5 Must-Do Actions for Xbox Hardware Longevity

There are tons of ways you can utilize your Xbox Series X to get the most out of the games available for its generation, but it’s all well and good using your Xbox, just so long as you also maintain it.

And with the length of console generations seemingly only getting longer with each wave of new consoles, it becomes more vital that you maintain your Series X and guarantee its life cycle. But what are the best ways to maintain your Xbox Series X? Let’s take a look.

1. Clean Your Xbox Series X

One of the most effective ways to maintain your Xbox Series X and guarantee it lasts as long as possible is to clean its external and internal components.

A key element of a console’s durability is ventilation. An overheating console will not only cause unwanted crashes or shut-downs but can also irreparably damage your hardware. The same goes for your Xbox Series X: dust and particles can easily be collected inside your console.

While the Xbox Series X may have good ventilation, other factors can still cause an internal build-up of dust. To prevent ventilation problems and preserve the lifespan of your Series X, you should proactively clean your console.

Luckily, while fiddly, it’s easy to clean your Xbox Series X and Xbox Wireless Controllers , as long as you know what you’re doing. However, cleaning your Series X may void your warranty, especially if you access internal components. But with a clean and healthy Xbox, you shouldn’t have to worry about your hardware breaking any time soon.

2. Ensure Your Xbox Series X Is Situated Correctly

Aside from keeping on top of cleaning your Xbox Series X, if you place your console in a well-suited environment, you can limit the chances of any ventilation problems in the first place. And with less chance of hardware issues caused by poor ventilation, you also work to guarantee and maintain your Xbox Series X.

As recommended by Xbox , there are specific guidelines for how you should store and situate your Xbox Series X that can help prevent things like overheating and a build-up of dust. Specifically, the official recommendations for your Xbox Series X set-up that promote good ventilation, can be summarized by the following:

• Ensure that your Xbox Series X has a minimum of four to six inches of clearance on all sides to promote good ventilation.
• Never place anything on top or beside your Xbox Series X console.
• Store your Xbox Series X in a place that is well-ventilated, cool, and away from heat sources.

Image Credit:Xbox

Generally, if your Xbox Series X setup matches the above criteria, you shouldn’t have to worry about poor ventilation. However, other factors out of your control may still cause ventilation issues or a build-up of dust. Luckily, just as with cleaning your console, you can also clean the ventilation fan of your Xbox Series X .

3. Optimize Your Xbox Settings

Maintaining your Xbox Series X itself helps you maintain your hardware naturally. However, you can also ensure a well-maintained console beyond physical conservation. Maintaining the settings and software of your Series X is also very important.

For instance, something as simple as ensuring your Xbox Series X is updated to the latest system update guarantees your hardware is running with the latest security patches and fixes. To update your console, accessSettings and select the option forUpdates under theSystem tab.

Ensuring your console is fully updated will help protect your console from any errant bugs that could potentially hinder the system or even affect your hardware, though this is rare. However, if you are part of the Xbox Insider program, features and settings that are yet to be released publically could also be hindering your console.

In this case, if you want to prioritize maintenance, you might want to leave theXbox Update Preview to remove any unrefined and half-finished settings from your console. To do so, enter theMy games & apps section of your console and load theXbox Insider Hub .

From here, underJoined , selectXbox Update Preview followed byManage . You can then leave the preview by selectingLeave preview . And with any unrefined settings removed, you can rest easy that your console is updated, unhindered, and well-maintained.

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4. Turn Off Sleep Mode on Your Xbox Series X

In terms of specific features of your console that prioritize maintaining your hardware, altering the power settings of your Xbox Series X is a quick and impactful change.

Your Xbox Series X has twoPower options :Shutdown (energy saving) mode orSleep . If your console is set toSleep , it will remain on standby at all times, allowing for background processes like updates to process even if you don’t have your Xbox fully powered on.

Shutdown (energy saving) , on the other hand, guarantees that your Xbox fully shuts down whenever you turn it off. This mode also ensures that your Xbox uses less power when turned off while maintaining some features.

As for customizing your Xbox Series X Power Options , you might want to ensure your console is set toShutdown (energy saving) mode rather thanSleep . This way, your console won’t always be working, and you can promote healthy usage by allowing your Xbox to fully switch off.

A great way of preserving your Xbox Series X hardware and lowering your overall energy consumption, then, is to ensure you utilizeShutdown (energy saving) on your Xbox. Not only does this prevent your Xbox from constantly working, but it also promotes longevity through limited power consumption and usage.

5. Avoid Nefarious Games and Apps

A last way to ensure your Xbox Series X is to avoid any potentially harmful or unsupported games and apps available through the Xbox Store or other means. In some instances, using unsupported games and apps won’t just potentially harm your Xbox but could also result in your Xbox account getting banned.

Generally, all the available games and apps on the Xbox Store are vetted and safe to use. However, occasionally, before listed games and apps have been checked, nefarious software can become available to download.

A great example of this is emulation. When the emulation software RetroArch became available on Xbox, it was freely available on the Xbox Store, or via links to Xbox Store listings. The application, however, enabled users to add pirated games to Xbox Series X consoles.

While there are many reasons you shouldn’t ever use emulation on your Xbox Series X , Microsoft issuing bans to both consoles and Xbox accounts to counteract the usage of RetroArch is paramount among them.

So, to preserve and maintain your Xbox Series X, always be wary of games and apps that appear suspicious or unsupported by a notable developer or publisher. Especially if you have to download the app indirectly through a link or external site.

Maintain Your Xbox Series X for Its Own Generation and Beyond

These quick methods and tips are just some of the ways you can maintain your Xbox Series X for the duration of owning a Series X. And while some elements of hardware maintenance may seem self-explanatory, like cleaning, it also represents one of the best and most essential ways of ensuring longevity.

But while console maintenance is key to longevity, it doesn’t eliminate the possibility that a fluke issue out of your control could impede your Xbox Series X. Luckily, even in these cases all hope is not lost, and your Xbox comes with methods like Safe Mode you can use alongside proactive maintenance to further secure your console.