Game Bar Recording? No longer possible...

[Viper69]

In early 2024 I used MS, Game Bar to make some screen recordings that included audio. For basic needs, it works fine, thus I don't need a 3rd party software.

However, now in early 2025 I attempted to use it for the first time since the above, and I receive this weird error


"Gaming features aren't available for the Windows desktop or File Explorer"
Initially I thought MS had turned off this feature in some Win 11 update? I don't think that's true from what I can see, but I could be wrong?

I googled the error and found quite a few pages with info like those below for people who posed the same question

Is this the case, that there's an issue somewhere, but that I should be able to correct the issue and record once again? I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of SW fixes if indeed it leads to nothing because it's no longer possible. Thanks!

This link was back in 2022, I cp'd the full text in case the link has issues for some

Below I put a solution from 11/2024

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Hello RizkiGM,



Welcome to the Xbox Community Forum. Thank you for sharing your concern with us today and we hope that all is well.



We understand that you are experiencing issues with Xbox Game Bar on Windows 11. Let us look into this together to get you back to gaming.



Enable Xbox Game Bar via Settings

1. Press Win + I key and launch Windows Settings
2. Click the Gaming tab in the left pane and select Xbox Game Bar
3. Toggle the button next to Open Xbox Game Bar to “On”
4. Reboot the system to apply changes and then launch Xbox Game Bar

Repair or Reset Xbox Game Bar

1. Press Win + I key to launch Windows Settings
2. Click Apps > Apps & features
3. Search for “Xbox Game Bar” in the search box and hit Enter
4. Next, click the three-dot > Advanced options
5. Select Repair. If this does not do anything, select Reset

Use Registry Editor

1. Press Win + R to open the Run window
2. Type regedit and then press Enter
3. Navigate to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\GameDVR
4. Look for the AppCatureEnabled key. If you cannot find it, right-click on the space > New > DROWD (32 bit) Value. Name it as AppCaptureEnabled > double-click and set value data to 1.
5. Try to use Xbox Game Bar and see if issue is resolved

Repair the ieframe.dll file

1. In the search bar, type Command Prompt > right-click > Run as administrator
2. Type in the following commands. Ensure that you press Enterafter entering each command:
   • sfc /scanfile=c:\windows\system32\ieframe.dll
   • sfc /verifyfile=c:\windows\system32\ieframe.dll
   • assoc
   • sfc /scannow
3. Restart your PC and see if Xbox Game Bar is working

Use Local Group Policy Editor to Enable Xbox Game Bar

1. Press Win + R to open the Run window
2. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter
3. Navigate to Local Computer Policy > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Game Recording and Broadcasting
4. You will see Enables or Disables Windows Game Recording and Broadcasting in the right pane. Double click on it and select Enabled
5. Click Apply > Ok to save changes

We look forward to your response. Kindly let us know if these suggestions help by selecting “Yes” or “No” next to “Was this response helpful?”. Additionally, if there is any misunderstanding or clarification needed, please reply to this response.


2024

Guide: Gaming Features Aren’t Available for the Windows Desktop

What to do if you get the “Gaming features aren’t available for the Windows desktop” error? Try 5 fixes here.

www.minitool.com

Fix 1. Enable the Xbox Game Bar​

If you haven’t enabled the Xbox Game Bar on your computer, you will fail to use gaming features and constantly receive the “Gaming features aren’t available for the Windows desktop” error message. How to enable gaming features on your computer? Here are the steps.
1. Press Win + I to open Windows Settings.
2. Select the Gaming option and toggle the switch to On under the Game Bar tab.

Additionally, you need to switch to the Game Mode tab to enable Game Mode on your computer. If needed, you can click the Captures tab on the left pane and turn on the option: Record in the background while I’m playing a game.

If you find the Xbox Game Bar is already enabled on your computer, please move on to the next method.

Fix 2. Repair and Reset the Xbox Game Bar​

If the Xbox Game Bar recording not available for Windows happens suddenly, the problem is most likely to occur on the Xbox Game Bar. You can repair or reset the Xbox Game Bar to see if this helps to resolve the problem.
1. Press Win + I to open the Settings window.
2. Head to Apps > Apps & features. You should find the Xbox Game Bar from the app list.
3. Click on Xbox Game Bar and choose Advanced Options. In the following window, you can select Repair to see if it works. If not, you can repeat the steps above and choose Reset.

Fix 3. Reinstall the Xbox Game Bar​

If the problem still exists after the above steps, you can try to reinstall the Xbox Game Bar to fix this issue. You should use the PowerShell to uninstall and reinstall the Xbox Game Bar.
1. Right-click on the Windows logo and select Windows PowerShell (Admin) to launch the window.
2. Copy and paste the following command into the window and hit Enter to execute it.
get-appxpackage *Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay* | remove-appxpackage

3. Then, reinstall the Xbox Game Bar by hitting Enter to run the following command.
Get-AppXPackage *Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay* -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

After this, you need to restart your computer to fully apply the change and check if the problem is fixed.

Fix 4. Run the SFC & DISM Commands​

Sometimes, corrupted system files will interfere with the Xbox Game Box. Windows contains its own utilities to repair lost or corrupted system files. Follow the steps below to have a check.
1. Press Win + R to launch the Run window and type cmd into the dialog box.
2. Press Shift + Ctrl + Enter to run Command Prompt as administrator.
3. Type sfc /scannow and hit Enter.

4. Type DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth and hit Enter.



How To Use The DISM Restore Health Command To Repair Windows
The DISM restore health command is used frequently to scan for corruption and repair problems it finds with users’ operating system.
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Fix 5. Add Windows Media Pack​

For Windows 10 KN and N users, the Windows Media Pack is required to ensure the normal performance of the Xbox Game Bar. To get gaming features on Windows, you can download the Media Feature Pack from the Microsoft download page and complete the operation with the on-screen instructions.

Final Words​

The “Gaming features aren’t available for the Windows desktop” error is not a serious problem. You can try to resolve it under the guidance of this post.