How to Turn On or Off Play Store Games Offline on Windows 10 PC

   Information

If you’re planning to be in an area with no online coverage, such as on a long-distance flight or a sailing excursion, you can prepare your Windows 10 device to allow you to play offline. Most games available in the Store on your Windows 10 device support offline play, but check the details of the game to make sure yours is supported by searching for your game at Xbox | Official Site.

Most games with a campaign mode will be playable offline, but games with network co-op or multiplayer features will not work while you’re offline.

While playing offline, some features, such as the ability to purchase additional items from the Windows Store, will not be available. Additionally, any leaderboards will be unavailable while you're offline.

Achievements

If you earn any achievements while playing offline, they will sync to your account the next time you sign in to Xbox Live on your device. You won’t see a toast notification letting you know that you unlocked the achievement until you sign in to Xbox Live on that device.

Cloud saves and offline game play

Before you go offline, connect to Xbox Live to sync your most recent game save to the cloud. While you play offline, your game save progress will continue to be saved locally, and it’ll sync the next time you sign in to Xbox Live. If you want to continue playing on a different device (or platform, if the game supports Xbox Play Anywhere), you’ll need to go online and connect to Xbox Live to allow your local saved game to sync with the cloud again.

If you’re on a Windows 10 device, your cloud saves will automatically start uploading once you’re signed in and connected to Xbox Live. Game save sync is usually fast, but allow a couple of minutes before you try playing on another device.

For more information, see: Play Games Offline on Windows 10/11 Using Offline Mode | Xbox Games

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off offline permissions in the Store to play games offline on your Windows 10 PC.

   Note

You can only change your designated offline device three times per year.

If you have multiple Windows 10 devices, you’ll need to make sure that the device you intend to use offline is set as the designated offline device. You can only have one device as your designated offline device.

Here's How:

1. Make sure that you are online to the Internet.

2. Open the Store app.

3. Click/tap on the Me icon (your profile picture), and click/tap on Settings. (see screenshot below)

4. Do step 5 (on) or step 6 (off) below for what you want to do.

 5. To Turn On Store Offline Permissions for Windows 10 PC

A) Turn on Offline Permissions. (see screenshot below)

   Note

Once you turn this setting on, any devices previously designated as offline will be toggled to Off, and you’ll no longer be able to play games offline on those devices.

B) Click/tap on Close. (see screenshot below)

C) You can now close the Store if you like.

D) Once your device has "Offline Permissions" turned on for it, you’ll need to launch each game you want to play offline while signed in to Xbox Live. You only need to do this once per game, and you’ll need to do this even if you’ve already launched the game on your device.

1. While online, launch the game you want to play offline. When prompted, sign in to Xbox Live with your account.
2. Once you’ve started playing the game, you can exit at any time.

E) Repeat step 5D for each game you want to play offline. Once completed, you can go offline at any time and launch those games whenever you want to play them, without needing to sign in online each time.

 6. To Turn Off Store Offline Permissions for Windows 10 PC

A) Turn off Offline Permissions. (see screenshot below)

B) Click/tap on Close. (see screenshot below)

C) You will no longer be able to play games offline on this PC.

D) You can now close the Store if you like.

That's it,
Shawn Brink