Microsoft’s new Xbox mode on Windows has leaked for any handheld

Microsoft is getting ready to launch its Xbox full-screen experience on the new Xbox Ally devices next month, but it looks like you won’t need new hardware to get it. Windows enthusiasts have discovered a way to enable this new Xbox mode early in Windows 11, thanks to the latest 25H2 update to the operating system.

The method, which involves installing a Release Preview version of Windows 11 and lots of tweaks, works on a variety of handheld gaming PCs — including MSI’s Claw devices and Asus’ ROG Ally range. I’ve been trying it out on the original ROG Ally today, and it allows the device to ignore Asus’ own software in favor of Microsoft’s Xbox app at boot.

The new Xbox full-screen experience doesn’t load the full Windows desktop or a bunch of background processes, freeing up more memory for games. It’s essentially not loading the Explorer shell and saving around 2GB of memory by suppressing all the unnecessary parts of a typical Windows 11 installation.

You launch straight into the Xbox PC app instead, which includes all of your PC games from the Microsoft Store, Battle.net, Steam, and other storefronts. There’s a Game Bar for navigating around, and a new task view that’s a lot more handheld-friendly.

You can also still swap into a Windows desktop mode, or access Windows apps and games directly in this full-screen Xbox mode. Microsoft warns that you’re exiting to the Windows desktop and that you should use touch or a mouse and keyboard “for the best experience,” and it’s the exact same Windows experience that exists on multiple devices right now.

If you want to try this out for yourself, it’s a relatively easy process to get going. But be warned, fiddling with registry settings or the Windows Feature Store (known as Velocity) could result in system instability. If you’re willing to risk some issues that might need rolling back or require a reinstall of Windows, there’s a handy guide on Reddit for all the settings required.