Guide · Xbox
How to remove the Xbox apps
Windows 11 has seven Xbox packages, and they are not all the same. Some are apps you can safely remove. Others are frameworks that games, the Microsoft Store and Photos need for signing in. Win11Debloat rates three of them “not recommended”. Here is which is which, and how to avoid the ms-gamingoverlay pop-ups that follow if you remove Game Bar.
On this page 5 sections
Short answer
Can I remove the Xbox apps from Windows 11?
- Yes: the Xbox app and Xbox Game Bar.
-RemoveGamingAppsremoves those three packages. - Then also apply
-DisableGameBarIntegration, or games and controllers will try to open Game Bar. - Gaming on a recent Intel CPU? Think twice about removing Game Bar: one user reported stutter after turning it off, and the next release adds a warning. Details.
- Keep: Xbox Identity Provider, Xbox TCUI and Xbox Speech To Text. Games, the Store and Photos use them.
- Default mode only removes the old, discontinued Xbox Console Companion.
All seven Xbox packages
| App | What it is | Rating | Get it back |
|---|---|---|---|
Xbox Console CompanionMicrosoft.XboxApp | Old Xbox Console Companion App (Discontinued) | Safe to removedefault | No Store listing |
Xbox Gaming AppMicrosoft.GamingApp | Modern Xbox Gaming App, required for installing some PC gamesThe modern Xbox app. The project notes it is required for installing some PC games (PC Game Pass, Microsoft Store games). | Optional | Store |
Xbox TCUI FrameworkMicrosoft.Xbox.TCUI | UI framework, seems to be required for Microsoft Store, photos and certain games | Not recommended | Store |
Xbox Game OverlayMicrosoft.XboxGameOverlay | Game overlay, required/useful for some games (Part of Xbox Game Bar)Part of Xbox Game Bar. Remove it together with Xbox Gaming Overlay, and also apply -DisableGameBarIntegration to avoid ms-gamingoverlay pop-ups. One user reported stutter in games after turning off Game Bar on an Intel Core i7-14700K; the maintainer thinks Game Bar helps Windows schedule games on CPUs with performance and efficiency cores, and the next release warns about it (issues #784, #787). | Optional | No Store listing |
Xbox Gaming OverlayMicrosoft.XboxGamingOverlay | Game overlay, required/useful for some games (Part of Xbox Game Bar)Xbox Game Bar (Win+G). After removing it, games and controllers can trigger an “ms-gamingoverlay” pop-up; the -DisableGameBarIntegration tweak stops it. One user reported stutter in games after turning off Game Bar on an Intel Core i7-14700K; the maintainer thinks Game Bar helps Windows schedule games on CPUs with performance and efficiency cores, and the next release warns about it (issues #784, #787). | Optional | Store |
Xbox Identity ProviderMicrosoft.XboxIdentityProvider | Xbox sign-in framework, required for some games and Xbox servicesHandles Xbox and Microsoft account sign-in in PC games. The project describes it as required for some games and Xbox services, and rates it not recommended to remove. | Not recommended | Store |
Xbox Speech To TextMicrosoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay | Accessibility feature required for some games, WARNING: This app cannot be reinstalled easily!An accessibility feature required by some games. The project marks it Not Recommended to remove. | Not recommended | Store |
Removing the Xbox app and Game Bar
& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm "https://debloat.raphi.re/"))) -RemoveGamingApps -DisableGameBarIntegration -Silent-RemoveGamingApps removes Microsoft.GamingApp, Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay and Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay. In the wizard, Quick Select → Xbox gaming apps ticks the same three. In the text menu's Default mode, if you pick your own apps and include Game Bar, Win11Debloat asks whether to disable Game Bar integration and recording as well.
Stopping the ms-gamingoverlay pop-ups
With Game Bar gone, pressing Win + G, starting some games or pressing a controller's Xbox button makes Windows ask for an app to open an ms-gamingoverlay or ms-gamebar link. -DisableGameBarIntegration fixes that. It turns off the controller shortcut and points the ms-gamebar and ms-gamebarservices links at systray.exe, a harmless Windows program, so nothing pops up.
Disable Game Bar integration
This will disable the Game Bar integration with games and controllers. This stops annoying ms-gamebar popups when launching games or connecting a controller.
Tested alone on Windows 11 25H2 (build 26200.9711): changed 9 registry values.
The undo file reverted the change. One value came back differently from before, as the undo file writes Windows' standard value: UseNexusForGameBarEnabled not set → 1. 2 values were left as the tweak set them: (Default) URL:ms-gamebarservices; URL Protocol .
What changed
UseNexusForGameBarEnabledHKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\GameBar | not set→0 |
NoOpenWithHKCR\ms-gamebar | not set→ |
(Default)HKCR\ms-gamebar\shell\open\command | not set→%SystemRoot%/System32/systray.exe |
(Default)HKCR\ms-gamebarservices | not set→URL:ms-gamebarservices |
URL ProtocolHKCR\ms-gamebarservices | not set→ |
NoOpenWithHKCR\ms-gamebarservices | not set→ |
(Default)HKCR\ms-gamebarservices\shell\open\command | not set→%SystemRoot%/System32/systray.exe |
command (key)HKCR\ms-gamebar\shell\open\command | no key→key exists |
command (key)HKCR\ms-gamebarservices\shell\open\command | no key→key exists |
Registry changes 9 values · HKCR + HKCU
Regfiles/Disable_Game_Bar_Integration.regsource| Key | Value | Data |
|---|---|---|
| HKCUSOFTWARE\Microsoft\GameBarDisable allow your controller to open Game Bar | UseNexusForGameBarEnabled | DWORD0 0x00000000 |
| HKCRms-gamebarDisable `ms-gamebar` popups | (Default) | SZ"URL:ms-gamebar" |
URL Protocol | SZ"" | |
NoOpenWith | SZ"" | |
| HKCRms-gamebar\shell\open\command | (Default) | SZ"%SystemRoot%/System32/systray.exe" |
| HKCRms-gamebarservices | (Default) | SZ"URL:ms-gamebarservices" |
URL Protocol | SZ"" | |
NoOpenWith | SZ"" | |
| HKCRms-gamebarservices\shell\open\command | (Default) | SZ"%SystemRoot%/System32/systray.exe" |
Undo file: Regfiles/Undo/Enable_Game_Bar_Integration.reg (“Enable Game Bar integration”)
Regfiles/Undo/Enable_Game_Bar_Integration.regsource| Key | Value | Data |
|---|---|---|
| HKCUSOFTWARE\Microsoft\GameBarEnable allow your controller to open Game Bar | UseNexusForGameBarEnabled | DWORD1 0x00000001 |
| HKCRms-gamebarEnable `ms-gamebar` popups | (Default) | SZ"URL:ms-gamebar" |
URL Protocol | SZ"" | |
NoOpenWith | —deleted | |
| HKCRms-gamebar\shell\open\commandkey deleted | ||
| HKCRms-gamebarservices | (Default) | SZ"URL:ms-gamebarservices" |
URL Protocol | SZ"" | |
NoOpenWith | —deleted | |
| HKCRms-gamebarservices\shell\open\commandkey deleted | ||
-DisableDVR separately turns off Game Bar's background game recording.
Why keep the other three
- Xbox Identity Provider handles Xbox and Microsoft account sign-in in PC games. The project describes it as required for some games and Xbox services.
- Xbox TCUI is a UI framework that, per the project, seems to be required by the Microsoft Store, Photos and some games.
- Xbox Speech To Text is an accessibility feature some games need. The project warns it cannot be reinstalled easily.
If you play PC Game Pass or Microsoft Store games, keep the Xbox app too: the project notes it is required for installing some PC games.
Questions
Does removing Xbox apps improve gaming performance?
Not that anyone has shown. It can even go the other way: one user measured stutter and lower frame rates after turning off Game Bar on an Intel Core i7-14700K, and the project now warns that removing Game Bar may reduce game performance on some modern processors. We cannot measure games ourselves: our test machines have no GPU. See debloating for gaming.
How do I get the Xbox app back?
Install Xbox from the Microsoft Store, or use the Store link in the table above. Game Bar is Xbox Game Bar in the Store.
Keep going
Something wrong or out of date? Email hello@win11debloat.dev and we will fix it.