How to gameshare on Xbox One: share Xbox One games with friends and family

Want to know how to gameshare on Xbox One? Then you've landed on the right page. While lending physical Xbox One games to your friends and family is pretty straightforward, it's somewhat more difficult to share your digital Xbox One library with others.

But after all, sharing is caring and allowing someone else to access your Xbox One games library is a great cost-cutting method that allows your friends and family to play the games you own but they don't (and vice versa). What's more, you can play the same game at the same time without hassle.

Interested in sharing your Xbox games with others? Then read on for our simple steps on how to gameshare on Xbox One.

• How to gameshare on PS4: share your PS4 games with friends and family
• Xbox Series X: release date, design, specs and launch titles
• PS4 vs Xbox One: which gaming console is better?

Getting started

Gamesharing on Xbox One is pretty straightforward, but before you need to sign into your Xbox account on the console you want to share your games with first. To do this you'll need access to Xbox One console you want to share your games with. Press the Xbox button on the controller connected to that Xbox, scroll down on the left-hand side menu to 'sign in' and select 'add new'. Sign into your account on your friend's console.

After you've added your account the your friend's Xbox One, make sure your account is the one that is signed in. You can check if this is the case by pressing the Xbox button on the controller again and choosing 'home' from the menu. This will take you back to the home screen. Scroll left until an Xbox gamertag is shown, if it's yours then great, if not then select your friend's gamertag and then select 'sign in' to sign into your account. 

How to gameshare on Xbox One

Now that you're signed in on your friend's Xbox One, press the Xbox button on the controller again. When the menu pops up, go to 'system', then 'settings' and finally 'personalization'.

In the 'personalization' menu, select 'my home Xbox'. This will register your friend's Xbox One as your account's default console, allowing their Xbox One console to access your Xbox One games library - so they can sign into their own account and still have access. If you check your friend's Xbox One games and apps, your own library should sit alongside theirs, ready to install.

To access your friend's Xbox One games library, repeat the same steps on your home console, but this time with your friend signing into your Xbox One.

This method not only shares your Xbox One games but also your Xbox Live Gold membership.

To register your own Xbox One console as your home Xbox, follow the steps above on your own console.

What you need to know

This method is only limited to two people, including yourself. However you can change your home console up to five times in a year.

We advise that you only gameshare on Xbox One with someone that you trust. The method we've laid out requires you to have access to your friend's Xbox One console, however if you have your friend's account details then you can gameshare remotely. But we don't advise sharing your account details with anyone as they can make purchases without your permission.

It's probably a good idea to enable password sign-in for your account so that your friend can't just sign into it on their console (if you haven't shared your account details).

To do this sign into your Xbox One account, select 'settings' and go to 'account'. Next, click 'sign-in, security & passkey', select 'change my sign-in and security preferences' and then 'lock it down'. This should mean that every time someone wants to log into your account (including you), they'll need your password. 

Only one person can be signed into an Xbox account at a time. And once your Xbox account is added to another console, you cannot remove it, but you can try to ensure that someone else can't log into it.

Finally, it's worth noting that if you lose internet connection, and your Xbox One console isn't registered as your home Xbox, you won't be able to access your digital Xbox One library or your Xbox Live Gold. In addition, other users on your console won't have access to your Xbox One games library.

• How to gameshare on Steam: share your Steam games with friends and family