Console Mode lippdev

big-picture gaming htpc multi-monitor playnite steam tv

Use this command to install Console Mode with WinGet:

winget install --id=lippdev.ConsoleMode -e

Console Mode focuses your TV, turns off or hides the other monitors, switches audio to HDMI and launches Steam Big Picture, Playnite fullscreen or Xbox mode. When you quit Big Picture or Playnite, your desktop layout is restored automatically.

Console Mode

Turn your Windows PC into a game console with one click: focus the TV, turn off the other screens, switch the audio and launch your game UI. Quit the game and your desk comes back on its own.

🇧🇷 Leia em português

Version License

Tour of Console Mode 1.5: resolution and HDR tuned for the TV, Big Picture, Playnite or Xbox as the launcher, the desk screens and audio coming back when you quit the game, hold Home to start and Start + Select to go back to the PC.

Download

Get 1.5.1, the latest stable version:

ConsoleMode-Setup-x64.exe (recommended): per-user install, no admin, updates itself.
ConsoleMode-Portable-x64.exe: a single exe that keeps its data next to it.

Want to help test what comes next? 1.6.0-alpha.4 is an early alpha of 1.6 that no longer bundles any third-party tool for displays and audio. It is not verified on many setups yet: keep 1.5.1 if you need it to just work, or turn on Settings → "Receive test versions" in 1.5.1 to get it from the app.

On 1.4.0? The app offers the update. If it fails with a timeout, download the installer once; your settings are kept.

Windows 10 or 11, plus Steam (Big Picture), Playnite or the Xbox app. RTSS is optional, for the FPS limit.

How it works

Open the app and pick the screen you play on. The others turn off.
Press Play now, or use the one-click desktop shortcut. The first time on a new screen, the TV asks "Can you see this screen?" and reverts on its own if nobody answers.
Quit Big Picture or Playnite and everything goes back: screens, audio, resolution.

Prefer the couch? With the app in the tray, hold your controller shortcut and it starts from there.

You pick the controller shortcuts yourself: none is on at first, the app asks the first time you open it (and you can change them in Settings). No button can serve two actions.

Controller shortcut	Does	Suggested
Hold your open shortcut	Enter console mode from the tray	Home (Xbox / PS)
Hold your menu shortcut	Menu over the game: volume, resolution, audio, FPS, HDR, exit	Select + Y (Create + △)
Hold your back to the PC shortcut	Back to the PC	Start + Select (Options + Create)

Features

Hide the other screens by disconnecting them, black overlays or DDC/CI
Per-screen resolution and refresh rate, HDR, VRR and an FPS limit (RTSS) while you play
Audio goes to the TV (or any output) and comes back afterwards
Turns the TV on and switches it to the PC's input (Google TV / Android TV over the network), and can put it in standby afterwards
Launches Steam Big Picture, Playnite fullscreen or Xbox mode
Two interfaces: Desktop (mouse) and Console (full screen, Xbox and PlayStation pads)
Automation with consolemode://start / stop / menu links (Stream Deck, scripts) and a local control API
English, Portuguese and Spanish

What's new in 1.5.0

Console interface: full-screen home and Settings made for the controller, with Xbox and PlayStation pads
Select + Y menu over the game: volume, resolution, audio, FPS, HDR and the way out, in horizontal tiles
Couch shortcuts that also work with DualSense and DualShock 4, no Steam Input needed
Automation: consolemode:// links, --stop and a local control API
Controller test in Settings, feedback button, Spanish interface, and updates that install from the couch

All the details in the release notes and the changelog · notas em português.

Roadmap

Next: FPS overlay (#66), record the last 30 s (#77), desktop icon positions (#30) · Later: per-game profiles (#69), winget (#13), more languages (#14) · Exploring: HDMI-CEC (#75), Linux and macOS (#74), and more.

Guide: modes and restore, control API, HDR/VRR/FPS, troubleshooting, building from source
Feedback: the button next to Settings in the app, or this form. A ⭐ helps other couch gamers find the project.
Antivirus may flag the bundled helper tools; the source is all here.

GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 only · Third-party notices · Code signing policy

Console Mode

Turn your Windows PC into a game console with one click: focus the TV, turn off the other screens, switch the audio and launch your game UI. Quit the game and your desk comes back on its own.

🇧🇷 Leia em português

Version License

Download

Get 1.5.1, the latest stable version:

ConsoleMode-Setup-x64.exe (recommended): per-user install, no admin, updates itself.
ConsoleMode-Portable-x64.exe: a single exe that keeps its data next to it.

On 1.4.0? The app offers the update. If it fails with a timeout, download the installer once; your settings are kept.

Windows 10 or 11, plus Steam (Big Picture), Playnite or the Xbox app. RTSS is optional, for the FPS limit.

How it works

Open the app and pick the screen you play on. The others turn off.
Press Play now, or use the one-click desktop shortcut. The first time on a new screen, the TV asks "Can you see this screen?" and reverts on its own if nobody answers.
Quit Big Picture or Playnite and everything goes back: screens, audio, resolution.

Prefer the couch? With the app in the tray, hold your controller shortcut and it starts from there.

You pick the controller shortcuts yourself: none is on at first, the app asks the first time you open it (and you can change them in Settings). No button can serve two actions.

Controller shortcut	Does	Suggested
Hold your open shortcut	Enter console mode from the tray	Home (Xbox / PS)
Hold your menu shortcut	Menu over the game: volume, resolution, audio, FPS, HDR, exit	Select + Y (Create + △)
Hold your back to the PC shortcut	Back to the PC	Start + Select (Options + Create)

Features

Hide the other screens by disconnecting them, black overlays or DDC/CI
Per-screen resolution and refresh rate, HDR, VRR and an FPS limit (RTSS) while you play
Audio goes to the TV (or any output) and comes back afterwards
Turns the TV on and switches it to the PC's input (Google TV / Android TV over the network), and can put it in standby afterwards
Launches Steam Big Picture, Playnite fullscreen or Xbox mode
Two interfaces: Desktop (mouse) and Console (full screen, Xbox and PlayStation pads)
Automation with consolemode://start / stop / menu links (Stream Deck, scripts) and a local control API
English, Portuguese and Spanish

What's new in 1.5.0

Console interface: full-screen home and Settings made for the controller, with Xbox and PlayStation pads
Select + Y menu over the game: volume, resolution, audio, FPS, HDR and the way out, in horizontal tiles
Couch shortcuts that also work with DualSense and DualShock 4, no Steam Input needed
Automation: consolemode:// links, --stop and a local control API
Controller test in Settings, feedback button, Spanish interface, and updates that install from the couch

All the details in the release notes and the changelog · notas em português.

Roadmap

Guide: modes and restore, control API, HDR/VRR/FPS, troubleshooting, building from source
Feedback: the button next to Settings in the app, or this form. A ⭐ helps other couch gamers find the project.
Antivirus may flag the bundled helper tools; the source is all here.

GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 only · Third-party notices · Code signing policy

Console Mode lippdev

README

Console Mode

Download

How it works

Features

What's new in 1.5.0

Roadmap

More

Console Mode lippdev

README

Console Mode

Download

How it works

Features

What's new in 1.5.0

Roadmap

More