With the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview as of build (15019), you will find a couple of new icons under the Windows Settings app. The most noticeable and relevant to average consumers is the addition of Gaming in the settings. Microsoft revamped some of the Xbox settings and moved them to the general Gaming settings. Microsoft also added a new Game Mode in this release and let’s find out how it works and how you can leverage this Game Mode with your PC to enjoy some gaming!
First, go to Settings > Gaming
Here you will find some familiar settings that are used to be in the dedicated Xbox app for Windows 10. For example Game bar, Game DVR. With this release, Microsoft also added live Broadcasting to stream your playback to online services. What’s interesting is the new addition of Game Mode.
To enable Game Mode, turn on the “Use Game Mode” option. It’s probably a good idea to also enable “Get Game Mode notification” as well so you will get a notification when you are entered to a Game Mode.
It doesn’t just end right here. Next, you need to go to the Game bar and go to Settings from the game bar. To launch Game bar, press Windows + G. The trick is that you don’t have to be really inside a game to launch Game bar, you can do so from any application.
While you are in the game and have launched the Game bar > Settings, you need to tell Windows 10 that you want to use this game in Game Mode. Make sure you select and check “Use Game Mode for this game”.
Once you have finished the selection, you need to restart the game for the changes to take effect. And if you have the notification checked, you should receive a notification the next time when you enter the game telling you that the “Game Mode is on, This title is running Game Mode.”
The bottom line is, Game Mode can be used for none gaming applications. For example, any graphic or CPU intensive apps that you feel the need to get an extra boost in performance, you can launch the Game bar and tell Windows 10 that the current application is a “game” and enable Game Mode for the app and restart.
There you have it, that’s the new Game Mode for Windows 10, use it wisely.