What is Xbox Quick Resume and how does it work?

Xbox Series X quick resume Avowed
(Image credit: Xbox)

Xbox Quick Resume lets you suspend several games at once, keeping them running in the background and even when the console is turned off. When you switch back to a Quick Resume game or turn your console back on, you can get back into the action from exactly where you were before with no rebooting. It's a very convenient Xbox Series X feature if you need to suddenly stop playing to do something else, and we've explained everything you need to know about it below, including how it works with online games.

How to set up and use Xbox Quick Resume

Handily, Xbox Quick Resume is automatically enabled by default, so you don't need to do anything to set it up as it's already quietly working away in the background when you're playing a game.

It'll kick in properly when you either start playing a new game or power down your console, putting whatever you were just playing into a suspended state for later - yes, Quick Resume also works when your console is set to the Xbox Series X Sleep mode or even entirely shut down. If you switch back to the suspended game or boot up your console, you'll be able to pick up right where you left off.

If you want to see which of your games is suspended for Quick Resume, you can press the main Xbox button above the Xbox Share button, open My games & apps, then look at what games you have under the Quick Resume tab and select something from there.

This feature will work seamlessly across multiple games, but if you want to bypass Xbox Quick Resume for whatever reason then you can press the Xbox button and highlight the game from the guide, before pressing the Menu button and choosing the Quit option. This will fully shut the game down and remove it from your current Xbox Quick Resume line-up, so the next time you start it, you'll need to wait for it to load up again.

Does Xbox Quick Resume work with online games

Xbox Series X quick resume Battlefield 6

(Image credit: Xbox)

Due to the nature of online games, the way the Xbox Quick Resume function works with them will depend on the game. Some games may allow you to jump back in where you left off, but that's rare and most games will just boot you back to the start menu since an online connection isn't maintained when a game is in a suspended state. Therefore, your experience will depend on how an online game's developer has set up its online system to deal with suspending and resuming - for example, some games let you reconnect to a match in progress if you are disconnected for any reason.

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Iain Wilson
Guides Editor

Iain originally joined Future in 2012 to write guides for CVG, PSM3, and Xbox World, before moving on to join GamesRadar in 2013 as Guides Editor. His words have also appeared in OPM, OXM, PC Gamer, GamesMaster, and SFX. He is better known to many as ‘Mr Trophy’, due to his slightly unhealthy obsession with amassing intangible PlayStation silverware, and he now has well over 900 Platinum pots weighing down the shelves of his virtual award cabinet. He does not care for Xbox Achievements.

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