What is Xbox Quick Resume and how does it work

Xbox Series X and S
(Image credit: Microsoft)

With Xbox Quick Resume you can suspend several games at once to keep them running in the background, even when the console is turned off. That means when you turn your console back on, or switch to a game you were playing earlier, you can pick up exactly where you left off with no loading or rebooting the game. It's a very convenient Xbox Series X feature if you need to suddenly stop playing to do something else, and is the result of the powerful Xbox Velocity Architecture. If you've picked up a solid Xbox Series X deal and now have a few new games on the go that you might be quickly switching between, here's what you need to know about the Xbox Quick Resume feature.

How to set up and use Xbox Quick Resume

(Image: © Xbox)

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. To use this feature, simply hit the Xbox button then select a new game to play, which will place your current game into a suspended state. When you want to return to a previous game, select it from your library and you'll almost instantly resume from where you left off.

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

Call of Duty Warzone

(Image credit: Activision)

Due to the nature of online games, the way the Xbox Quick Resume function works with them will depending on the game. Some games may allow you to jump back into the same game mode you were playing before, perhaps even the same match if you're fast enough, while others may kick you back to the lobby or out of the multiplayer mode entirely. As there are many more variables involved compared to using Xbox Quick Resume for single player games, your experience will depend on how the developers have set up their online system to deal with suspending and resuming.

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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 over 500 Platinum pots weighing down the shelves of his virtual award cabinet. He does not care for Xbox Achievements.