There are countless events where you might struggle hooking up your Xbox One with the family screen. Your battlefield conquests might interrupt your mom’s favorite cooking shows or your dad’s favorite cricket match. So it’s a complete refusal to use the lounge’s LED to fight your online rivals when elders of the family have different shows to watch.
But now what to do? There must be a solution to find a good, high-resolution screen to play your games, The screen just like you have on your laptop. But you can’t connect your Laptop as monitor for Xbox One. I mean, of course, the laptop has its own functionality and its own purposeful screen. It won’t play Xbox One’s games. Right??
WRONG
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. If no screens are available to you for playing your favorite Xbox One games on your TV screen, I will share the secrets to use your laptop’s screen as an alternative display for your Xbox One.
Why Prefer a Laptop Instead of a Television?
Considering to go for a laptop instead of television has a number of benefits. A few of the main reasons are its easy usage and operation, convenient structure, and portability. Apart from the first two options and considering the third one, we can easily see that portability is also a major reason to switch from a TV to a Laptop.
Whenever on vacation, or a family reunion, or even a friend’s sleepover, you can always bring your portable screen and start gaming anywhere you like. This indeed serves as a major convenience as a normal TV doesn’t come with such a privilege.
So to achieve all your gaming accomplishments in no hindrance, follow these steps to hook up your Xbox One with your regular laptop screen.
Grab an HDMI Cable:
If you haven’t heard the weird, techy acronym ‘HDMI’, let me get you familiar with it first. An HDMI cable serves as a connection medium that transfers audio and video from one device to another. Usually, you can use HDMI cables to attach your monitor to your CPU, Your CPU to an external Projector, etc. Mean to say, there are a number of ways
This is one of the very basic and fundamental solutions one can possibly think of. You can simply connect your Xbox One and the laptop with the help of an ordinary HDMI cable. After connecting, you can give some time to your laptop in order to make it detect the Xbox One you plugged in.
This is also the most conventional and convenient solution that serves its purpose. Now to dig deep and do see how to make it work, read the following steps carefully.
- Make sure you turn off your Xbox One to begin this operation.
- Now turn over to your laptop and make sure that its RAM is idle i.e. all the programs should be closed.
- Now connect one end of the cable (the output end of the HDMI) to the Xbox One and the other end of the cable (The Input end of the HDMI) to your laptop.
- Now turn on your Xbox One.
- When you’ll turn on your Xbox One, the laptop will automatically detect the presence of an external device and will promptly redirect you to its respective display.
- Now in order to configure/ change all the settings (including the resolution configuration), you can simply head out to Xbox Dashboard.
- And when all is set up, you are absolutely good to go to enjoy your game!
This is ‘the most common solution to this specific problem. Almost 90% of the cases are just solved with connected both of the devices with the HDMI cable.
2) Don’t Grab an HDMI cable:
You might be wondering why this second heading contradicts the first one? It is because this trick does not require an HDMI cable (just like every conventional method does). Instead, you can get your laptop hooked up with your Xbox One wirelessly!
The main procedure consists of connecting both the laptop and the Xbox One with the same Wi-Fi connection.
The most optimum choice would be to connect the laptop with the same router. Then you can proceed by enabling the sharing tab on your laptop. Once done, you can channel that connection with other detectable devices that are connected to the same connection as the laptop.
It may sound pretty hard so let me break it down to you in more simple steps. After all, you have to establish that connection all by yourself, right?
Anyhow, get along with the following steps to face no trouble while doing such thing:
- Click on the Xbox App.
- Now proceed towards the settings and find the option ‘connection’. Once found, select it.
- When you will proceed with the connection option, you will see your Xbox One device on the list.
- And once connected with the device, you can toggle the ‘stream’ option.
- Now when everything’s done. You will be able to see the display of your Xbox One on your laptop’s screen.
This is an alternative way of connecting your Xbox One with your laptop. You can consider this one just in case your HDMI port is occupied or you don’t have an HDMI cable completely.
3) Stream the games using the Xbox One App:
Now there’s a third, ‘unpopular’ way (similar to the second method) to connect your Xbox One with your laptop. And that is by streaming your favorite Xbox One games on your laptop screen by using the Xbox One App.
For this purpose, you have to sign in via your Xbox Live account. Once you’ve done it, head towards your laptop’s settings and find the Bluetooth option. When found, toggle it on and connect your Xbox controller(s).
If you are unable to locate the Bluetooth option under the settings tab, it’s time you install it. Once you’re done with that, proceed with the following steps to let the magic happen:
- Open your Xbox App.
- Find and open the settings tab and head towards ‘Device Connection’.
- Now, allow the game streaming function to the other devices.
- In order to facilitate the connection, allow the connections of the devices from the same network.
- Once all this is done, you can successfully stream your Xbox One games on your laptop.
If you’re still confused on how to stream via Xbox One App, click on this link to direct yourself to the official website query.
FAQs:
- Is it possible to use your laptop’s screen as an alternative display for Xbox One?
Yes, if there is no other display, like television, etc. available around you, you can always consider using your laptop’s display as an alternative source to operate your Xbox One.
- How many ways are there to connect the Xbox One with the laptop fundamentally?
Fundamentally, there are 2 primary ways to connect the Xbox One with the Laptop. One is through an HDMI cable. And the other one is through a wireless connection i.e. through a Wi-Fi connection.
- Can I connect the Xbox One with a laptop that runs Windows 10 operating system?
Yes, it can be done by following the same two ways.
One can be achieved by using an HDMI cable. That is the traditional way. Once you hook up both of the devices together, the display will automatically detect the external device and will show the display within a few moments.
The other way is to establish a connection wirelessly (Via Wi-Fi) and use the Xbox App as a medium. When both of the devices are connected wirelessly, log in to your Xbox Live account and click on the ‘connect’ option in the dashboard.
- Is it possible to use a wireless connection with a laptop with old operating software (Windows 7)?
Yes, it is possible. Again, by following the two traditional methods. One is to use the HDMI cable and let both connect with each other.
However, when talking about wirelessly, you can always download the Xbox app from the browser. You can then login and start the streaming from your laptop.
Conclusion:
Although it’s best to stream your Xbox One’s display on a big television screen for the best experience, there must be other options in the backup just in case the screen isn’t available.
The main television can bring crisp colors, highest resolution with true display, which can lead to a perfect gaming experience. But sometimes, when that television is occupied by other family members. Or in case you are out with your friends, family, or on a vacation. In this situation, choosing a laptop’s display as an alternative gets things quite handy.
Having this alternative solution can provide you uninterrupted gaming whether you’re inside or outside your home. Although the display quality isn’t as sharp as the home television, I guess that’s the sacrifice worth giving for this facility.
However, there are several other factors that can still affect the gaming experience. I.e. internet connection, laptop’s battery timings, etc. So, it isn’t a full-proof solution but it gets the job done.
I hope reading this article would’ve helped you to reach a fine solution to attach your Xbox One with your laptop.