You think you know everything about your big brick of an Xbox Series X or Series S? Think again.
Don’t shoot the messenger, but even if you’ve played your Xbox consistently for the past four years and you think you know it inside and out, you may still be surprised by what your console is capable of. Just like the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S have a bevy of hidden options, settings, and tricks that may even change how you use your console.
There’s a lot of talk about what’s next in store for Xbox. Hot on the heels of its multi-billion dollar Activision Blizzard acquisition (and subsequent layoffs), the company has expressed its full-throated support for its Game Pass subscriptionservice, even going so far as to talk about putting the service onto rival consoles. The question then becomes what will happen to Microsoft’s hardware in the future, especially as Sony seems geared up to release a PS5 Pro this year, and Nintendo also seems set to unleash a Switch sequel in 2025. Perhaps Microsoft has a handheld console waiting in the wings, or perhaps not. For now, it seems we’ll be sticking with the Series X/S for a while longer.
That being said, the current Xbox is a quality console that gets even better once you understand all of what it’s capable of. It’s never been easier to stream your console to your phone, tablet, PC, or Mac, and you have excellent options to record 4K HDR content for future use once you know how to get it going.
Much of the hidden stuff available on Xbox is contained in the Settings menu. To access it, go to the home screen, go up to the top bar, and select the Gear Settings icon. You can access the same menu anywhere else by clicking the Xbox button, scrolling all the way to the right, and then clicking down to Settings.
So, Microsoft might have been on a completely different copilot recently, but the Xbox has a completely different copilot setting that combines input from two different controllers into one. This is an accessibility option for those who need assistance playing their games, but it can also be useful if you need to help a young one get past an especially difficult part of a game.
In settings, under Accessibility and Controller,turn your attention to Copilot Settings. Then scroll down to Turn on Copilot then select which other controller will also work with the first one.
This setting allows two people to play a single-player game at once, though it could also be a great option to grief your friends as they play their favorite games. Don’t worry, we won’t tell.
This was one of the original selling features of the latest Xbox consoles, but in many ways, the smart switching has been lost to time. If your Xbox controller is paired with another device, like your TV or PC, you can easily switch between your console and that other device. So long as you’ve paired the controller via Bluetooth, you only need to hit the sync button on the top of the controller twice. This should automatically switch it to the last device you used. Hit it twice again, and it should switch back to your console.
If you hate that your notifications appear at the bottom of your screen, there’s an easy way to change that. In your settings menu, go to Preferences, then click Notifications. Here, you can turn off notification banners completely, but you can go one step further and customize exactly which notifications you want to receive. Under Default notification position, you can set the console to show the notifications anywhere on the top or bottom of your screen, ensuring it won’t get in the way of any of your content.
The Xbox has a built-in magnifier feature, and you don’t have to turn it on in settings. Hold down the Xbox button on your controller, and you should bring up the quick menu to turn off your console or controller. Then, hit the share button opposite the menu button to turn on the Magnifier. After that, you can use the left thumbstick to scroll around the screen and the two trigger buttons to zoom in and out. In the same way, there’s also the Narrator screen reader.
If you’ve long grown tired of the same old solid color background, you may want to look at something more lively in a dynamic background. Compared to earlier versions of Xbox, the Series X/S doesn’t make it too easy to find and change. In settings, go to General, then Personalization. Under My Background, scroll all the way down to Dynamic Backgrounds. If you have Game Pass, you’ll likely already have a ton of dynamic backgrounds available, but you should still see a fair number from Xbox itself.
Are you tired of having to put in a passkey every time you log into your Xbox, but you also don’t want any of your family or roommates jumping on your account? If you have a single Xbox controller that you know is yours (and perhaps stays under lock and key), you can essentially make it your main means of logging into your Xbox.In Settings, under Account and Sign-in, security & PIN, go down to where it says This controller signs in Nobody. Click that, then link your controller to the account that’s currently signed in. As soon as you turn on that controller, you’ll also sign into your account. You can only link one controller to one account, and you’ll need to make sure your sign-in credentials are saved to the Xbox.
If you’ve ever been annoyed at how long it takes your Xbox to start up, that’s because, by default, the Series X supports its “Shutdown (energy saving)” compared to what most people assume is a default sleep mode. This default console shutoff still supports automatic updates, unlike the PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch. However, it’s also slightly slower to start up, and if that’s really a concern, you can change it under settings, then General, then Power options.
The Xbox makes it clear that changing this setting increases power usage when powered down by 10 to 15W, so there’s not much reason to change it unless you want to start the Xbox remotely.
Are you tired of all those apps you never use cluttering up your top bar on the Xbox main menu? You can go to the My Games and Appsbar at the top of the screen, then scroll over to each of your games and apps. Press the three-bar Start button on any of these cards to bring up a menu, then scroll down to Add to Home. This will center those games on the Xbox’s main menu, allowing you to scroll down to each one and open the game a bit more quickly. You’ll also see some videos and screenshots captured by other players or groups of online players looking to join a game.
This is one of those features that has many wondering if the days of specific console hardware are well and truly over. With the Xbox app installed on your device, you should be able to remote play simply by hitting the small Remote Play icon. Hit Remote play on this device then Continue on the following popup. You should see a small animation of a rocket ship and the Xbox splash screen before you see the Xbox streaming on your device.
You can connect an Xbox or third-party controller to your phone to play that way or use the default touch controls that appear on your screen when using a phone or tablet.
