Can I stream from my PC to Xbox?

If your Xbox One is the center of your entertainment in your living room, sometimes you might want to stream music or video to it that’s on your PC.

Microsoft’s Xbox One and Windows 7, 8, and 10 play nicely with each other to streaming music and sharing data. This was the case with Xbox 360 and Windows too, where you could set up the Windows Media Center extender or use the Play To feature in Windows 7, also included in Windows 8 and Windows 10.

If you’re an experienced Xbox 360 user, the process is virtually the same on Xbox One and probably works better. But if you’re new to the Xbox One or Xbox in general, here’s how to set things up so you can stream music files from your Windows PC to the console.

These steps have changed, mostly due to Microsoft rebranding a few of its key apps. Check out our latest tutorial on streaming music and video to Xbox from Windows 10.

Stream Multimedia from Windows PC to Xbox One

First, on your PC, make sure that Media Streaming is turned on. You can find that in Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Media Streaming Options. Then on your Xbox One, go to Settings > Preferences and make sure Play To is checked like in the image below.

If this is a new Xbox One, you will also need to download the Xbox Music app. If you don’t have it installed already, you’ll be prompted to download it.

The same goes for the video – you need to download the Xbox Video app to the console.

From Your Computer

Now on your PC, find the music or videos you want to play, right-click the files, select Play To from the context menu, and then Xbox One. You can choose media from your local machine, an external drive, or network locations.

For example, in the screenshot below, I am streaming a song from my Windows Home Server.

A small Windows Media Player screen comes up, and you can add more songs or videos to it and control playback.

Or you can use your Xbox One controller to manage the playback of your media. For music files, if the metadata contains an album cover that will appear on the TV.

Note: While FLAC and MKV files are supported in Windows 10, at the time of this article, the Xbox One hasn’t been updated with it yet, and those file types don’t work. But I would assume once the console is updated to Windows 10, FLAC and MKV should be supported. I’ll keep you updated as things change.

There might not be a lot of reason to stream video – since you can run your cable into it, and it has a bunch of streaming video apps. But the music from your computer to the Xbox One is especially nice if you have the console hooked up to an A/V receiver, speakers, and a pounding sub.

4 Comments

4 Comments

1. Paul Frymire

   It’s pretty obvious that this article was not written by someone who actually used the Xbox 360 as a Windows Media Center Extender. The Xbox One functionality is completely different and the widely considered inferior to the Xbox 360’s functionality. Unlike the Xbox One, the Xbox 360 allowed DLNA browsing (pull instead of push), and offered Windows Media Center Extender, allowing live streaming of television and DVR-like functionality.

   Reply

2. The Caged Rage

   I followed his instructions and it seems worse to do it his way than over my way all I did was install tversity 1.9.7 because it is free and added my folders where my movies and music are. then I downloaded the media centre app on the xbox one and opened it. as long s your xbox one is on the same network as your pc all your movies and music will show up in the media centre easy as hell. I will make a youtube clip in the next couple of days to show everyone it is the easiest way to stream from pc to xbox 360 or xbox one as it is almost the same in every way and simple for the less talented with technology.

   How do I mirror my PC to my Xbox One?

   On your PC, launch the Xbox Console Companion app. Select Connection from the panel on the left side. The Xbox Console Companion app will scan your home network for available Xbox One consoles. Select the name of the console you want to connect to.

   How do I stream from my PC to my Xbox One using HDMI?

   Follow the below steps to start streaming:.

   Open the Xbox app..

   Open settings and select 'Device Connection. '.

   Select Allow game streaming to other accounts..

   Also, select Allow connections from any device connected to the same network..

   Now you can stream your game from the Xbox app..

   Can I project my PC to Xbox One?

   To connect your PC to your Xbox One console: On your PC, open the Xbox Console Companion app and choose the Connection icon on the left side (looks like a little Xbox One). Choose your Xbox, and then choose Connect. From now on, the Xbox app will connect to your Xbox One automatically, as long as it's on.

   How do I stream movies from my PC to my Xbox?

   Stream Multimedia from Windows PC to Xbox One First, on your PC, make sure that Media Streaming is turned on. You can find that in Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Media Streaming Options. Then on your Xbox One, go to Settings > Preferences and make sure Play To is checked like in the image below.