Microsoft is Testing a Compact Mode for the Windows 11 Game Bar

The Xbox app isn’t the only gaming feature in Windows 11 that’s being optimized for Windows handhelds and game controllers: Microsoft today began external testing of a Compact Mode for Game Bar as well.

“Compact Mode is now available in Game Bar for Xbox Insiders,” Oliver Xu writes in the announcement post. “Compact Mode is a new experience that simplifies Game Bar, making it more intuitive and easier to navigate on small screens, Windows handhelds, and when playing with a controller.”

When Compact Mode is enabled, Game Bar–previously called Xbox Game Bar–provides a smaller and simpler interface with a single window for widgets. The Home view displays running games, recently played games, and installer game launchers like Xbox, Steam, Battle.net, EA Play, Riot Games, and Ubisoft Connect. If you’re using an Xbox controller, you can switch from widget to widget using its LB and RB bumper buttons, and you can close games from the Home view.

This addition to Game Bar follows similar work Microsoft did in the Xbox app, which got a Compact Mode in November 2023 and “Jump Back In” and other new features in May. Some feel that the Xbox app in Compact Mode could be the basis for a coming Xbox-branded handheld gaming device, and the addition of a Compact Mode for Game Bar could put that–or existing Windows gaming handhelds–over the top.

I assume Compact Mode for Game Bar will arrive in stable in time for the second Windows 11 version 24H2 release in October. But if you’re in the Xbox Insiders program, you can test it now: Open Game Bar, open its Settings widget, and then turn on the “Compact Mode” toggle under General.