Now You Can Switch TV Inputs With Your Xbox Controller

Technology is amazing, but having it too much can be too confusing. For example, if you have to switch your TV’s input to your gaming console, you have to look out for your TV remote to do it. Starting today, Xbox Series X|S owners can avoid that problem by using their gamepad.

Revealed by Xbox’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb, the feature is part of Consumer Electronics Control or CEC. Essentially, consoles that use this feature can send commands to other gadgets, usually TVs, through their controllers. CEC has been on Xbox consoles for some time, but from today users can switch their TV’s input with their controller. The same option has been present on PlayStation 5 consoles for a while now.

As long as the TV connected to an Xbox Series console supports CEC, players can use their Xbox controller to switch inputs. All they have to do is find the TV & A/V Power options menu in their console’s settings. From there, users can turn on HDMI-CEC and choose which commands their console can give their TV.

Along with being able to switch TV inputs using their controller, users can have their console change a device’s volume or turn other devices on or off.

Xbox consoles have got some improvements recently, including some quality of life changes for Quick Resume. Thanks to last month’s Xbox update, Xbox Series X|S players can now pin titles to Quick Resume, letting them have a handful of games that are always available in a near instant.

Starting today, when you press Xbox button on your controller once you will be able to switch input back to your Xbox. If you are on a different TV input waiting for a download or update, you can press the Xbox button once to switch back to the Xbox input https://t.co/hbEs9ns27c pic.twitter.com/aOkIyVERJs

— Larry Hryb 🇺🇦 (@majornelson) April 6, 2022