It’s been several months since I bought my Xbox One bundled with the Kinect sensor, and since day one, I’ve set up the “Xbox: On” and “Xbox: Turn off” Kinect voice commands to control the power in the console. Only once or twice I remember having to power-cycle it by going to Settings, Power & startup, and clicking Restart Now.
Those without Kinect can also go to the power settings to turn off the console or simply press and hold the Xbox button on the controller to bring the power menu. However, powering off the console this way only puts Xbox One on standby mode. You’re not physically shutting it down completely.
Microsoft uses this power state to quickly resume and allows Xbox One to update in the background, so updates don’t interrupt when you’re playing games.
Now, if for some reason you need to physically turn off (shut down) your Xbox One, such as when you’re moving out, or you’re just simply dusting the console off. Even though it seems turned off, you will want to power off the console completely.
Power off Xbox One
You’ll think there is an option on the settings page, but actually, there isn’t one. However, it’s pretty simple to physically power off Xbox One, just press and hold the Xbox button on the front of the console for about 10 seconds.
To verify your Xbox One is completely powered off, look at the power brick, and now you’ll notice an amber light instead of white, which indicates the console is actually powered on or on standby.
It might be redundant, but it’s worth pointing out that while the console is completely off, Instant-On and Kinect voice commands will not work until you boot the console again.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].