Xbox App will not launch

Question

Xbox App will not launch

Matthew Gaglione 25

Every time i go an launch the Xbox app on my pc, its stuck on the "Launching Xbox" screen for a minute or two, and then it closes itself, I've gone through countless Youtube tutorials on how to fix it, and have tried countless solutions, and yet it still will not launch, I'm up to date on all updates, so far all the solutions i have tried are:

doing a repair and reset on the Xbox app + gaming services
uninstalling and reinstalling the app
going into the services and setting all Xbox services to automatic
went into PowerShell as an admin, and tried various codes to reset cashes and fix the app
made sure my anti virus isn't messing with anything

additionally, my windows search bar at the bottom has not been working, whenever i try to type something into the search, its just blank, not sure if its related at all, just wanted to make it be noted.

xJuicyJayx 0 Reputation points

2026-03-03T21:55:13.7166667+00:00

did you ever find a solution to this?
Matthew Gaglione 25 Reputation points

2026-03-03T22:05:50.3433333+00:00

Yes, I just followed the steps below, and I was able to get my Xbox app, and windows search bar working again.

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xJuicyJayx 0 Reputation points

2026-03-03T21:55:13.7166667+00:00

did you ever find a solution to this?
Matthew Gaglione 25 Reputation points

2026-03-03T22:05:50.3433333+00:00

Yes, I just followed the steps below, and I was able to get my Xbox app, and windows search bar working again.

Answer 1

Hendrix-V 11,355 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Matthew Gaglione,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on what you’ve described, this behavior usually means Windows app components the Xbox app relies on are not starting correctly, rather than an issue with the Xbox app itself.

Here are some possible checking steps that you can try at this point:

1 - Check Windows Search service

Press Win + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
Find Windows Search.
Make sure it is Running and set to Automatic (Delayed Start).
If it isn’t running, start it and restart the PC.

2 - Repair Windows system components

Open Command Prompt (Run as administrator).
Run sfc /scannow
After it finishes, run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Restart the PC and test the Xbox app again.

3 - Confirm Gaming Services are working

Open PowerShell (Run as administrator).
Run get-service GamingServices
If the service is stopped or shows errors, restart the PC after ensuring it is installed and running.

You can also consider testing with a new Windows user account to determine whether the current user profile is affected.

Create a new local Windows user account.
Sign in to that account and test Windows Search and the Xbox app.

Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Matthew Gaglione 25 Reputation points

2026-02-08T19:32:03.23+00:00

The Xbox launcher and the search bar are still not functioning. i check the windows search status, it it was already set to automatic, and was running, i tried doing the windows system repair, and it said that it found a corrupted file, and was fixing it, then i ran the other command, but it still wouldn't launch, nor would the search after i reset my pc. and when i checked the gaming services, it said it was running. but I'm not sure how to check with the other windows user, because i added the new account to my Microsoft accounts area, but when i sign out of my main one, it just has me sign into it again using my pin. so I'm not really sure where the problem is, thank you for your help so far.
Hendrix-V 11,355 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-11T04:41:28.5633333+00:00
Hi Matthew Gaglione,

Thank you for your patience and for walking through so many troubleshooting steps already.

Based on what you’ve shared, the Xbox app behavior and the blank Windows Search bar suggest that some Windows app components are not loading correctly. Please try the steps below to see if it's resolved:

Sign in to a new Windows user profile

Select Start > Profile icon > Sign out

On the sign‑in screen, select the new user account you created (bottom‑left)

Re-check the Windows search bar and the Xbox app.

If the new user works

This indicates the original Windows user profile may be affected.

Continuing with the new profile or migrating data is the most reliable path forward.

If the issue also occurs in the new user, this points to a Windows system‑level issue rather than the Xbox app itself. In this case, a Windows repair is the recommended next step.

Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me in the Comments section. Thanks for your effort.
Matthew Gaglione 25 Reputation points

2026-02-11T21:49:08.82+00:00

Hi, i just tried the search, and launching the Xbox app with the new profile, but still, it will not work. so I'm really hoping that a windows repair will fix this, could you walk me through how to do that, and thank you.
Hendrix-V 11,355 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-12T01:10:27.27+00:00
Hi Matthew Gaglione,

Thank you for trying all those steps and for your patience.

At this point, the results strongly suggest that some core Windows components used by apps like Xbox and Windows Search aren’t loading correctly, rather than an issue with your account or the Xbox app itself.

Here are the steps to perform a Windows repair install, which refreshes Windows system components while keeping your files and apps intact:

Sign in to Windows using an administrator account

Download Windows 11 Installation Assistant from Microsoft's official site

Run the installer and choose Accept and install

When prompted, confirm Keep personal files and apps

Follow the on‑screen instructions (your PC may restart a few times)

After the repair completes:

Check if typing works in the Windows search bar

Launch the Xbox app and confirm it opens normally

Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me in the Comments section. Thanks for your effort.
Matthew Gaglione 25 Reputation points

2026-02-12T02:09:34.8866667+00:00

Hello again, so i probably should have said earlier that i already am on windows 11 because i downloaded the installer, ran it, and all that came up was this:

it didn't give me the option to press accept and install. it just went straight to this screen.
Hendrix-V 11,355 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-12T02:52:22.3266667+00:00
Hi Matthew Gaglione,

Thanks for the update.

The Windows 11 Installation Assistant only checks whether your device is already on the latest version. If it is, it stops at that screen and doesn’t perform a repair.

At this point, you can consider an in-place upgrade repair using Windows 11 installation media (ISO).

Disclaimer: Performing an in-place install or in-place upgrade will refresh your Windows files and operating system without removing files or applications. That being said, we always recommend that if you have important data, you should back it up before making large system changes. If you want to back up your data first, please do so.

Download Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft’s Windows 11 download page (select Windows 11 multi‑edition and your language).

Open the downloaded ISO (double‑select it).

Run setup.exe from the mounted ISO.

When prompted, choose Keep personal files and apps.

Continue and let Windows complete the repair (your PC may restart a few times).
Matthew Gaglione 25 Reputation points

2026-02-15T01:24:23.1033333+00:00

Your just not going to believe this, i did everything you said, and i was able to get the windows search bar back, but somehow, the Xbox launcher still wont launce correctly, not sure what else to do from here, I've tried doing more trouble shooting on the app itself, but nothing changes.
Hendrix-V 11,355 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-15T07:23:04.3333333+00:00
Hi Matthew Gaglione,

Thank you for your update on this issue.

The good news is that restoring the Windows search bar confirms your system repair worked and core Windows components are now functioning. At this stage, the most effective next step is to fully re‑register Xbox Gaming Services, as the service can appear “running” while its registration is incomplete.

Please follow the steps below:

Open Notepad and paste the following exactly:

Get-AppxPackage *gamingservices* -allusers | remove-appxpackage -allusers Remove-Item -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\GamingServices" -recurse Remove-Item -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\GamingServicesNet" -recurse

Save as: RepairGamingServices.ps1

Save as type: All files

Right‑click the file > Run as administrator

Restart the PC

Open the Xbox app

When prompted, select Install to reinstall Gaming Services
Matthew Gaglione 25 Reputation points

2026-02-15T07:45:46.86+00:00

That did it, it finally works again, thank you so much, you are awesome.
Hendrix-V 11,355 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-15T23:26:28.16+00:00

Hi Matthew Gaglione,

I'm relieved to know that you made a great decision and everything is good to go on your side. I hope the insights shared in the forum help address your concerns effectively.

If there is anything else I can assist you with, please feel free to let me know in the Comments section.

In addition, if you found the answer helpful, we’d really appreciate it if you could click "Accept Answer" and kindly give it an upvote. Your acknowledgment helps others facing similar situations find useful references and contributes to building a stronger community.

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Xbox App will not launch

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