Xbox is well-integrated with Windows and no doubt it has some amazing gaming-related features such as screenshots, recording screens, and so on. However, there is a quite long thread on forums like Reddit where users have complained about the Xbox Game Bar not opening/not working issue. Turns out a lot could go south and based on what’s wrong, you can fix it using the troubleshooting methods listed below. Check these methods and let us know which one did the trick for you.
Method #1: Toggle Game Bar
Toggling options causing the issue in the first place helps in any case and toggling the game bar is no different. Although it is a temporary workaround it works in many cases if not all.
This is a simple method that you can follow with ease.
Step 01: Press Windows + I on your keyboard and go for Settings.
Step 02: Next, open the Gaming section listed in-between Time & Language and Ease of Access.
Step 03: Toggle OFF a listed option that says “Record game clips, screenshots, and broadcast using Game Bar”.
Step 04: Wait for a few seconds only to turn it ON again.
Method #2: Check out the hotkeys
You usually tap on Windows G to launch Game Bar, however, either it doesn’t work or it stopped working just recently. The latter means there’s something wrong such as someone altered the settings and so on. Here’s how to retreat to the original settings.
Step 01: First, open the Xbox app on your PC.
Step 02: Go to Settings >> Game DVR.
Step 03: Under “Record game clips and screenshots using Game DVR”, check the option is turned ON or not. If yes, check out the Game Bar hotkeys.
Step 04: Set it if there’s no customized hotkey setup yet or change if someone altered the settings for any XYZ reasons.
Step 05: Save the settings and you will be able to launch Game Bar using the newly set hotkey.
Method #3: Repair Xbox Game Bar
This is a non-invasive easy to follow method that shouldn’t take more than a minute to complete but is efficient enough to fix Xbox Game Bar not opening/not working issue as well. Here’s how to do it.
Step 01: Go to Windows search or tap on Windows key and enter “Xbox Game Bar”.
Step 02: Upon getting the listing, right-click on it and visit “App Settings”.
Step 03: Scroll down the page to find “Terminate” which is essentially forcing the app from running both in foreground and background mode.
Step 04: Now, there’s a “Repair” button just under the previous option. Tap on it and wait for a checkmark to turn up against the button. This denotes that the system has successfully repaired the app.
Step 05: Open Xbox Game Bar and check if this method worked or not.