Disabling Game Bar and Game Mode to Increase Performance

Windows has built-in functionality that allows for screen recording and other features intended for use with video games. While useful in that context, these features can actually be detrimental to EEGer’s performance, and cause sessions to fail and games to unexpectedly close. Because of this, it is recommended to ensure that these settings are disabled.

1. Open the Windows Settings menu - this can be done by pressing Win+I, searching in the start menu, or pressing the gear icon shortcut in the Start Menu.
2. A new window will appear on the screen. Select the Gaming category.
3. On the next screen that appears, locate Xbox Game Bar and ensure it is set to Off.
4. On the left side of the window, select Captures.
5. Locate Background recording and ensure that Record in the background while I’m playing a game is set to Off.
6. On the left side of the window, select Game Mode.
7. On the screen that appears, ensure Game Mode is set to Off.
8. When completed, close the Windows Settings window.