Refreshing features on any piece of hardware is an excellent way to troubleshoot common issues or problems you may be experiencing.

Luckily, for Xbox consoles, refreshing features like your Home screen is easy to do and a great way to ensure your Home screen layout and applications function as intended.

But how exactly do you refresh your Xbox Home screen, and why might you need to do it? Let's find out.

Why You May Need to Refresh Your Xbox Home Screen

Ensuring that your Home screen is working as it should maintain the functionality of your Xbox's entire user interface. Unfortunately, you may experience one of the following issues that may require a refresh of your Home screen:

  • Applications not loading or appearing on the Home screen.
  • A soft-locked, or unresponsive, Home screen.
  • On-screen visual glitches or errors.
  • Custom Pins not appearing as they should.
A screenshot of the Pins Menu Tab on an Xbox Home screen

Knowing some of the most common Home screen errors will help you know when a quick refresh could be the best fix for you.

However, periodically refreshing your Home screen, even if you aren't experiencing any issues, can help maintain your Xbox's user interface.

Periodically refreshing your Xbox Home can also help update any changes you make to your customization options or Home screen layout. For instance, setting a custom gamerpic for your Xbox profile could update faster by simply refreshing the Home screen.

With that said, how do you refresh your Xbox Home screen?

How to Refresh Your Xbox Home Screen

To refresh your Xbox One or Series X|S Home screen, follow these steps:

  • Press the Xbox button to open the guide menu.
  • From the main page for the guide, press the Menu button for More Options.
  • This will then open your Xbox's Home screen options. Select Refresh.
A screenshot of the options available for an Xbox Home screen through the guide menu with refresh highlighted

Selecting Refresh will then cause your Xbox's entire home page to reload itself, removing any common issue affecting your Home screen.

However, refreshing your console's Home screen may be slightly different if you own an original Xbox One or if your console still needs to be fully updated. In this scenario, follow these steps:

  • While on your console's Home screen, press and hold the Left Trigger and the Right Trigger.
  • After holding the triggers down for a few seconds, press the Y Button.

Similarly to the prior method, your Home screen will then reload and refresh on your Xbox One.

Maintain Your Xbox and Make It Your Own

By periodically refreshing your Xbox Home screen, you can ensure that your user interface and layout are running as intended and maintained.

Refreshing your Home screen is also a great way to double-check any visual changes you make to your Xbox's layout, whether through a custom gamerpic, a new theme for your console, or even your dashboard's entire layout.