Fix: Xbox Game Bar Keeps Crashing on Windows 10 and 11

Xbox Game Bar keeps crashing the moment you open it, mid-session, or every time you try to record — and it is far more common than it should be. The overlay can crash on launch, freeze mid-use, or close itself silently with no explanation.

The fixes below cover every known cause, ordered from the simplest to the most involved. Work through them in order and stop once the crashing stops.

Table of Contents

TL;DR — Quick Fixes at a Glance

Update Xbox Game Bar from the Microsoft Store — a bad update is the most common trigger
Repair or Reset the app via Settings before trying anything more drastic
Third-party overlays (Discord, NVIDIA, Steam) frequently cause crashes — disable them first
Run a clean boot to isolate conflicting background software
Update your GPU driver — overlay crashes are often caused by driver mismatches
Run DISM and SFC to fix corrupted Windows system files
Check Xbox services are running and set to Automatic
Reinstall Xbox Game Bar via PowerShell and the Microsoft Store as a last resort

Why Does Xbox Game Bar Keep Crashing?

Game Bar is a Windows overlay, which means it injects itself on top of whatever app or game is running. That makes it sensitive to conflicts. The most common causes are:

A buggy or partially installed app update
Another overlay (Discord, GeForce Experience, Steam) clashing with Game Bar
An outdated or mismatched GPU driver
Corrupted app data or Windows system files
Xbox background services that have stopped running
A debloat script or PC optimiser that has removed a dependency

If Game Bar is not opening at all rather than crashing after launch, see our separate guide on Xbox Game Bar not opening.

Fix 1: Update Xbox Game Bar from the Microsoft Store

How to Install and Update Xbox Game Bar via Microsoft Store

A faulty or incomplete update is the single most common reason Game Bar crashes. Checking for an update in the Store often resolves it in under two minutes.

Open the Microsoft Store
Click the Library icon (bottom left)
Click Get updates
If an update appears for Xbox Game Bar or Gaming Services, install it
Restart your PC and test

This is worth doing before anything else. A bad update is quick to fix, and it saves you from running unnecessary repairs.

For full update instructions, see our guide on how to install and update Xbox Game Bar from the Microsoft Store.

Fix 2: Repair or Reset Xbox Game Bar

If the app’s own files have become corrupted, Windows can repair or reset them without a full uninstall. Repair attempts to fix broken files while keeping your settings intact. Reset is more aggressive — it wipes the app’s saved data and restores it to default. Try Repair first.

Press Win + I to open Settings
Go to Apps > Installed Apps
Search for Xbox Game Bar
Click the three-dot menu and select Advanced Options
Scroll down and click Repair
Test Game Bar — if it still crashes, come back and click Reset

Reset will not delete your captured clips. Those are stored in Videos\Captures and are not touched by this process.

Fix 3: Disable Conflicting Overlays and Recording Tools

This is one of the most overlooked causes of Game Bar crashes. When two overlays try to hook into the same game at the same time, one of them — usually Game Bar — loses and crashes.

Common culprits include:

Discord — Go to Settings > Game Overlay and turn it off
NVIDIA GeForce Experience — Open it, go to Settings, and disable the In-Game Overlay toggle
Steam — Go to Steam > Settings > In-Game and uncheck Enable the Steam Overlay
AMD Radeon Software — Open it, go to Settings, and disable the in-game overlay
MSI Afterburner / RivaTuner — Close them entirely and test

Disable one at a time and test Game Bar after each. This helps you identify the exact conflict rather than disabling everything at once.

Fix 4: Run a Clean Boot to Find the Conflict

A clean boot starts Windows with only Microsoft services running — all third-party background apps and startup programmes are disabled. If Game Bar stops crashing in a clean boot, something in your normal startup is causing it.

Press Win + R, type msconfig, and press Enter
Go to the Services tab
Tick Hide all Microsoft services
Click Disable all
Go to the Startup tab and click Open Task Manager
Disable every startup item in Task Manager
Restart your PC and test Game Bar

If it no longer crashes, re-enable your startup items and services one by one, restarting each time, until the crash returns. That last item you re-enabled is the culprit.

Remember to go back to msconfig and re-enable everything once you are done troubleshooting.

Fix 5: Update Your Graphics Driver

Overlay crashes are frequently caused by a GPU driver mismatch. Game Bar relies on graphics APIs to render its overlay, and a stale or buggy driver can cause it to fail mid-session.

NVIDIA: Download the latest driver from nvidia.com/drivers
AMD: Download from amd.com/support
Intel: Use the Intel Driver & Support Assistant

Do a clean install if your GPU software offers the option — this removes leftover driver files that can cause instability.

Fix 6: Check Xbox Services Are Running

Xbox Game Bar depends on several background Windows services. If any of them have stopped or been set to Disabled — sometimes by a third-party optimiser — Game Bar can crash immediately on launch or fail silently.

Press Win + R, type services.msc, and press Enter
Find and check each of these services:
- Xbox Live Auth Manager
- Xbox Live Game Save
- Xbox Live Networking Service
Each should show as Running with Startup Type set to Automatic
Right-click any stopped service and click Start
If Startup Type is set to Disabled, right-click, open Properties, and change it to Automatic

If you are seeing disconnection issues alongside crashes, our guide on how to fix random disconnects in Xbox Game Bar covers that in more detail.

Fix 7: Run DISM and SFC to Repair System Files

If Game Bar is crashing due to corrupted Windows system files, the built-in DISM and SFC tools can find and repair the damage. DISM fixes the Windows component store first, then SFC uses it as a source to restore any broken files.

Search for Command Prompt in the Start menu, right-click it, and select Run as Administrator
Run DISM first by typing the following and pressing Enter:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

This can take 10–20 minutes. Wait for it to complete fully before moving on.

Once DISM finishes, run SFC:

sfc /scannow

If SFC reports that it repaired files, restart your PC. If DISM repaired the component store, run SFC a second time after restarting to make sure everything is fully resolved.

Fix 8: Check Event Viewer for Crash Details

Event Viewer is a Windows tool that logs every application error and crash, including Xbox Game Bar failures. Checking it can tell you exactly what is going wrong — and point you to a more targeted fix.

Press Win + X and click Event Viewer
In the left panel, go to Windows Logs > Application
Look for errors labelled XboxGameBar.exe or XboxGameBarWidgets.exe
Click an error to see its details

Things to look out for:

Error codes starting with 0x8007 usually point to a Windows file or permissions issue
Error codes starting with 0x80073 are AppX package errors — typically pointing to a corrupted or missing Game Bar installation
DCOM errors appearing repeatedly alongside Game Bar crashes often indicate a background service conflict or a bad update

Once you know the error code, you can search it directly to find the specific fix.

Fix 9: Reinstall Xbox Game Bar

If every fix above has failed, a clean reinstall is the next step. This removes the current installation completely and replaces it fresh from the Microsoft Store.

Step 1 — Uninstall via PowerShell

Right-click the Start button and select Windows PowerShell (Admin) or Terminal (Admin)
Paste the following and press Enter:

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers *Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay* | Remove-AppxPackage

Note: Always use the -AllUsers flag. Without it, you may get a deployment error if the app is tied to system processes. Close any open Xbox apps before running the command if you see an error.

Step 2 — Reinstall from the Microsoft Store

Open the Microsoft Store
Search for Xbox Game Bar and click Install
Once installed, restart your PC and test

For a step-by-step walkthrough, see our guide on how to install Xbox Game Bar from the Microsoft Store. If you decide you no longer want Game Bar on your system, see how to uninstall Xbox Game Bar.

Related Xbox Game Bar Guides

Once crashing is resolved, these guides cover other common issues you may run into:

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Xbox Game Bar crash immediately when I open it?

The most likely causes are a corrupted or outdated app version, a conflicting overlay (Discord, Steam, NVIDIA), or a stopped Xbox background service. Start by updating Game Bar from the Microsoft Store, then try Repair from Advanced Options in Settings.

Xbox Game Bar crashes only in certain games — why?

This usually points to a conflict between Game Bar and another overlay or hook that specific game uses. Try disabling Discord, NVIDIA GeForce Experience, and Steam overlays, then relaunch the game. Also try switching the game from exclusive fullscreen to Borderless Windowed.

Can a Windows Update cause Xbox Game Bar to start crashing?

Yes. Major Windows updates can partially reset app registrations or break dependencies. If crashes started after a recent update, try repairing Game Bar via Settings first, then run DISM and SFC if the problem persists.

Xbox Game Bar crashes after coming out of sleep mode — what is wrong?

This is often a DCOM service error triggered when Windows resumes from sleep and Game Bar tries to re-register with system components. Updating Game Bar from the Microsoft Store usually resolves it. If not, try running DISM and SFC, and check Xbox services are set to Automatic.

I have tried everything and Game Bar still crashes — what next?

Run a clean boot to isolate whether a background application is causing the conflict. If Game Bar works in a clean boot, re-enable your startup items one by one to find the culprit. If it crashes even in a clean boot, run DISM and SFC, then do a full reinstall via PowerShell and the Microsoft Store.