Do I Really Need the MS Gamebar App on Windows 11 Pro?

[btrazzini]

I've been pondering about the necessity of having the MS Gamebar app installed and active on my Windows 11 Pro system. Does it serve any crucial purpose that I might be overlooking? And if not, is there any downside to completely uninstalling it using the terminal command?

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

One of my primary reasons for wanting to uninstall it entirely is that, frankly, I find the app utterly useless. Not only does it provide subpar screen captures, but it also doesn't offer much functionality that I find beneficial. I only play by Steam Big Picture using a wired Xbox controller, and I've already disabled Steam controller inputs to avoid any interference. However, the one feature I do miss is the native controller Share button functioning as a Steam screenshot (F12), which I haven't been able to figure out how to fix yet.

So, I'd appreciate any insights or experiences from fellow gamers regarding the necessity or consequences of removing the MS Gamebar app. Have any of you done it? And if so, did you encounter any issues or conflicts afterward?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

[Crawl]

If you happen to be running an AMD X3D cpu it uses the Gamebar to assign the extra cache cores for gaming. I have mine set using Core Flex algorithms in the bios but Gamebar is the default method. Other than that I can't think of any reason you'd have to have it. I don't use it but I also don't remove it, its not some annoying resource hog so I just never felt the need.

[btrazzini]

@Crawl Thanks!

For now what I did was disable the Gamebar in the Windows settings and also disable the screenshot by regedit:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\GameDVR

set AppCaptureEnabled to 0

Specifications
- Windows 11 Pro
- AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Processor
- Gigabyte B650i Aorus Ultra Motherboard DDR5
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Gigabyte Windforce OC 12G Graphics Card
- Kingston Fury Beast 32GB (2x16GB) 6000MHz DDR5 RAM
- Kingston Fury Renegade 1 TB M.2 2280 PCIe Storage
- Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML240L V2
- Cooler Master V850 SFX Gold 80 Plus Full-Modular
- Wired Xbox Controller Carbon Black <----

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Originally posted by smallcat:

Game Bar s game optimization function is doubtful . It produces mixed results regardless of the processor type .

That's jot even what it does. It's simply an Overlay system. It allows monitoring of Temps and FPS along with Achievements (if it's a Microsoft/Xbox store app based gamr) it allows connect with friends, it allows screenshot capture and video recording as well.

It should not be removed, no.
If you end up not using it, that's fine, as it's optional to bring up using WINKEY+G during an app or game

[Electric Cupcake]

In Windows 10, it spat out 'permission denied' insubordination when I tried to disable the background service, so I deleted the entire system folder.

One of many reasons I'm completely done with Windows.

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

You can set it to run without the overlay, it says "disabled" but it never is but never will interfere with you.

[Crashed]

I believe Game Bar is what enables the Win+Alt+B shortcut to toggle HDR.
(edited for the correct shortcut)

[Crashed]

Originally posted by smallcat:

First of all , not everyone has a HDR monitor . The shortcut is Win + Alt + B and requires Win 11 some versions and Game Bar . The option for enabling HDR is still accessable through Windows settings .

It does appear that on a fresh Win11 install the shortcut doesn't work until updating the XBOX apps.

It might even work on Windows 10 with the same apps updated, and be even more important there as Windows 10 doesn't have as good of tonemapping in HDR mode for SDR content.

[Electric Cupcake]

The powershell Get-AppxPackage commands still leave the folders behind. You have to change ownership permissions and delete the folder to actually get the space back.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ windows scumbags.

[ChickenBalls]

windows 11...
lol

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/operating-systems/windows-11-market-share-declines-as-users-seemingly-shift-back-to-windows-10

[Crashed]

Originally posted by Electric Cupcake:

The powershell Get-AppxPackage commands still leave the folders behind. You have to change ownership permissions and delete the folder to actually get the space back.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ windows scumbags.

You need to delete the data in Settings first, then use the command to uninstall it. You probably are talking about folders in your user profile.

[[☥] - CJ -]

I just turned it off in the settings on Win10 since i have no use for it, and i believe i got rid of the Xbox stuff.

With that said, theres no reason to fully remove it for a minimal amount of space, and its unknown if removing it might break something.

So id just turn off functionality in the settings and leave it be.