How to Add and Change Xbox One Background

Changing the background of your Xbox One sounds like a commonplace. After all, this is just a background. How important can a change to your Xbox One background actually be? As it turns out, making your devices feel like an extension of your own personality is paramount.

When Xbox One first made shelves for storage, you couldn’t customize its background. Microsoft later added this feature, bringing colors, the art of achievement, and even your own photos into the mix. It’s not too difficult to set or change the background on your Xbox One. Better still, doing this injects some much-needed personality into the software that runs on the Xbox One.

Here’s how to change your Xbox One background.

Before You Begin

Before we get started, there’s some basic work to do when it comes to apps and photos.

First, find a spare flash drive and drag the pictures you want to use as backgrounds on your Xbox One onto it. Doing this now will save you searching for it, using the highly sophisticated DLNA technology that the Xbox One’s Media Player app uses to find pictures, music and videos from your Windows PC.

Second, you will need to do some prep work on your console. Using your controller, go to Microsoft’s Store and look for the Media Player app. The Media Player app is used for uploading custom backgrounds via the Settings app on Xbox One, as well as allowing you to play audio and video from external storage or a PC.

If you don’t have an internet connection to install the Media Player app, you will be able to set a custom background color, but you cannot add a custom Xbox One background image.

Finally, make sure you’re signed in to your Xbox profile and not someone else’s. Check your avatar picture, name and gamertag in the top left corner of your screen. If you don’t see your name and gamertag, double-tap the glowing Xbox logo on your controller and press the A button on the avatar you see. You can switch to your profile from the menu.

Change Your Xbox One Background

With your flash drive loaded with the image you want to use, turn on your Xbox One console by pressing the Xbox logo on your controller. You can also say “Xbox, on” if you have a Kinect sensor and it’s configured correctly.

Note that you will need to select your profile when you turn on your Xbox One, unless there is only one profile. Those with a Kinect sensor setup on their Xbox One will definitely need to skip this step, as Kinect recognizes users and logs in automatically.

Quickly press the glowing Xbox One logo twice in quick succession to bring up the Xbox Guide. Xbox Guide provides quick access to your friends, achievements, catchable apps and settings from anywhere.

Go to the gear at the bottom of the drop-down menu.

Inside the settings panel, select . Selecting this option will take you directly to the Xbox One Settings app.

Welcome to the Settings app, where you can change almost everything about your console. You can troubleshoot connecting to networks, share games with other people on your console, and more. Select it from the options menu on the left side of your screen.

Select it from the list of options on the right side of your screen.

choose

Here you can choose your Xbox One background color or your Xbox One background custom background. The first one doesn’t require you to install anything extra or have a flash drive handy, Microsoft has a ton of pre-selected colors already available in the settings. Selecting Achievement Art will take you to your Xbox Live profile to look at the many different histories you’ve achieved with your achievements. This option also requires an internet connection to view your Xbox Live profile.

Go ahead and insert the flash drive where you preloaded your backgrounds. There is a USB port on the left side of your Xbox One console. choose now

Your Xbox One should take you to the Media Player app. If it detects your flash drive, you’ll see it on the screen. choose

Select the picture you want to use as your Xbox One background on your flash drive.

Now press the button on your remote with the picture open. It’s just to the right of the Xbox logo.

Now select it from the dropdown menu.

When you return to the Xbox One home screen, you will see the background you just selected.