Xbox Game Bar, Game Mode in Windows for capturing video, screen recording or gaming experience. According to user feedback, they encounter an error message when using the gaming features in Windows: “Gaming features aren’t available for Windows desktop”. This error message can be caused by Xbox Game Bar settings, not using the latest updates, using a misconfigured or corrupted Xbox app, corrupted files, etc. Next, we’ll cover a few different ways to fix Gaming features aren’t available for Windows desktop or File Explorer.
Method 1: Turn on the game DVR
Step 1: Press Windows + I keys to open Windows Settings.
Step 2: Click on the gaming.
Step 3: Click Captures.
Step 4: Click the toggle bar below Record in the background while I play.
Step 5: Restart the Game Bar to see if the error is resolved.
Method 2: Enable the Xbox Game Bar
Step 1: Press Windows + I keys to open Windows Settings
Step 2: Click on the gaming.
Step 3: Click the Xbox Game Bar.
Step 4: Click the toggle bar below to enable the Xbox Game Bar
Method 3: Reset the Xbox Game Bar
Step 1: Press Windows + I keys to open Windows Settings.
Step 2: Click on Apps.
Step 3: In the Apps & Features section, click Xbox Game Bar.
Step 4: Click on Advanced Options.
Step 5: Click Fix and when done, check if the Gaming features aren’t available issue is resolved.
Step 6: If not, click the reset button in the same page, click the popup reset.
Step 7: After the reset is complete and check if the problem is resolved.
Method 4: Turn on Game Mode
Step 1: Press Windows + I keys to open Windows Settings.
Step 2: Click on the gaming.
Step 3: Click Game Mode.
Step 4: Click the toggle bar below Game Mode to enable it.
Step 5: Close the settings window and check if the problem is resolved.
Method 5: Add Windows Media Pack to Windows 10 N
Step 1: Visit Microsoft and download the “Media Feature Pack for Windows 10 N and KN Editions”.
Step 2: Click the Download button.
Step 3: Select the downloadable file 32-bit or 64-bit according to your system requirements.
Step 4: Then click Next on the right
Step 5: Double-click the downloaded .exe file to install it.
Step 6: Complete the installation process. Reboot the system and check if the gaming features aren’t available issue is resolved.
Method 6: Update Windows
Step 1: Press Windows + I keys to open Windows Settings.
Step 2: Click Update & Security.
Step 3: Click the Check for Updates button on the right.
Step 4: Reboot the system and check for no errors.
Method 7: Update the Xbox Game Bar app
Step 1: Open the Microsoft Store.
Step 2: In the lower left corner, click Library.
Step 4: Search for Xbox Game Bar and click the Update button.
Step 5: Restart the system and check if the Gaming features aren’t available issue is resolved.
Method 8: Run SFC and DISM commands
Step 1: Type cmd in Windows Search and hold down Ctrl + Shift and press Enter to open Command Prompt.
Step 2: Click Yes in the User Account Control window.
Step 3: Copy and paste the following command in Command Prompt and press Enter
SFC /scannow
Step 4: Copy-paste the following command in Command Prompt and press Enter.
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Step 5: Once done, check to see if the gaming features aren’t available are resolved.
Method 9: Launch the Xbox Game Bar using the Microsoft Store app
Step 1: Open the Microsoft Store app.
Step 2: Search for Xbox Game bar in the Microsoft Store app that opens and press Enter.
Step 4: Click Open.
Check if the game application is working properly.
Method 10: Reinstall the Xbox Game Bar
Step 1: Press Windows + X keys.
Step 2: Click Windows PowerShell (Admin) to open PowerShell as an administrator.
Step 3: Copy and paste the following command into the PowerShell window and press Enter.
Step 6: Search for Xbox Game bar in the Microsoft Store app that opens and press Enter.
Step 7: Click Get Install.
See if gaming features aren’t available issues are resolved.
Conclusion
This article introduces you ten methods to fix gaming features aren’t available for Windows desktop or file explorer. If you can’t run your game application, please read above methods to fix this issue. Hope it works.
