Automatically enable Windows 11 Xbox mode (the full screen experience) when an Xbox controller connects, and turn it off when the controller disconnects.
AutoXboxMode is a tiny system tray utility for Windows 11. The new Xbox full screen experience (FSE) turns your PC into a console-like, big-screen gaming interface. AutoXboxMode makes it automatic: power on your Xbox controller and your PC enters Xbox mode; turn the controller off and it returns to the desktop.
No more reaching for the mouse. Let the controller drive the experience.
Windows 11 can already enter Xbox mode at startup (mainly on handhelds) or with the
Win+F11 shortcut, but as of mid-2026 there is no built-in option to switch
automatically based on your controller's power state. AutoXboxMode fills that gap.
If Microsoft adds it natively one day, even better.
- Hands-free switching: enters/exits Xbox mode based on controller power state.
- Reliable detection: uses the official
Win+F11toggle and detects the current mode by checking whether the Xbox window fully covers its monitor. Works on any resolution and multi-monitor setup; no fragile mouse coordinates. - Controller detection via XInput: works with any Xbox / XInput-compatible controller (wired, wireless dongle, or Bluetooth), regardless of brand. No admin rights required.
- Works on handhelds too: on devices with a built-in gamepad (ROG Ally and similar), it switches based on extra controllers you connect, on top of the built-in one. It also respects the Windows "Restart for better performance" prompt and lets you make that choice.
- Event-driven, zero idle CPU: listens for Windows device notifications instead of polling, so it does nothing until a controller connects or disconnects.
- System tray app: lightweight, runs quietly in the background (~30 MB RAM).
- Configurable: toggle each behavior and start with Windows.
- Tiny & dependency-free: a single small executable built on .NET Framework 4.8, which ships with Windows 11. Nothing else to install.
- Windows 11 with the Xbox full screen experience available (Settings → Gaming → Full screen experience). See Microsoft's overview: Windows gaming full screen experience.
- An Xbox / XInput-compatible controller.
Don't see the feature yet? It's rolling out gradually (May 2026 update and later), so not every PC has it. If yours doesn't show it, community guides explain how to enable it early, e.g. How to force-enable Xbox mode in Windows 11. Enabling hidden features is at your own risk.
- Download
AutoXboxMode.exefrom the latest release. - Run it. An icon appears in the system tray.
- (Optional) Open Settings… from the tray menu and enable Start automatically with Windows.
The app is unsigned, so Windows SmartScreen may warn on first run. Click More info → Run anyway.
Once running, AutoXboxMode works automatically:
| Action | Result |
|---|---|
| Turn the controller on | PC enters Xbox mode (full screen experience) |
| Turn the controller off | PC returns to the desktop |
Right-click the tray icon for options:
- Active: pause/resume the automation.
- Settings… configure behavior (see below).
- Open Log File: view the activity log.
- About… version and project link.
- Exit: quit the app.
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Enter Xbox mode when a controller connects | On | Switch to Xbox mode on controller power-on. |
| Exit Xbox mode when all controllers disconnect | On | Return to desktop when the last controller powers off. |
| Start automatically with Windows | Off | Launch AutoXboxMode at sign-in. |
| Debug logging | Off | Write a verbose activity log for troubleshooting. |
Settings and logs are stored in %AppData%\AutoXboxMode\.
- Controller events are delivered by Windows: a message-only window registers for
device-interface notifications (
RegisterDeviceNotification+WM_DEVICECHANGE), so there is no background polling. Connected controllers are then counted with XInput (XInputGetState). - Mode switching sends the official
Win+F11shortcut that Windows 11 uses to toggle the full screen experience. - Current mode is detected by enumerating top-level windows: if a visible window whose title contains "Xbox" fully covers the monitor it sits on, Xbox mode is on. Because this is evaluated relative to each monitor's bounds, it is independent of resolution and works with multiple monitors.
Requires the .NET Framework 4.x compiler (csc.exe), which is present on every
Windows 11 machine.
.\build.ps1
# -> build\AutoXboxMode.exe- Fully offline. AutoXboxMode makes no network connections: no telemetry, no analytics, no data collection of any kind.
- No admin rights. It only writes its own startup entry under
HKCU\…\Run(when you enable Start with Windows) and its config/log under%AppData%\AutoXboxMode\. - Open source. You can read every line, or build the executable yourself
with
build.ps1. - Unsigned binary. The released
.exeis not code-signed, so SmartScreen may warn on first run. A few heuristic / machine-learning antivirus engines may flag it as a false positive because it simulates theWin+F11keypress and starts with Windows; mainstream scanners (including Microsoft Defender) report it clean. You can verify your download against the SHA-256 published in each release, scan it on VirusTotal, or build it yourself from source. - Diagnostic log. Logging is off by default. With Debug logging enabled (for
troubleshooting), the log records technical context only: app and OS version,
monitor sizes, controller types (subtype, wired/wireless) and device names, and
the size and position of any window titled "Xbox". It does not record other
window titles (they are redacted), file paths, usernames, account data, or device
serial numbers, and it is capped in size. The log lives at
%AppData%\AutoXboxMode\app.log; you can open and review it before sharing.
- Choose apps/shortcuts to close when a controller connects (e.g. quit work apps).
- Define custom actions to run when a controller disconnects.
- Per-controller and per-profile rules.
AutoXboxMode is free and open source. If it makes your gaming setup nicer, you can support development:
AutoXboxMode is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind. It only sends
the standard Win+F11 shortcut and toggles its own startup entry, and it does not
modify system files. That said, you use it at your own risk: the author is not
liable for any damage, data loss, or other issues arising from its use (see the
MIT License for the full terms).
Code signing for Windows release builds is provided free of charge by the SignPath Foundation open-source program.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft. "Xbox" and "Windows" are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.