Hidden Xbox Settings You Should Change to Improve Your Game
The Xbox is a fantastic console with some pretty good software. Fortunately, it has even more potential: your Xbox contains many hidden features that are not enabled by default. However, all it takes is a deep dive into the settings to make your amazing console even better.
Reduce your electricity bills
Your Xbox has a great power saving mode that might not be enabled by default. If you want to reduce the impact your gaming habits have on your energy bills, consider tweaking your Xbox power saving settings.
Turn on your console, press the Xbox button on your controller and open Profile & System , then scroll down to select Settings . Choose General > Power Options . Select Turn Off (Power Saving) and select the two Turn Off After options to change how long the console can remain inactive before it automatically turns off.
Turning your console off completely can save you up to 20 times more power, but it comes at the cost of some handy features: Your console will take longer to turn on, and it won’t auto-update when you turn off. t use it.
Fix Notifications
Your Xbox likes to send you notifications, which can be annoying; alerts can block important gameplay elements or pop up when you’re in the midst of a tense online match. So tweak them to keep warnings to a minimum.
Go to Xbox Settings > Settings > Notifications . First, fix the location of these alerts by going to Default Notifications Position . The bottom right corner is usually the most inconspicuous place, but you can choose the one that suits the games you play the most.
Return to the previous page and navigate to Xbox Notifications . Turn off notifications for things you don’t need. You can also turn off notifications completely from this page, which is fine if you’re not playing with friends or using any of the Xbox’s social features.
Turn on the best accessibility settings
Your Xbox has a whole host of features hidden in the Accessibility settings page . You can tweak these settings to try out Xbox Night Mode to reduce eye strain, remap controller buttons, and turn off controller vibration. (Click on this link to explore all options.)
Optimize screen resolution
You need to make sure your Xbox is getting the most out of your TV. Go to Xbox Settings > General > TV & Display Settings and adjust any settings that will allow you to use the highest possible resolution while playing. There are a lot of refresh rates and other video options in the video modes options that you should check, and the Calibrate TV option confirms that your Xbox can display colors accurately.
Download main applications
As you might expect, most people use their Xbox as a gaming device, and the console is fully equipped to do so out of the box. However, it’s also a great media streaming device, but you’ll need to download a whole bunch of apps to use it for that purpose.
You probably already have apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple Music, and Spotify, but if not, they’re available in the Microsoft Store. However, after you download them, consider getting the Audio CD Player and Blu-Ray Player apps to make the most of your physical media collection .
Double check your HDMI-CEC settings
HDMI-CEC is a useful feature that reduces the number of remotes you need to use to control your Xbox and other devices connected to it. When set up correctly, your TV will automatically turn on or off when you boot up or turn off your Xbox.
To adjust this setting, go to Xbox Settings > General > TV & Display Settings > Device Management . Here you have to enable HDMI-CEC as well as other options on this page depending on how you want to use this feature.
Each setting is self-explanatory and we recommend enabling the following:
- The console includes other devices.
- The console turns off other devices.
- Switch the TV input with the controller.
The latter option is useful if multiple devices are connected to the TV. When you press the Xbox button on the controller, the TV will immediately switch to your Xbox.
Get reminders for regular breaks
It’s easy to immerse yourself in video games and forget about your own health and the outside world. You can use the Xbox Break Reminders feature to have the console remind you of occasional breaks in games.
This feature is available in Xbox Settings > Settings > Break Reminder .