How to Activate Xbox Full Screen Mode on Any Standard Windows 11 25H2 PC

Unlocking the Xbox Full Screen Experience on Windows 11

To fully utilize the Xbox experience on your gaming PC, you will need to have Windows 11 version 25H2 installed. This guide will walk you through the steps to enable the Xbox Full Screen Experience, turning your regular desktop into a console-like gaming environment.

This feature not only enhances the interface by providing a controller-friendly full-screen dashboard but also optimizes system resources. By prioritizing the Xbox app, Windows can reduce the load of background processes, leading to improved performance and extended battery life while gaming.

Currently, the Xbox Full Screen Experience is tailored for handheld devices like the Xbox Ally X from Asus ROG, but there is a method to enable this feature on standard PCs. By creating a workaround that tricks your system into recognizing your PC as a handheld device, you can access this functionality regardless of your hardware setup.

In October 2025, I validated this workaround successfully using build 26200.6899 of Windows 11 in a testing environment. During my tests, I operated on a virtual machine with 8GB of RAM and no dedicated graphics card, relying solely on VMware’s virtualized GPU.

The implementation of this feature requires several tools including ViveTool, Physpanel, and the PsExec command-line tool. Below, I will detail every step required to enable the Xbox experience on your Windows 11 PC.

Step-by-Step: Enabling the Xbox Full Screen Experience

Follow these detailed steps to activate the Xbox Full Screen Experience on your Windows 11 25H2 desktop:

Launch Settings on your Windows 11 device.
Select Windows Update.
Click the “Check for updates” button.
Enable the toggle for “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available”.
Download and install the update for “Windows 11, version 25H2”.
Restart your PC.
After upgrading, visit the GitHub website.
Download the ViveTool-vx.x.x.zip file.
Use File Explorer to access the zip folder.
Select the Extract all option.
Click Extract.
Copy the folder path where ViveTool was extracted.
Open Start and search for Command Prompt. Right-click the top result and choose Run as administrator.
Navigate to the ViveTool directory by typing the following command:

cd c:\folder\path\ViveTool-v0.x.x

Make sure to replace c:\folder\path with your actual path.
Enable the Xbox handheld mode with the following command:

vivetool /enable /id:52580392, 50902630
Restart your computer again.
Reopen Start and search for regedit to open the Registry Editor.
Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\OEM
Create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value under the OEM key.
Name it DeviceForm and hit Enter.
Right-click the DeviceForm key and select Modify.
Set the value to 2e (in Hexadecimal).
Click OK.
Restart the PC one more time.
Access the PSTools page.
Download the PsTools suite.
Extract the PsTools package using File Explorer.
Navigate to the PsTools folder in the Command Prompt:

cd c:\folder\path\PsTools

Update the path as necessary.
Launch the command to initiate the tool:

psexec -s -i cmd.exe
Download the Physpanel.
Extract the Physpanel zip file.
Copy the path to the folder with Physpanel.
Set a task in Command Prompt to schedule panel dimension adjustments:

schtasks /create /tn "SetPanelDimensions"/tr "C:\path\to\physpanel.exe set 155 87"/sc onstart /ru SYSTEM /rl highest /f
Restart your computer again.
Go to Settings once more.
Click on Gaming.
Access the “Full screen experience” settings.
Select the Xbox app under “Choose home app”.
Enable “Enter full screen experience on start-up” to directly begin in this optimized gaming mode.
(Optional) Activate “Show accessibility control hits in Task View” for easier access.

Once these steps are completed, the next time you start your computer, it will automatically boot into the full-screen Xbox experience, streamlining game launches and enhancing your gameplay with a controller, all without the need to purchase a handheld console like the Xbox Ally X.

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To return to the traditional desktop interface, simply use the keyboard shortcut “Windows key + Tab”, click on the “Windows desktop” button and then hit “Continue”. If you wish to close the Xbox app, right-click the Xbox icon and select “Close window”.