Xbox Elite Controller Series 2 - A button opens Xbox Game Bar

Hi Domoviye,

Welcome to Microsoft Community Forum. Thank you for sharing your concern with us today and we hope that all is well.

We understand that you are trying to use Xbox Elite Controller - Series 2 in playing games but experience an issue with "A" button; when pressed launches Xbox Game Bar. Let us check on this together so you will get back to gaming.

I have catered an issue similar with what you have described and just a heads up, you may install the new update for the Xbox Accessories app and update your Controller's firmware and that should fix the issue.

How to Update Xbox Accessories app:

Launch Microsoft Store and select ... on top right. Select Downloads and updates. Look for Xbox Accessories app and download update.

How to update your controller on a Windows 10 PC by using the Xbox Accessories app:

Resources: Elite Controller A button brings up Xbox game bar on PC : xboxone

If this is not resolved, you may try to restart PC and power cycle your controller:

Please, do not forget to check here for known issues that might be related to your concern.

Xbox Status

Known Issues for Game Launches

Kindly let us know, if there is any misunderstanding of our description by sending us a reply.

We look forward to your response. If you have other clarifications about this matter, you can get back to us by replying to this post.

Sincerely,

Kathy A.

Xbox Forum Moderator

Microsoft Community

Hello,

I seem to be having the same problem. The xbox accessories app has no option to update firmware, and i'm running the latest build for windows 10.

The controller seems to be working fine while plugged in, but seems to be having one of these two problems when using bluetooth-

- A button opens game bar

- When game bar is disabled, A button works as F12 and takes a steam screenshot. Disabling screenshots in steam does not help.

Similar to https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/xbox/forum/all/xbox-elite-controller-2-bluetooth-issue/c936bedc-9790-4e11-b250-3dda5a1af6a1

None of the remedies provided have helped. Very unfortunate that a $180 premium controller has basic connectivity problems. Very close to returning it and going with Razer.

Please help.

Thanks.

I found that to prevent the screen shots from happening in steam you need to update steam to have drivers for the elite controller.

I did this first by participating in steam betas, entering big picture mode and checking elite controller drivers.

This however did not stop the game bar from appearing when pressing A button if the game bar is enabled

Kathy,

The Accessories app itself is broken and will not update firmware for controllers. My firmware is 4.7.1872 and has the issues like you have described. Along with turning my volume up every time I hit A. It also shows keyboard inputs in Forza Horizon 5 on every button press. The newest Microsoft game. On the newest Elite Controller that was 200 dollars. On the newest operating system. With the newest Accessories app.

It needs to be addressed, its just a matter of when. Somebody just needs to be made aware.

Kathy,

I am chiming in here to echo user PappaBuerks below (comment on 11/6/21) - I have the same issue. I purchased my Elite Series 2 directly from Microsoft's Web Store at very beginning of November 2021. Since purchase, I have been unable to update my controller's firmware using the XBox accessories app. I have tried 3x computers with Windows 10, 1x with Windows 11. I have tried wired connection, bluetooth, and the wireless adapter connection - no change. I have called Microsoft Support twice and spent a few hours on the phone - they could not figure it out and have suggested that the issue "must be software; X box accessories app must be malfunctioning." I have tried a whole host of other options as well (a wholly new fresh install of Windows 11, removing and then reinstalling the Windows drivers for the controller, registry editing, etc.), none have changed the fundamental problem: the X box accessories app will STILL not give me an option to update despite my current firmware being 4.7.1872.0

Very frustrating to pay nearly $200 for a controller than then cannot even interface with its manufacturer's flagship operating system.

Hi all,

We are grateful for the updates you have posted here in this thread discussing same issue to be unresolved and sharing workaround fix. In this case, we will be informing our Internal Support team and we will post updates regarding this concern here once we received one. We are hoping for your understanding and patience. We would like to request each of you to kindly submit feedback to the Xbox Team so they will have the statistics of all gamers who experience the issue with Xbox Elite Controller - Series 2. We would appreciate your participation.

There are ways to submit feedback, please choose Report on Windows 10/11 or report a problem with Xbox in Reddit - Provide feedback to Team Xbox.

Stay safe everyone.

Please subscribe to the thread to receive an email for an update regarding this thread.

Kind regards,

Kathy A.

Hi all,

One of our Support team, mentioned a solution that is easy and fast to do. May we know if anyone from here have tried to do remapping their Controller's button? If this is the first time you have heard about this. Kindly check this quick video of how Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 works - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qflhejZNTGA

Now, this advance Controller offers exclusive option to create profile to customize button mapping that you can do using Xbox Accessories app. Here are steps on how to create a controller profile:

Resources:

Customize an Xbox Wireless Controller | Xbox Support

Get to know your Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 | Xbox Support

Customize your Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 | Xbox Support

Use Shift with your Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 | Xbox Support

Hope that helps! We look forward to your response. If you have other clarifications about this matter, you can get back to us by replying to this post.

Kind regards,

Kathy A.

Kathy,

I can successfully re-map my buttons, but this only functions in certain applications. Furthermore, it does not allow me to update the firmware (the option is still non-existent in X Box accessories app) - as such, my controller continues to have issues that were reported with this earlier firmware(s) I'm stuck on like not working with STEAM, worse bluetooth range/connectivity, etc.

-Daniel-

The lack of support for this issue is truly mind-boggling. Remapping the buttons does not solve the issue, and only complicates the use of the controller. There are countless of threads with the same issue - where is the organization within Microsoft support to elevate this issue to the right people? This is a nearly $200 controller that is advertised to be able to operate wirelessly and effectively on Windows 10, but has basic issues that seem to stem back to its release.

-The Xbox Accessories app on Windows 10 does not have an option to update its firmware. I confidently suspect this prevents the Xbox Series 2 controller from updating its firmware. As a result, every time the controller is used via Bluetooth, certain buttons are erroneously forcing the game bar to appear. There is no shortcut mapping in the game bar itself that causes this. It's your firmware.

Forgive my frankness, but this has the makings of a prime class action lawsuit.

If the controller is unable to operate wirelessly on PC, issue a recall, push a firmware update, or advertise it as such.

This is not the issue. The issue is the Xbox Accessories App does not allow us to update our controllers. So we will have these issues no matter what until you put out a fix. How can a $200 controller have such bad firmware support?