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Xbox One Developer Mode activation
- How Developer Mode works
- Activate Developer Mode on your retail Xbox One console
- Switch between Retail and Developer Mode
How Developer Mode works
Xbox One has two modes, Retail Mode (1) and Developer Mode (2). In Retail Mode, the console is in the state that any customer or user of an Xbox One console would use: you can play games and run apps as a user. In Developer Mode, you can develop software for the console, but you cannot play retail games or run retail apps. Developer Mode can be enabled on any retail Xbox One console. After Developer Mode is enabled, you can switch back and forth between Retail (2a) and Developer Modes (2b).
Important When you activate Developer Mode on Xbox One, you are opting into Xbox system updates for a developer preview release that includes experimental and early pre-release software. This means that some popular games and apps will not work as expected, and you may experience occasional crashes and data loss. If you leave the developer preview, your console will factory reset and you will have to reinstall all of your games, apps, and content.
Note You cannot activate Developer Mode on Xbox One if you are part of an existing preview program such as the Xbox One Beta program. You can leave an existing preview program by using the Xbox Preview Dashboard app.
Activate Developer Mode on your retail Xbox One console
Start your Xbox One console.
Search for and install the Dev Mode Activation app from the Xbox One store.
Navigate to My games & apps > Apps.
Open the Dev Mode Activation app.
Note Please make sure that you read the disclaimers carefully. As part of activating Xbox for development, you will be getting early pre-release builds. To play games and apps, you will need to switch to Retail Mode. Sideloaded apps will only work in Developer Mode.
Note the code displayed in the Dev Mode Activation app.
- Sign in to Dev Center with your Dev Center account.
Enter the activation code displayed in the Dev Mode Activation app.
Note You have a limited number of activations associated with your account. After Developer Mode has been activated, Dev Center will indicate you have used one of the activations associated with your account.
Click Agree and activate. This will cause the page to reload, and you will see your device populate in the table.
Note Terms for the Xbox One Developer Mode Activation Program agreement can be found here.
After you’ve entered your activation code, your console will display a progress screen for the activation process.
After activation completes, you will have to wait for your console to update to the required preview build. This may take several hours; please be patient.
After activation has completed, open the Dev Mode Activation app and click Switch and restart to go to Developer Mode. Note that this will take longer than usual.
Switch between Retail and Developer Mode
After Developer Mode has been enabled on your console, use Dev Home to switch between Retail Mode and Developer Mode. To learn more about starting and using Dev Home, see Introduction to Xbox One tools.
To switch to Retail Mode, use Dev Home and click Leave developer mode. This will restart your console in Retail Mode.
To switch to Developer Mode, use the Dev Mode Activation app. Open the app and click Switch and restart. This will restart your console in Developer Mode.