How-To

How to Enable Spotify Under Game Activity

By Brian Burgess

Published December 5, 2023

If you prefer to listen to music or podcasts instead of game audio, you can manage Spotify from the Game Bar overlay on Windows. Here’s how.

Your Windows PC is excellent for gaming sessions, but you may want to enable Spotify under game activity if you play games. The good news is you can enable and use the Xbox Game Bar to control Spotify.

The Game Bar allows you to control Spotify while listening to music or podcasts from the service instead of in-game music. Using Alt+Tab to get out of a game to control music is tedious and annoying.

The Spotify widget on the Xbox Game Bar lets you control the playback and select different songs and playlists while gaming. The widget also works when local music is playing on Spotify.

So, to make things easier, we’ll show you how to use the Spotify widget on the Game Bar to overlay Spotify on your game’s screen to control playback without exiting your gaming session.

Enable Spotify Under Game Activity

It’s important to note that you must have the Spotify desktop app (from the Microsoft Store or Spotify site) installed on your PC for this to work. For example, you can’t control it while listening to Spotify on the web. Also, we’re using Windows 11 in this example, but the steps should work on Windows 10.

How to control Spotify from the Xbox Game Bar

1. Start up your game (even in full-screen mode).
2. Press the Windows key + G keyboard shortcut to open the Xbox Game Bar, which will be overlayed on the game.
3. Click the Widgets button on the bar.
4. Click Spotify from the Widgets menu list.
5. If you haven’t launched Spotify yet, click the Start Listening button.
   Note: If this is the first time opening Spotify, you will be prompted to sign in and link it with the Game Bar.
6. Now, you can control the playback of Spotify while gaming from the widget. It allows you to skip tracks, play or pause, enable shuffle, favorite songs, and change listening devices.
7. Also, you can move the Spotify widget anywhere on the screen that works best for you. Once you move the widget, it will stay where you put it the next time you open the Xbox Game Bar.
8. If you want more options from Spotify, like changing playlists, click the down arrow to expand the widget.
9. When the widget is expanded, you can select a different Spotify playlist or click the button to open the Spotify desktop app on your PC. Opening Spotify will put the app over your game, so you will probably want to pause the game first.
10. Click the Up Arrow button (Collapse Widget) to return the Spotify widget to its original size.
11. To close the Game Bar, click anywhere on the screen or press the Esc key on your keyboard.

Using Spotify While Under Game Activity on Windows

That’s all there is to it. Now, whenever you enjoy a full-screen gaming session and listen to Spotify, you can control it from the Xbox Game Bar using the above steps.

Note that the widget is somewhat limited. For example, you can’t search for music or manage Spotify playlists. However, it does include the button to launch Spotify on your desktop if you need more features. The widget is mainly for choosing songs and playlists and controlling playback.