Is there a USB cable permanently hanging out of your Xbox console? While you probably use this to charge your controllers, there are plenty of other uses for the many ports found on the front and back of your console. Some of them might even surprise you.
1Expand Your Storage
Your Xbox console has a limited amount of fast internal storage in the form of an NVMe drive. All games released during the Xbox Series X|S generation require use of this faster storage, since newer games demand increased speed for improved load times, streaming high-resolution textures, and writing data to the disk. If you want to expand this type of storage, you’ll need to buy a pricey expansion card which fits in a dedicated slot.
But you can also expand your pool of available storage by connecting a USB drive. By doing so, you’ll be able to store and play Xbox One or Xbox 360 games directly from the drive, without occupying precious space on your internal storage. You can choose betweentraditional slower hard drivesorfaster solid state drives, with the latter offering faster load times and transfer rates.
On top of this, you can alsouse these drives as “cold storage” for your Xbox Series X|S games. Though you can’t play these games directly from a slower drive, you can transfer game data to a USB volume to store it temporarily. In many cases, transferring the data back to your internal drive could be faster than downloading games all over again (though this depends on your internet speed and whether you’re using a wireless or wired connection).
Samsung T7 Shield
The Samsung T7 Shield gives you peace of mind thanks to its dust, drop, and water resistance. Additionally, the SSD is extremely fast and supports encryption.
WD_BLACK D10 Game Drive For Xbox
WD_BLACK’s 12TB model is perfect for the Xbox, which doesn’t have the same capacity limits as Sony’s consoles.
To get started, make sure the drive you want to use doesn’t have any important data on it and plug it into your Xbox Series X|S console while it’s on. You’ll see a pop-up, simply follow the on-screen instructions.
2Copy Screenshots and Videos
Whether you’re clearing space or simply want to make sure your screenshots and videos are safe, you can use the USB port on your Xbox to grab your captured media to an external drive for safekeeping. This is especially important given that Microsoft deletes your captures from the Xbox network after 90 days.
To do this, you’ll need a USB drive (ideally flash storage) that’s formatted to NTFS. you may’t use the same drive that you’re storing games on, since that is formatted differently. Connect your NTFS drive, launch the “Captures” app, hit “Manage” to select your captures, and then use the “Copy to external storage” button to start the transfer.
you’re able to’t do this for save data on an Xbox. Instead, you’ll need to copy save data from one console to another directly using the migration feature, or just use Xbox Live to store and transfer save data between your devices.
3Use Controllers in Wired Mode
By connecting your controller directly to your console, it will automatically switch over to wired mode. Rather than using Bluetooth, inputs will be transmitted to your console over a faster wired connection. While it’s debatable whether you’ll be able to tell the difference, for certain types of games like twitchy first-person shooters and beat ‘em ups, opting for the lower latency option could help.
On top of this, many peripherals require a wired connection. This includes simulation controllers like steering wheels (and pedals), flight yokes, and fight sticks. If you’re going this route, it’s probably worth investing in a long and sturdy cable that’s fit for the job. You’ll also probably want to use one of the USB ports on the back of your console, so that the front port is free for other uses.
Xbox Core Wireless Controller
One of the best controllers you can buy, regardless of platform. The Xbox Core controller was designed with the Xbox Series consoles in mind but works great on a Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and more.
Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2
With several customizable components and ultra-responsive controls, the Xbox Elite Series 2 has few rivals. It’s a bit expensive, but you’re getting a lot of functionality in return.
4Connect a Keyboard and Mouse
An increasing number ofconsole games now support mouse and keyboard input, a fact that’s especially true on Microsoft’s console, where PC ports aren’t uncommon. The obvious benefit here is for first-person shooters likeHalo InfiniteandCall of Duty: Black Ops 6, both of which support mouse and keyboard input natively.
Other games you might want to play with a keyboard and mouse includereal-time strategygames like Microsoft’sAge of Empiresports, city builders and management games likeCities: Skylines, survival crafters with PC-first interfaces like7 Days to Die, and older games likeTerrariaor theCommandosremasters.
If your mouse and keyboard of choice work in Windows,they should “just work” on an Xbox. You can achieve this either using a direct wired connection or by attaching a 2.4GHz wireless dongle to a spare USB port.
5Quickly Pair Your Controller
Your Xbox controller has a button along its top edge for pairing with your console and other Bluetooth devices. While this is handy (especially if you want to use your controller with a smartphone, tablet, or something like the Steam Deck), there’s a far easier way to pair any controller with your Xbox quickly: by plugging it in.
I use this all the time, since there are two Xbox Series X consoles set up alongside each other in the living room. Sometimes, it’s better to play a game in split screen or using same-screen multiplayer. Connect the controller to the console you want to pair it with first, then press and hold the Xbox button in the middle to turn it on. It will pair with the Xbox, after which you can disconnect it.
The best thing is that when you pair it back to its “home” console, it will remember your previous preferences (and so it will still be linked to a specific profile and automatically sign that person in).
6Hook Up a USB Camera
Did you know you’re able to stream directlyfrom your Xbox Series X|S via a live streaming platform like Twitch? In addition to capturing gameplay right on your console (no capture card necessary), you can also pass a feed from an external webcam to your stream if you have one connected.
Microsoftsaysthat any 1080p webcam that uses the YUY2 or NV12 format, such as the Microsoft LifeCam Studio orLogitech C922xshould work. If you already have a webcam knocking around the house and you’re curious about whether it’s supported, you might as well hook it up and see what happens.
Once you’ve set up streaming on your console using the relevant app, you can hit the Xbox button to bring up the guide and then move over to your profile tab and select “Live streaming.” From here, you’ll see a “Camera options” menu under which you’ll be able to toggle on the “Camera” setting. In this menu, you can also decide where the webcam’s feed appears on the screen.
Sadly, this won’t work with Discord (which is alsonatively supported on the Xbox).
7Connect a USB Hub for More Ports
Ironically, the other thing you can use your Xbox’s USB ports for is to expand the number of USB ports you have available to you. Consider that if you have a wired keyboard and mouse, plus you use a single USB port just for charging, you won’t be able to connect a “cold storage” external drive, an NTFS flash drive for backing up captures, or any extra controllers that require a wired connection. At this point, you’ll want a USB hub like theAnker four-port Ultra Slim USB 3.0 hub.
Anker 4-Port USB Hub
Whether you need more ports on your desktop, something handy to plug laptop accessories into, or you’ve run out of ports on your Xbox Series X|S console, everybody loves a good USB hub.
Just remember that unlike many modern hubs, the Xbox Series X|S consoles required a hub with a USB-A connection (not the newer USB-C standard). You’ll also want to prioritize USB 3.0 over the slower USB 2.0 standard if you’re hoping to use these ports to transfer data.
Perhaps the most glaring omission from this list is USB headsets, which are supported on PC and PlayStation but not on Xbox. If you want to use a wired headset on your Xbox, you’ll need to plug it into your Xbox controller via the 3.5mm stereo port.
Got a Sony console instead?Your PS5’s USB port also has plenty of interesting uses.
Xbox Series S
While not as powerful as the Series X, it’s incredible the Xbox Series S can still run the same library of next-gen titles. If you aren’t interested in running games at 4K, you may save a lot opting for the Series S instead.
Xbox Series X
The Series X is the most powerful current-generation console and offers access to Microsoft Game Pass for a large library of subscription games out of the box. It also doubles as a UHD Blu-Ray player!
