If your Xbox Series X won’t upgrade your games, you may be trying with one that is not eligible to be upgraded, or, you are not logged in to the correct Xbox account.
Do you have a slow, unstable internet connection? This will not only prevent your Xbox Series X from downloading games but also interfere with the quality of gameplay on your console. Fortunately, a Wifi connection can be resolved with an amplifier or internet booster.
We have generated this straightforward guide to help you make sense of why your Xbox Series X won’t upgrade games, as well as provide you with four simple solutions you will be able to execute on your console so you can get back to playing games like Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon.
Why Won’t My Games Upgrade on Xbox Series X?
Why won’t Xbox Series X upgrade my games?
Your Xbox Series X won’t upgrade your games successfully if you have a download queue of multiple games pending on your console. You should only be upgrading your Xbox Series X games one at a time. If you select more than one to upgrade at the same time, your console will become overwhelmed, and the upgrade will be disrupted.
If you are only downloading one game on your Xbox and the upgrade won’t complete, it could be due to the following reasons;
1. Poor Internet Connection
Your Xbox Series X needs to be connected to a stable network connection that is stable. If it keeps disconnecting during an upgrade, your console will be unable to complete the download.
An internet speed of at least 25Mbps is recommended for gaming. This includes completing installs and downloads.
2. Xbox Series X Game not on Internal Disk
Xbox Series X won’t upgrade games if they are not on the internal storage of your console.
You cannot upgrade games if they are on an external drive.
3. Game Files Corrupted
If there is a specific game that is not upgrading on your Xbox Series X, this could be because their game files are corrupted.
This will stop the upgrade from being processed. In this case, you may find the upgrade will stop at a certain percentage followed by your Xbox Series X freezing or crashing.
4. Lack of Internal Storage Space
Do you have adequate internal storage space on your Xbox Series X?
Some games increase in size when they are upgraded due to added features and improvements. Your console will be unable to upgrade your games if there is not enough space to ithemtall it directly onto the disk drive.
5. Physical Copy of Xbox Game
Your Xbox Series X won’t upgrade games that is a physical copy of an Xbox One game. If you want to upgrade an Xbox One game but you have it in a disk version, you will need to purchase the digital copy.
You can buy a digital copy of a game via the Microsoft Store.
(Fun Fact; The Xbox logo is green because, at the time, designer Horace Luke, who created the logo for Xbox only had a green pen when).
How to Upgrade Xbox Series X Games
You can upgrade your games on Xbox Series X by making sure you do one at a time only instead of creating a queue of multiple games that you want to update. This will involve waiting for the game to be 100% upgraded before moving on to the next video application.
Additional fixes you can execute on your console to ensure your Xbox Series X updates your games include;
1. Refresh Internet Connection
Refresh your network to ensure your network connection is stable, and you are receiving adequate internet speeds.
Your Xbox Series X needs to continuously be connected to a strong Wifi network. This will prevent any interruptions during game upgrades.
Step 1. Unplug your Wifi router and wait a couple of minutes
Step 2. Re-Plug it back in and turn it back on
Wait for your Xbox to reconnect to your internet.
Tip, check your internet speed to ensure it is good enough to instigate your game upgrades. If you have an issue with your network service, you may need to invest in an internet booster.
2. Install Xbox Game onto Internal Storage
Your Xbox Series X will not be able to upgrade your games if they are stored on an external disk drive.
You will need to reinstall the game onto your console’s internal storage drive followed by requesting the upgrade.
Once the update has been completed, if you want to, you can move the game back onto your external drive.
3. Reinstall Xbox Series X Game
If the game file is corrupted, you will need to reinstall it to get rid of the faulty software, otherwise, you can try a power reset on your console.
To do this, simply;
Step 1. Switch your Xbox Off by pressing down on the main button
Step 2. Unplug your console for a couple of minutes
Step 3. Reconnect your device and turn it back on
Once your Xbox has reconnected, attempt to upgrade your game.
4. Free up Space on Xbox Series X
If you are lacking internal storage space on your Xbox, you will need to uninstall any games or applications that you do not use to create more memory for the upgrade to be successful.
Once you have uninstalled an application, restart your console to ensure all remaining data has been erased.
How to Boost Xbox Series X Download Speed
How to improve Xbox Series X internet
You can improve your Wifi speed by connecting an amplifier to your router. With a poor network connection being one of the main reasons why Xbox Series X won’t upgrade games successfully on your console, improving your internet connection at home will in return give your console a faster download speed.
What does a Wifi Amplifier do?
An amplifier will improve your Wifi’s signal strength and increase how much range your device receives.
Your Xbox Series X should receive at least 25Mbps for its download speed, however, this will increase if your console is sharing its network connection with other devices.
To play and upgrade games without any interruptions on your Xbox Series X, you should look at purchasing a Wifi amplifier.
How Will a Wifi Amplifier Improve My Xbox Series X Performance?
If you have a Wifi amplifier, your Xbox Series X performance will improve in multiple different ways;
- Faster loading times
- Improved image quality
- Decrease in latency issues
- Less audio issues
- No download/install problems
Not only this, but your overall internet connection within your household will improve. An amplifier will alleviate any throttling issues on your connection when you have multiple devices connected at the same time.
You can check out one of Amazon’s enhanced Wifi amplifiers here.
Why Won’t My Games Download on Xbox Series X?
Why Won’t My Games Download on Xbox Series X?
Your games will not download on your Xbox Series X if the cache files on your console have become too full, or corrupted software is included in these files. When the cache on your Xbox becomes too full, it will slow down the performance and can be the cause for your Microsoft software to crash.
Other reasons why Xbox Series X is not downloading games include;
- Xbox Live is down
- Not enough internal storage space
- Xbox system software needs to be updated
- The game is not compatible with your Series X edition
Tip, you can check to see if Xbox Live is down by checking the status here.
What Do You Do if Your Xbox Won’t Download Games?
How to fix Xbox Series X won’t download games
You can clear the cache files on your Xbox Series X to help fix your console from not downloading your games. This can be done by pressing down on the Xbox home button for roughly ten seconds to turn your console off. Turn it back on after a minute and a half. This will give your Xbox enough time to completely shut down.
Alternative methods to troubleshoot your Xbox Series X so it can get back to downloading your games successfully include;
- Free up space on your console
- Complete a system update
- Check if the game is compatible
Note, when you want to download or upgrade a game on your Xbox Series X, make sure you are logged in to the correct Xbox account from which you originally purchased the selected game.
Conclusion
With this easy to follow directory, we hope we have guided you to understand fully why your Xbox Series X won’t upgrade games, and that you were able to resolve this issue with one of the four simple solutions provided.
If you have continuous internet issues, we do suggest you take a look at purchasing an amplifier. It will not only improve how well your Xbox operates but improve the overall performance of your network connection for every Wifi connected device in your household.
For any other queries or concerns you may have, you can make use of the Xbox support page.
(Quiz Question; Who designed the Xbox logo? Write your answer in our online contact form, and submit it with your details).
