How to Get Home on Xbox One

Owners of Microsoft’s Xbox One entertainment console are no strangers to updates that drastically changed their gaming experience overnight. Microsoft is no stranger to creating them, either. Since 2013 he has spent his time improving the console’s software and adding new features that gamers crave. This is when it doesn’t work on the new Xbox One S or the upcoming Xbox Scorpio. Many of the new features included in these updates are cause for celebration, but a change in the way the Xbox button works is causing gamers everywhere to ask how to get home on Xbox One.

Many people are searching for how to get home on Xbox One because Microsoft traditionally leaves the glowing Xbox button alone on every controller. That is, it has rarely changed the way the button works. Until the Xbox One Windows 10 Creators Update, pressing this button took you to a special Home field. This area provided a live view of what games or apps you had open at the time. It also provided direct links to games and apps you’ve used recently, and ads to buy more new games, movies, and television shows from the Xbox Store.

The Xbox button won’t let you go home on Xbox One, but you can still get there from anywhere with a simple shortcut. Here’s how to get home on Xbox One.

How to Get Home on Xbox One: Before You Begin

Know that to use this method of going home on Xbox One, you must have the latest software installed on your Xbox One console. This is because the changes Microsoft has made to the way the console works are directly related to the upgraded Xbox Guide. Xbox Guide updates are part of the Xbox One Windows 10 Creators Update that Microsoft released in late March.

If your console is not connected to the internet, the available software should always be installed. This is because software updates are required to connect to the Xbox Live game service. You can check if you have any pending updates from the Settings app.

How to Get Home on Xbox One: Why Things Have Changed

As for why the change to how to get home on Xbox One has changed, Microsoft’s intentions are pretty clear. Xbox One was released in 2013. At the time it only made sense to have the Xbox button take you home. Such an arrangement has always worked well for the Windows key on Windows PCs.

As time went on, gamers began to complain that the Xbox One required a lot of immersion in apps. For example, sending a party invitation requires pressing the Xbox button and then finding the Friends app. Microsoft has taken it upon itself to streamline how everything works in the console. That’s why he introduced the Xbox Guide. The Xbox Guide is for almost completely replacing the Xbox home. So Microsoft has made it possible to open apps, launch games, create parties, send messages and change settings directly from this area.

All this does not change habits. Xbox gamers have used the Xbox button to go home on Xbox One for years.

How to Get Home on Xbox One: Getting Home

Going home on Xbox One starts with pressing the Xbox button on your controller. Remember, no matter what you’re doing, this button always opens the Xbox Guide area and occupies the controls on the left side of your television set or monitor.

Now press the Home button in the Xbox Guide from the overlay to go home on Xbox One. Note that the Xbox Guide has many different panels for different social features and settings. The Home option will only appear when you have the section with the Xbox logo selected.

Fortunately, this section is the default panel that will always open when you press the Xbox button on your controller. Microsoft will only change this behavior if you hold down the Xbox button because you receive a message from another Xbox Live member or a notification from one of the apps you have installed on your console.

Unfortunately Microsoft is making everyone’s experience consistent with this change. The company has not added a toggle to revert the behavior of the Xbox button to its original shortcut. Such a change is unlikely. At least, the company hasn’t made public its plans to allow users to customize the behavior of the button.

You’ll also notice that the game and app preview window that dominated the Home area on Xbox One is no longer there. Since recent updates have focused on performance, it’s likely that Microsoft has removed the feature to focus on keeping the Xbox Guide and the rest of the interface fast and simple. To be precise, app and game previews are gone with this update.

Here’s how we hope this tutorial on how to get home on Xbox One helped you get rid of the painful transition from the old shortcut.