreen at startup" option. Restart Windows 11.

   

3. If there is no such section in the Settings app, then download the ViVeTool utility from this link.
4. Unzip the downloaded archive to a ViVeTool folder in the root of your C: drive.
5. Open Windows Terminal (Admin) by pressing Win + X and selecting the eponymous item.
6. In the Terminal, type c:\vivetool\vivetool /enable /id:52580392,50902630and press Enter.
7. Make sure the command prompt displays the message "Successfully set feature configuration".
8. Press Win + R, type regedit and pressEnter to open Registry Editor.
9. Browse the left pane of regedit to this path:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\OEM.
10. Find the parameter named DeviceForm. On most portable consoles, this should already be there. Double-click it and make sure its value is 2e(in hexadecimal) or 46(in decimal).

    

11. If the parameter DeviceForm does not exist, right-click on an empty space in the OEM folder, select "New" > "DWORD (32-bit) Value", name it DeviceFormand set the value 2e(hexadecimal).
12. Reboot your device to apply the changes.
13. Go to Settings  > Gaming > Fullscreen . Select Xbox as your home app and enable the "Enter fullscreen on startup" option.

    

14. Restart your device.

That's it.

Source

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